This was the McDOUG first meeting question to introduce 11g features to group.

1. McDOUG Question #1
A key Oracle11g enhancement for
PL/SQL is the function result cache.
Which of the following types of data
can be used in the parameter list or
return clause (but not necessarily
both) of a function defined using the
RESULT_CACHE keyword?

2. Your Choices?
1. Cursor variables
2. Nested tables and varrays
3. Associative arrays
4. Object types
5. Large objects (BLOB, CLOB, BFILE)
6. Records (user-defined and %ROWTYPE)
7. Scalars (numbers, dates, strings, Booleans)

3. Answer
You cannot use any of the following datatypes in either the
parameter list and RETURN clause of a function that
includes the RESULT_CACHE clause:
 Large objects (BLOB, CLOB, BFILE)
 Object types
 Cursor variables
 If you try to use these anywhere in the function header, you
will get this compile error: PLS-00999: implementation
restriction (may be temporary) RESULT_CACHE is
disallowed on subprograms with IN parameter of (or

4. Continue
 You can, on the other hand, return the
following types of data (but they may not
appear in the parameter list of the function):
 Associative arrays
 Nested tables
 Varrays
 Records (user-defined and %ROWTYPE)

5. Restrictions on Result-Cached Functions
 To be result-cached, a function must meet
all of the following criteria:
 It is not defined in a module that has
invoker's rights or in an anonymous block.
 It is not a pipelined table function.
 It has no OUT or IN OUT parameters.

6. Restrictions on Result-Cached Functions
 No IN parameter has one of the following types:
– BLOB
– CLOB
– NCLOB
– REF CURSOR
– Collection
– Object
– Record
 The return type is none of the following:
– BLOB
– CLOB
– NCLOB
– REF CURSOR
– Object
– Record or PL/SQL collection that contains one of the preceding
unsupported return types

7. Q&A
 Use RESULT CACHE Wisely?
 Thank You.