While-loop - iterative control, PL-SQL Programming

Assignment Help:

WHILE-LOOP

The WHILE-LOOP statement relates a condition with the series of statements enclosed by the keywords LOOP and END LOOP, as shown:

WHILE condition LOOP
sequence_of_statements
END LOOP;

Before each of the iteration of the loop, the condition is computed. If the condition is true, then the series of statements is executed, then the control resumes at the top of the loop. When the condition is false or null, the loop is then bypassed and control passes to the next statement. An illustration is shown below:

WHILE total <= 25000 LOOP
...
SELECT sal INTO salary FROM emp WHERE...
total := total + salary;
END LOOP;

The number of iterations depends on the condition and is not known until the loop done. The condition is tested at the top of the loop, so the series might execute zero times. In the last illustration, if the initial value of total is bigger than 25000, the condition is false and the loop is bypassed.

A few languages have a LOOP UNTIL or REPEAT UNTIL structure, that tests the condition at the bottom of the loop rather than at the top. So, the sequence of the statements is executed at least once. The PL/SQL has no such structure, but you can easily build one, as shown:

LOOP
sequence_of_statements
EXIT WHEN boolean_expression;
END LOOP;

To make sure that a WHILE loop executes at least once, then use an initialized Boolean variable in the condition which is as shown below:

done := FALSE;
WHILE NOT done LOOP
sequence_of_statements
done := boolean_expression;
END LOOP;


The statement inside the loop should assign a new value to the Boolean variable. Or else, you have an infinite loop. For illustration, the following LOOP statements are logically equal:

WHILE TRUE LOOP | LOOP
... | ...
END LOOP; | END LOOP;


Related Discussions:- While-loop - iterative control

Row operators - sql operators, Row Operators The Row operators return ...

Row Operators The Row operators return or reference the particular rows. ALL retains the duplicate rows in the result of a query or in an aggregate expression. The DISTINCT el

Updating tables in sql, Updating Tables in SQL The topic of updating b...

Updating Tables in SQL The topic of updating by describing the assignment operator, ":=" in Tutorial D. SQL uses a different syntax for assignment, using the key word SET and

Selecting objects in pl sql, Selecting Objects: Suppose that you have ...

Selecting Objects: Suppose that you have run the SQL*Plus script below that creates object type Person and object table persons, and that you have settled the table: CREATE

Declaring exceptions - user-defined exceptions, Declaring Exceptions T...

Declaring Exceptions The Exceptions can be declared only in the declarative part of the PL/SQL subprogram, block, or package. By introducing its name, you can declare an excep

Left and right joins, Left and Right Joins LEFT OUTER JOIN can be used...

Left and Right Joins LEFT OUTER JOIN can be used when you want to retrieve the data from the main table (table1) even if there is no match in other tables (table_2, table_3...

Functions in pl/sql, Functions   The function is a subprogram that cal...

Functions   The function is a subprogram that calculates a value. The Functions and procedures are structured similar, except that the functions have a RETURN clause. You can

Row counterparts of table operators - sql, Row Counterparts of Table Operat...

Row Counterparts of Table Operators SQL does not have counterparts tuple rename, tuple projection, tuple extension, tuple join and tuple compose. To obtain the same effects as

Parameter & keyword description-execute immediate statement, Parameter and ...

Parameter and Keyword Description: dynamic_string: This is a string variable, literal, or expression which represents a SQL statement or the PL/SQL block. define_vari

Exception_init pragma - pl/sql, EXCEPTION_INIT Pragma The pragma EXCEPT...

EXCEPTION_INIT Pragma The pragma EXCEPTION_INIT relates an exception name with an Oracle error number. Which allow you to refer to any internal exception by the name and to wri

Predicate - sql, Predicate - SQL Consider the declarative sentence-a p...

Predicate - SQL Consider the declarative sentence-a proposition-that is used to introduce this topic:  "Student S1, named Anne, is enrolled on course C1." Recall that th

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd