Using Dynamic Variables in Oracle SQL Developer

Question

Trying to setup a WHILE LOOP in Oracle SQL Developer but I'm having a lot of trouble trying to set/define a variable. I'm used to working in PHP where I would declare this on my PHP scripts.

Here is what I have below. The script is unfinished I am basically going to have it loop through weeks when it is done.

VARIABLE MYDateVar2 varchar2(40);
EXEC :MYDateVar2 := '01-JAN-14';

select customer_name, 
sum(CASE when to_char(to_date(PLANNED_SHIP_DATE), 'WW') = 40 then (REVISED_QTY_DUE - QTY_SHIPPED) * SALE_UNIT_PRICE end) as Wk40
from customer_order_join 
where planned_ship_date >= :MYDateVar2 
group by customer_name;

So I am having trouble basically placing the variable 'MYDateVar2' back into the script. I've tried using @@ and : before but Oralce SQL Developer keeps prompting me for values. I also know I should probably set the varchar to be DATE but that should be fine for now.

Can someone please let me know how I properly insert a variable into the script? Thanks!

Answer 1

What you're doing is fine, as long as you tell SQL Developer to run the whole script, not just the select statement; you need to Run Script (F5), rather than Run Statement (Ctrl+Enter). If it runs the statement stand-alone then it will always prompt for the bind variable value.

Not directly relevant, but... presumably you've used a date format that is valid for your client's NLS settings, but you shouldn't rely on that; it's safer to always explicitly set the format:

where planned_ship_date >= to_date(:MYDateVar2, 'DD-MON-RR')

If you're going to loop, though, then you need to be writing PL/SQL, so you might as well declare the variable inside the block rather than at client level, unless you want to pass the same value into multiple blocks or stored procedure calls.