Conventions Used in this tutorial
The following conventions are used in this tutorial:
- Italic
- Used for file and directory names and URLs, and for the first mention of new terms under discussion.
Constant width- Used for code examples.
Constant width bold- In some code examples, highlights the statements being discussed.
- Constant width italic
- In some code examples, indicates an element (e.g., a filename) that you supply.
- UPPERCASE
- In code examples, indicates PL /SQL keywords.
- lowercase
- In code examples, indicates user-defined items like variables and parameters.
- Punctuation
- In code examples, enter exactly as shown.
- Indentation
- In code examples, helps to show structure (but is not required).
--- In code examples, a double hyphen begins a single-line comment, which extends to the end of a line.
/*and*/- In code examples, these characters delimit a multiline comment, which can extend from one line to another.
.- In code examples and related discussions, a dot qualifies a reference by separating an object name from a component name. For example, dot notation is used to select fields in a record and to specify declarations within a package.
...- In code examples, an ellipsis indicates code that's been omitted because it's not relevant to the discussion.
[ ]- In syntax descriptions, square brackets enclose optional items.
{ }- In syntax descriptions, curly brackets enclose a set of items; you must choose only one of them.
|- In syntax descriptions, a vertical bar separates the items enclosed in curly brackets, for example, {
IN | OUT | IN OUT }.
TIP: Indicates a tip, suggestion, or general note. For example, I'll tell you if you need to use a particular Oracle version or if an operation requires certain privileges.
WARNING: Indicates a warning or caution. For example, I'll tell you if Oracle does not behave as you'd expect or if a particular operation has a negative impact on performance.