OceanBase logo

OceanBase

A unified distributed database ready for your transactional, analytical, and AI workloads.

Product Overview
DEPLOY YOUR WAY

OceanBase Cloud

The best way to deploy and scale OceanBase

OceanBase Enterprise

Run and manage OceanBase on your infra

TRY OPEN SOURCE

OceanBase Community Edition

The free, open-source distributed database

OceanBase seekdb

Open source AI native search database

Customer Stories

Real-world success stories from enterprises across diverse industries.

View All
BY USE CASES

Mission-Critical Transactions

Global & Multicloud Application

Elastic Scaling for Peak Traffic

Real-time Analytics

Active Geo-redundancy

Database Consolidation

Resources

Comprehensive knowledge hub for OceanBase.

Blog

Live Demos

Training & Certification

Documentation

Official technical guides, tutorials, API references, and manuals for all OceanBase products.

View All
PRODUCTS

OceanBase Cloud

OceanBase Database

Tools

Connectors and Middleware

QUICK START

OceanBase Cloud

OceanBase Database

BEST PRACTICES

Practical guides for utilizing OceanBase more effectively and conveniently

Company

Learn more about OceanBase – our company, partnerships, and trust and security initiatives.

About OceanBase

Partner

Trust Center

Contact Us

International - English
中国站 - 简体中文
日本 - 日本語
Sign In
Start on Cloud

OceanBase

A unified distributed database ready for your transactional, analytical, and AI workloads.

Product Overview
DEPLOY YOUR WAY

OceanBase Cloud

The best way to deploy and scale OceanBase

OceanBase Enterprise

Run and manage OceanBase on your infra

TRY OPEN SOURCE

OceanBase Community Edition

The free, open-source distributed database

OceanBase seekdb

Open source AI native search database

Customer Stories

Real-world success stories from enterprises across diverse industries.

View All
BY USE CASES

Mission-Critical Transactions

Global & Multicloud Application

Elastic Scaling for Peak Traffic

Real-time Analytics

Active Geo-redundancy

Database Consolidation

Comprehensive knowledge hub for OceanBase.

Blog

Live Demos

Training & Certification

Documentation

Official technical guides, tutorials, API references, and manuals for all OceanBase products.

View All
PRODUCTS
OceanBase CloudOceanBase Database
ToolsConnectors and Middleware
QUICK START
OceanBase CloudOceanBase Database
BEST PRACTICES

Practical guides for utilizing OceanBase more effectively and conveniently

Learn more about OceanBase – our company, partnerships, and trust and security initiatives.

About OceanBase

Partner

Trust Center

Contact Us

Start on Cloud
编组
All Products
    • Databases
    • iconOceanBase Database
    • iconOceanBase Cloud
    • iconOceanBase Tugraph
    • iconInteractive Tutorials
    • iconOceanBase Best Practices
    • Tools
    • iconOceanBase Cloud Platform
    • iconOceanBase Migration Service
    • iconOceanBase Developer Center
    • iconOceanBase Migration Assessment
    • iconOceanBase Admin Tool
    • iconOceanBase Loader and Dumper
    • iconOceanBase Deployer
    • iconKubernetes operator for OceanBase
    • iconOceanBase Diagnostic Tool
    • iconOceanBase Binlog Service
    • Connectors and Middleware
    • iconOceanBase Database Proxy
    • iconEmbedded SQL in C for OceanBase
    • iconOceanBase Call Interface
    • iconOceanBase Connector/C
    • iconOceanBase Connector/J
    • iconOceanBase Connector/ODBC
    • iconOceanBase Connector/NET
icon

OceanBase Database

SQL - V4.3.5

    Download PDF

    OceanBase logo

    The Unified Distributed Database for the AI Era.

    Follow Us
    Products
    OceanBase CloudOceanBase EnterpriseOceanBase Community EditionOceanBase seekdb
    Resources
    DocsBlogLive DemosTraining & CertificationTicket
    Company
    About OceanBaseTrust CenterLegalPartnerContact Us
    Follow Us

    © OceanBase 2026. All rights reserved

    Cloud Service AgreementPrivacy PolicySecurity
    Contact Us
    Document Feedback
    1. Documentation Center
    2. OceanBase Database
    3. SQL
    4. V4.3.5
    iconOceanBase Database
    SQL - V 4.3.5
    SQL
    KV
    • V 4.6.0
    • V 4.4.2
    • V 4.3.5
    • V 4.3.3
    • V 4.3.1
    • V 4.3.0
    • V 4.2.5
    • V 4.2.2
    • V 4.2.1
    • V 4.2.0
    • V 4.1.0
    • V 4.0.0
    • V 3.1.4 and earlier

    Create a function

    Last Updated:2026-04-09 02:53:56  Updated
    share
    What is on this page
    Passing parameters
    Default values

    folded

    share

    A PL function is a subprogram that consists of one or more SQL statements and can be executed repeatedly. A function can return only one variable and must contain a valid RETURN statement.

    Applicability

    This topic applies only to OceanBase Database Enterprise Edition. OceanBase Database Community Edition provides only MySQL mode.

    The basic syntax for creating a function is as follows:

    CREATE [OR REPLACE] FUNCTION function_name
    [ (argment [ { IN | IN OUT }] Type,
          argment [ { IN | OUT | IN OUT } ] Type ]
        [ AUTHID DEFINER | CURRENT_USER ]
    RETURN return_type 
    { IS | AS }
     delarification_block
    BEGIN
        FUNCTION_body
    EXCEPTION
        exception_handler
    END;
    

    Here is an example:

    obclient> CREATE TABLE employees(  
           empno          NUMBER(4,0),  
           empname        VARCHAR(10),  
           job            VARCHAR(10),   
          deptno          NUMBER(2,0), 
          salary          NUMERIC  
       );
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    
    obclient> INSERT INTO employees VALUES (200,'Jennifer','AD_ASST',1,15000),
           (202,'Pat','MK_REP',3,12000),(119,'Karen','PU_CLERK', 4,10000),(201,'Michael','MK_MAN',3,9000);
    Query OK, 4 rows affected )
    Records: 4  Duplicates: 0  Warnings: 0
    
    obclient> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_salary_by_dept(
           v_in_dept_id NUMBER,
           v_out_emp_count OUT NUMBER)
           RETURN NUMBER 
       IS
           v_sum NUMBER;
       BEGIN
           SELECT SUM(salary), count(*) INTO v_sum, v_out_emp_count
               FROM employees WHERE deptno=v_in_dept_id;
           RETURN v_sum;
       EXCEPTION
          WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN 
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Dept id '||v_in_dept_id||' not found');
          WHEN OTHERS THEN 
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('ERR: '||SQLCODE||': '||SQLERRM);
       END get_salary_by_dept;
    /
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    

    Passing parameters

    You can pass parameters to a function by using any of the following methods:

    • Positional notation.

    You can pass parameters in the order in which they are defined. The syntax is argument_value1[,argument_value2 ...]

    Here is an example:

    obclient> DECLARE
             v_num NUMBER;
             v_sum NUMBER;
         BEGIN
             v_sum :=get_salary_by_dept(3, v_num);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total salary: '||v_sum);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total amount of person: '||v_num);
         END;
         /
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    
    Total salary: 21000
    Total amount of person: 2
    
    • Named notation.

    You can explicitly specify the parameter names and values. You do not need to pass parameters in the order in which they are defined. The syntax is argument1 => parameter1 [, argument2 => parameter2[, ...]]

    Here is an example:

    obclient> DECLARE
             v_num NUMBER;
             v_sum NUMBER;
         BEGIN
             v_sum :=get_salary_by_dept(v_out_emp_count => v_num, v_in_dept_id => 3 );
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total salary: '||v_sum);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total amount of person: '||v_num);
             END;
         /
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    
    Total salary: 21000
    Total amount of person: 2
    
    • Mixed notation.

    You can use both positional and named notations to pass parameters to a function. When you use mixed notation, the parameters passed by using positional notation must be placed before the parameters passed by using named notation. In other words, if any parameter is passed by using named notation, all the following parameters must be passed by using named notation.

    Here is an example:

    obclient> DECLARE
             v_num NUMBER;
             v_sum NUMBER;
         BEGIN
             v_sum :=get_salary_by_dept(3, v_out_emp_count => v_num );
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total salary: '||v_sum);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Total amount of person: '||v_num);
         END;
         /
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    
    Total salary: 21000
    Total amount of person: 2
    

    Default values

    You can use the DEFAULT keyword to specify default values for input parameters in the CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION statement. Here is an example:

    
    CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION demo_def_args(
    
    name VARCHAR2,
    age INTEGER,
        -- If you do not specify a value for gender, the default value is 'Male'.
        gender VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'Male')
        RETURN VARCHAR2
        AS
        V_var VARCHAR2(32);
    BEGIN
        V_var := name||', '||gender||', '||TO_CHAR(age)||' years old.';
    RETURN v_var;
        END;
        ```
    After a function with default values is created, if you do not specify actual values for parameters with default values when you call the function, the function uses the default values. However, if you specify actual values for default parameters when you call the function, the function uses the actual values. When you create a function, you can specify default values only for input parameters, not for input/output parameters.
    ```javascript
    obclient> DECLARE
         Var VARCHAR(32);
         BEGIN
             Var := demo_def_args('Roger', 30);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(var);
        
             Var := demo_def_args('Allen', age => 40);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(var);
        
             Var := demo_def_args('Tracy', gender => 'Female', age => 20);
             DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(var);
         END;
         /
    Query OK, 0 rows affected 
    
    Roger, Male, 30 years old.
    Allen, Male, 40 years old.
    Tracy, Female, 20 years old.
    

    Previous topic

    Create a stored procedure
    Last

    Next topic

    Manage stored procedures and functions
    Next
    What is on this page
    Passing parameters
    Default values