What actually PROMPT<?> syntax do in oracle procedure? - oracle

Question

So, in this code what exactly PROMPT syntax do?
PROMPT create or replace procedure abc (p_name, p_id)
AUTHID CURRENT_USER
as
begin
dbms_output.put_line('hi');
end;

Answer 1

PROMPT has a meaning if you run some code in SQL*Plus (not many people do that nowadays). It displays text what follows that keyword.
SQL> help prompt
PROMPT
------
Sends the specified message or a blank line to the user's screen.
PRO[MPT] [text]
SQL> prompt hello there!
hello there!
SQL>
In your case, it produces unwanted result as it displays the create procedure (instead of creating it):
SQL> PROMPT create or replace procedure abc (p_name, p_id)
create or replace procedure abc (p_name, p_id)
SQL> AUTHID CURRENT_USER
SP2-0734: unknown command beginning "AUTHID CUR..." - rest of line ignored.
SQL> as
SP2-0042: unknown command "as" - rest of line ignored.
SQL> begin
2 dbms_output.put_line('hi');
3 end;
4 /
hi
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
You got the result, but just as pure accident as
begin
dbms_output.put_line('hi');
end;
was a valid PL/SQL block.
Code you posted (without prompt) is invalid:
SQL> create or replace procedure abc (p_name, p_id)
2 AUTHID CURRENT_USER
3 as
4 begin
5 dbms_output.put_line('hi');
6 end;
7 /
Warning: Procedure created with compilation errors.
SQL> show err
Errors for PROCEDURE ABC:
LINE/COL ERROR
-------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
1/22 PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "," when expecting one of the
following:
in out <an identifier> <a double-quoted delimited-identifier>
... long double ref char time timestamp interval date binary
national character nchar
3/1 PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "AS" when expecting one of the
following:
with authid cluster order deterministic parallel_enable
pipelined result_cache
6/4 PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "end-of-file" when expecting
one of the following:
end not pragma final instantiable order overriding static
member constructor map
SQL>
What does it mean? Procedure's parameters have to have datatype:
SQL> create or replace procedure abc (p_name in varchar2, p_id in number)
2 AUTHID CURRENT_USER
3 as
4 begin
5 dbms_output.put_line('hi');
6 end;
7 /
Procedure created.
SQL> exec abc(null, null);
hi
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>