Get the first value from Oracle cursor - Calling From Java Code - oracle

Question

I have a oracle cursor which I have created to facilitate concurrency. This is my cursor.
create or replace FUNCTION get_unlocked_records RETURN table_to_test%ROWTYPE IS
CURSOR c IS SELECT * FROM table_to_test where status_code = 5 FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED;
record_to_get table_to_test%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
OPEN c;
FETCH c INTO record_to_get;
CLOSE c;
RETURN record_to_get;
END;
When I do the testing in 2 separate sql sessions using these commands,it gives the following errors.
declare
record_to_gets table_to_test%ROWTYPE;
begin
exec :record_to_gets := get_unlocked_records;
dbms_output.put_line(record_to_gets);
end;
Error
Error starting at line : 32 in command -
declare
record_to_gets table_to_test%ROWTYPE;
begin
exec :record_to_gets := get_unlocked_records;
dbms_output.put_line(record_to_gets);
end;
Error report -
ORA-06550: line 4, column 7:
PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "" when expecting one of the following:
:= . ( # % ;
The symbol ";" was substituted for "" to continue.
06550. 00000 - "line %s, column %s:\n%s"
*Cause: Usually a PL/SQL compilation error.
*Action:
What is the error that I am doing here ?
Since my ultimate goal is to call the function and get the result in java, how to call this function to get the first record in java ?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

EXEC[UTE] is a SQL*Plus command and prepending variable with a colon is done in SQL*Plus, but in PL/SQL EXECUTE IMMEDIATE might be used whereas that's not needed in your case, only using such an assignment without prepending the local variable is enough :
DECLARE
record_to_gets table_to_test%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
record_to_gets := get_unlocked_records;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(record_to_gets.col1);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(record_to_gets.col2)
END;
/