PL/SQL Function return custom type exception - oracle

Question

I have created a package which holds a custom type and a function that returns the custom type as below;
create or replace
PACKAGE INHOUSE_CUST_API
AS
TYPE doc_rec
IS
RECORD
(
doc_Title doc_issue_reference.title%Type,
doc_Number DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE.DOC_NO%TYPE,
doc_Type DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE.FILE_TYPE%TYPE,
doc_FileName DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE.FILE_NAME%TYPE,
doc_Path DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE.PATH%TYPE);
FUNCTION Get_Budget_Doc(
company IN VARCHAR2,
budget_process_id IN VARCHAR2,
budget_ptemplate_id IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN doc_rec;
END INHOUSE_CUST_API;
after that, I created the body of the function as below
create or replace
PACKAGE BODY INHOUSE_CUST_API
AS
FUNCTION Get_Budget_Doc(
company IN VARCHAR2,
budget_process_id IN VARCHAR2,
budget_ptemplate_id IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN doc_rec
IS
enhDocItem ENHANCED_DOC_REFERENCE_OBJECT%ROWTYPE;
docIssueRef DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE%ROWTYPE;
docKeyValue VARCHAR2(150);
docIssueRef_rec doc_rec;
BEGIN
docKeyValue := company||'^'||budget_process_id||'^'||budget_ptemplate_id||'^';
--dbms_output.put_line(docKeyValue);
SELECT *
INTO enhDocItem
FROM ENHANCED_DOC_REFERENCE_OBJECT
WHERE KEY_VALUE= docKeyValue;
SELECT *
INTO docIssueRef
FROM DOC_ISSUE_REFERENCE
WHERE DOC_NO = enhDocItem.DOC_NO;
docIssueRef_rec.doc_Title :=docIssueRef.Title;
docIssueRef_rec.doc_Number:=docIssueRef.DOC_NO;
docIssueRef_rec.doc_Type :=docIssueRef.FILE_TYPE;
docIssueRef_rec.doc_Path :=docIssueRef.PATH;
RETURN docIssueRef_rec;
END Get_Budget_Doc;
END INHOUSE_CUST_API;
when I try to call the function as like
select INHOUSE_CUST_API.Get_Budget_Doc('param1','param2','param3') from dual;
I receive this exception
ORA-00902: invalid datatype
00902. 00000 - "invalid datatype"
*Cause:
*Action:
any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

You might want to use a table function to return your custom type. Here is a very simple example:
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE brianl.deleteme AS
TYPE doc_rec_t IS RECORD
(
name VARCHAR2( 10 )
, age NUMBER( 3 )
);
TYPE doc_rec_tt IS TABLE OF doc_rec_t;
FUNCTION age( p_name IN VARCHAR2, p_age IN NUMBER, p_years IN INTEGER )
RETURN doc_rec_tt
PIPELINED;
END deleteme;
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY brianl.deleteme AS
FUNCTION age( p_name IN VARCHAR2, p_age IN NUMBER, p_years IN INTEGER )
RETURN doc_rec_tt
PIPELINED AS
l_ret doc_rec_t;
BEGIN
l_ret.name := p_name;
l_ret.age := p_age;
FOR i IN 1 .. p_years
LOOP
PIPE ROW (l_ret);
l_ret.age := l_ret.age + 1;
END LOOP;
END age;
END deleteme;
Invoke as follows:
SELECT * FROM TABLE( brianl.deleteme.age( 'Brian', 67, 3 ) );
The results:
NAME AGE
Brian 67
Brian 68
Brian 69

Answer 2

a SELECT statement in direct mode cann't return a complex data type like a record.