Function results column names to be used in select statement - oracle

Question

I have function which returns column names and i am trying to use the column name as part of my select statement, but my results are coming as column name instead of values
FUNCTION returning column name:
get_col_name(input1, input2)
Can И use this query to the results of the column from table -
SELECT GET_COL_NAME(input1,input2) FROM TABLE;

Answer 1

There are a few ways to run dynamic SQL directly inside a SQL statement. These techniques should be avoided since they are usually complicated, slow, and buggy. Before you do this try to find another way to solve the problem.
The below solution uses DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML to produce XML from a dynamically created SQL statement, and then uses XML table processing to extract the value.
This is the simplest way to run dynamic SQL in SQL, and it only requires built-in packages. The main limitation is that the number and type of columns is still fixed. If you need a function that returns an unknown number of columns you'll need something more powerful, like the open source program Method4. But that level of dynamic code gets even more difficult and should only be used after careful consideration.
Sample schema
--drop table table1;
create table table1(a number, b number);
insert into table1 values(1, 2);
commit;
Function that returns column name
create or replace function get_col_name(input1 number, input2 number) return varchar2 is
begin
if input1 = 0 then
return 'a';
else
return 'b';
end if;
end;
/
Sample query and result
select dynamic_column
from
(
select xmltype(dbms_xmlgen.getxml('
select '||get_col_name(0,0)||' dynamic_column from table1'
)) xml_results
from dual
)
cross join
xmltable
(
'/ROWSET/ROW'
passing xml_results
columns dynamic_column varchar2(4000) path 'DYNAMIC_COLUMN'
);
DYNAMIC_COLUMN
--------------
1
If you change the inputs to the function the new value is 2 from column B. Use this SQL Fiddle to test the code.