can plsql function return object - oracle

Question

i have encountered a problem while writing the following code:
create or replace function getashish(dept varchar2) return emp3 as
emp5 emp3;
str varchar2(300);
begin
str := 'select e.last_name,l.city,e.salary from employees e join departments d
on e.department_id = d.department_id join locations l on d.location_id=l.location_id where
d.department_name = :dept';
execute immediate str bulk collect into emp5 using dept;
end;
emp 3 is table of an object as defined below:
create or replace type emp1 as object (lname varchar2(10),city varchar2(10),sal number(10));
create or replace type emp3 as table of emp1;
i am getting the following error while executing the function: SQL Error:
ORA-00932: inconsistent datatypes: expected - got -
thank you for your anticipated help and support.

Answer 1

try declaring emp5 as a datatype of emp1.
emp5 emp1 := emp1();

Answer 2

Please try the below, (added emp1() to your select query inside function and returned emp5)
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION getashish(
dept VARCHAR2)
RETURN emp3
AS
emp5 emp3 := emp3();
str VARCHAR2(300);
BEGIN
str := 'select emp1(e.last_name,l.city,e.salary) from employees e join departments d
on e.department_id = d.department_id join locations l on d.location_id=l.location_id where
d.department_name = :dept';
EXECUTE immediate str bulk collect INTO emp5 USING dept;
RETURN emp5;
END;
/
and the caller block
SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('IT') AS emp3))
UNION
SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('FINANCE') AS emp3));
the function returns a Table, and hence cant be used in SELECT clause, since it is supposed to return one row only, if have to be used in SELECT. Hope you got the concept!
EDIT: Whatever I did!
create table employees
(last_name varchar2(10),salary number,department_id varchar2(10));
create table locations
(location_id varchar2(10),city varchar2(10));
drop table employees;
create table departments
(department_id varchar2(10),location_id varchar2(10),department_name varchar2(10));
insert into employees values ('ASHISH',6000000,'D1');
insert into employees values ('MAHESH',5000000,'D2');
insert into departments values('D1','L1','IT');
insert into departments values('D2','L2','FINANCE');
insert into locations values('L1','Gurgoan');
insert into locations values('L2','Chennai');
commit;
create or replace type emp1 as object (lname varchar2(10),city varchar2(10),sal number(10));
/
create or replace type emp3 as table of emp1;
/
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION getashish(
dept VARCHAR2)
RETURN emp3
AS
emp5 emp3 := emp3();
str VARCHAR2(300);
BEGIN
str := 'select emp1(e.last_name,l.city,e.salary) from employees e join departments d
on e.department_id = d.department_id join locations l on d.location_id=l.location_id where
d.department_name = :dept';
EXECUTE immediate str bulk collect INTO emp5 USING dept;
RETURN emp5;
END;
/
SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('IT') AS emp3))
UNION
SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('FINANCE') AS emp3));
SQL> SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('IT') AS emp3))
2 UNION
3 SELECT * FROM TABLE( CAST(getashish('FINANCE') AS emp3));
LNAME CITY SAL
---------- ---------- ----------
ASHISH Gurgoan 6000000
MAHESH Chennai 5000000