sqlplus - using a bind variable in "IN" clause - oracle

Question

I am setting a bind variable in a PL/SQL block, and I'm trying to use it in another query's IN expression. Something like this:
variable x varchar2(255)
declare
x varchar2(100);
begin
for r in (select id from other_table where abc in ('&val1','&val2','&val3') ) loop
x := x||''''||r.id||''',';
end loop;
--get rid of the trailing ','
x:= substr(x,1,length(x)-1);
select x into :bind_var from dual;
end;
/
print :bind_var;
select *
from some_table
where id in (:bind_var);
And I get an error (ORA-01722: Invalid number) on the query that tries to use the bind variable in the "IN" list.
The print statement yiels '123','345' which is what I expect.
Is it possible to use the bind variable like this or should I try a different approach?
(using Oracle 10g)
Clarification:
This is for a reconcilliation sort of thing. I want to run
select *
from some_table
where id in (select id from other_table where abc in ('&val1','&val2','&val3'))
before the main part of the script (not pictured here) deletes a whole bunch of records. I want to run it again afterwards to verify that records in some_table have NOT been deleted. However, the data in other_table DOES get deleted by this process so I can't just refer to the data in other_table because there's nothing there. I need a way to preserve the other_table.id values so that I can verify the parent records afterwards.

Answer 1

I would store the other_table.id's in a PL/SQL table and reference that table in the query afterwards:
type t_id_table is table OF other_table.id%type index by binary_integer;
v_table t_id_table;
-- fill the table
select id
bulk collect into v_table
from other_table
where abc in ('&val1','&val2','&val3');
-- then at a later stage...
select *
from some_table st
, table(cast(v_table AS t_id_table)) idt
where st.id = idt.id;

Answer 2

You can't use comma-separated values in one bind variable.
You could say:
select * from some_table where id in (:bind_var1, :bind_var2)
though
You're better off using something like:
select * from some_table where id in ("select blah blah blah...");

Answer 3

I would use a global temporary table for this purpose
create global temporary table gtt_ids( id number ) ;
then
...
for r in (select id from other_table where ... ) loop
insert into gtt_ids(id) values (r.id) ;
end loop;
...
and at the end
select *
from some_table
where id in (select id from gtt_ids);

Answer 4

changed the loop to use listagg (sadly this will only work in 11gr2).
but for the variable in list, I used a regular expression to accomplish the goal (but pre 10g you can use substr to do the same) this is lifted from the asktom question linked.
variable bind_var varchar2(255)
variable dataSeperationChar varchar2(255)
declare
x varchar2(100);
begin
select listagg(id,',') within group(order by id) idList
into x
from(select level id
from dual
connect by level < 100 )
where id in (&val1,&val2,&val3) ;
select x into :bind_var from dual;
:dataSeperationChar := ',';
end;
/
print :bind_var;
/
select *
from (
select level id2
from dual
connect by level < 100
)
where id2 in(
select -- transform the comma seperated string into a result set
regexp_substr(:dataSeperationChar||:bind_var||','
, '[^'||:dataSeperationChar||']+'
,1
,level) as parsed_value
from dual
connect by level <= length(regexp_replace(:bind_var, '([^'||:dataSeperationChar||'])', '')) + 1
)
;
/*
values of 1,5, and 25
BIND_VAR
------
1,5,25
ID2
----------------------
1
5
25
*/
EDIT
Oops just noticed that you did mark 10g, the only thing to do is NOT to use the listagg that I did at the start

Answer 5

Ok, I have a kind of ugly solution that also uses substitution variables...
col idList NEW_VALUE v_id_list /* This is NEW! */
variable x varchar2(255)
declare
x varchar2(100);
begin
for r in (select id from other_table where abc in ('&val1','&val2','&val3') ) loop
x := x||''''||r.id||''',';
end loop;
--get rid of the trailing ','
x:= substr(x,1,length(x)-1);
select x into :bind_var from dual;
end;
/
print :bind_var;
select :x idList from dual; /* This is NEW! */
select *
from some_table
where id in (&idList); /* This is CHANGED! */
It works, but I'll accept an answer from someone else if it's more elegant.