Oracle – Is it possible to create Oracle associative array type outside of a package/procedure

oracleplsql

In Oracle Database 10g, is it possible to create an associative array type outside of a package or procedure? I would like to be able to do this so that I can reference this associative array type in another type. For example:

create type my_type_map is table of varchar2(10) index by varchar2(10);

create type my_other_type as object (   
    id number(15),
    member procedure initialize(p_my_type_map my_type_map)
) not instantiable not final;

The error I get is:

SQL> create type my_type_map is table of varchar2(20) index by varchar2(10);
  2  /

Warning: Type created with compilation errors.

SQL> show errors;
Errors for TYPE MY_TYPE_MAP:

LINE/COL ERROR
-------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
0/0      PL/SQL: Compilation unit analysis terminated
1/21     PLS-00355: use of pl/sql table not allowed in this context
SQL>

Seems that Oracle considers:

index by varchar2(10)

to be PL/SQL and doens't allow it in the creation of SQL types. If Oracle really doesn't allow associative arrays to be defined outside of packages then is there a good alternative? Is it possible to create types that extend Oracle's Object inside of a package so that all types are defined in the same package?

Thanks,
Jeff

Edit: Corrected code sample, added log, added possible alternative as question.

Best Answer

The answer is no, you cannot do what you're trying to do, any more than you can create a type to add a BOOLEAN typed variable to an object. The items in an object must contain Oracle types, not PL/SQL types. A bit clunky alternative could be:

CREATE TYPE t_aa AS VARRAY(10) OF VARCHAR2(10);

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE t_ua AS OBJECT (ID NUMBER(15)
                                     , MEMBER PROCEDURE initialize(p_aa t_aa)
                                     , MEMBER PROCEDURE initialize(p_aa_i t_aa))
                               NOT INSTANTIABLE NOT FINAL;

Store your associated pairs of variables in the two VARRAYs. You will have to know the largest possible size of your arrays.

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