PL/SQL create object inside a anonymous block - object

Question

I'm new to Oracle SQL DEVELOPER and I can't create a object inside a anonymous block.
In this page Oracle Database Object-Relational Developer's Guide
CREATE TYPE address_typ AS OBJECT (
street VARCHAR2(30),
city VARCHAR2(20),
state CHAR(2),
postal_code VARCHAR2(6) );
/
CREATE TYPE employee_typ AS OBJECT (
employee_id NUMBER(6),
first_name VARCHAR2(20),
last_name VARCHAR2(25),
email VARCHAR2(25),
phone_number VARCHAR2(20),
hire_date DATE,
job_id VARCHAR2(10),
salary NUMBER(8,2),
commission_pct NUMBER(2,2),
manager_id NUMBER(6),
department_id NUMBER(4),
address address_typ,
MAP MEMBER FUNCTION get_idno RETURN NUMBER,
MEMBER PROCEDURE display_address ( SELF IN OUT NOCOPY employee_typ ) );
/
CREATE TYPE BODY employee_typ AS
MAP MEMBER FUNCTION get_idno RETURN NUMBER IS
BEGIN
RETURN employee_id;
END;
MEMBER PROCEDURE display_address ( SELF IN OUT NOCOPY employee_typ ) IS
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(first_name || ' ' || last_name);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(address.street);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(address.city || ', ' || address.state || ' ' ||
address.postal_code);
END;
END;
/
CREATE TABLE employee_tab OF employee_typ;
And...
--Requires the top code
DECLARE
emp employee_typ; -- emp is atomically null
BEGIN
-- call the constructor for employee_typ
emp := employee_typ(315, 'Francis', 'Logan', 'FLOGAN',
'415.555.0100', '01-MAY-04', 'SA_MAN', 11000, .15, 101, 110,
address_typ('376 Mission', 'San Francisco', 'CA', '94222'));
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(emp.first_name || ' ' || emp.last_name); -- display details
emp.display_address(); -- call object method to display details
END;
/
There are 2 separated block of code (Example 3-1 Working With Object Types and Example 3-2 Declaring Objects in a PL/SQL Block). How can i put it all in one anonymous block?
Can't I create the object inside the scope of a anonymous block, use it and them remove it?

Answer 1

you cannot do direct DDL within an anonymous block. You should use dynamic SQL:
declare
l_sql varchar2(2000);
begin
l_sql := 'CREATE TYPE address_typ AS OBJECT (
street VARCHAR2(30),
city VARCHAR2(20),
state CHAR(2),
postal_code VARCHAR2(6) )';
execute immediate l_sql;
end;
So put each of your "create type" in a dynamic SQL and it should do what you want!

Answer 2

If you just need a temporary data structure you can use record type in block level declaration, is less readable and limitated but can works for some simple stuff
declare
type address_typ is record(
street VARCHAR2(30),
city VARCHAR2(20),
state CHAR(2),
postal_code VARCHAR2(6)
);
TYPE employee_typ is record (
employee_id NUMBER(6),
first_name VARCHAR2(20),
last_name VARCHAR2(25),
email VARCHAR2(25),
phone_number VARCHAR2(20),
hire_date DATE,
job_id VARCHAR2(10),
salary NUMBER(8,2),
commission_pct NUMBER(2,2),
manager_id NUMBER(6),
department_id NUMBER(4),
address address_typ/*,
MAP MEMBER FUNCTION get_idno RETURN NUMBER,
MEMBER PROCEDURE display_address ( SELF IN OUT NOCOPY employee_typ ) */
);
emp employee_typ;
begin
emp.employee_id := 315;
emp.first_name := 'Francis';
emp.last_name := 'Logan';
--and so on for the others fields
emp.address.street := '376 Mission';
emp.address.city := 'San Francisco';
emp.address.state := 'CA';
emp.address.postal_code := '94222';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(emp.first_name || ' ' || emp.last_name);
--no member available so you have to print each field
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(emp.address.street);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(emp.address.city || ', ' || emp.address.state || ' ' || emp.address.postal_code);
end;