Returning a ref cursor from a Oracle Function

Question

I am getting the error - PLS-00382 Expression is of wrong type.
I want to get the ref cursor as output. please let me know how can I do this

create or replace function  test_cur
return sys_refcursor
as
  var_ref sys_refcursor;
begin
  open var_ref for
  select item,status
    from item_master  
   where rownum <10;
  return var_ref;
end;


declare
  l_var sys_refcursor;
  l_item varchar2(100);
  l_status varchar2(10);
begin
  l_var:=test_cur;
  open l_var;
  loop
    fetch l_var into  l_item,l_status;
    exit when l_var%notfound;
    dbms_output.put_line(l_item||','||l_status);
  end loop;
end;

Can anybody please help me resolving this issue?

Answer 1

A couple of mistakes, look into my working example, just changed the source table:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION  TEST_CUR RETURN SYS_REFCURSOR
AS
   VAR_REF SYS_REFCURSOR;
BEGIN
    OPEN VAR_REF FOR
        SELECT *
        FROM DUAL;

    RETURN VAR_REF;
END;

Here you don't need to open the cursor, it is already opened.

DECLARE
    L_VAR SYS_REFCURSOR;
    L_STATUS VARCHAR2(10);
BEGIN
    L_VAR:=TEST_CUR;
    LOOP
        FETCH L_VAR INTO L_STATUS;
        EXIT WHEN L_VAR%NOTFOUND;
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE( L_STATUS );
    END LOOP;
    CLOSE L_VAR;
END;

A really interesting post showing how to test oracle cursors:

5 different ways to test Oracle Ref Cursor results