PLSQL generate random integer

Question

In Oracle Sql developer 11g, how do I generate a random integer and assign it to a variable? This is what I've tried so far:

S_TB := SELECT dbms_random.value(1,10) num FROM dual;

With this code I got error:

S_TB := SELECT dbms_random.value(1,10) num FROM dual
Error report -
Unknown Command

What is the proper way to solve my issue?

Answer 1

Variables require PL/SQL; it's not clear from your question whether your code is a proper PL/SQL block. In PL/SQL variables are populated from queries using the INTO syntax rather than the assignment syntax you're using.

declare
    txt varchar2(128);
    n pls_integer;
begin
    --  this is how to assign a literal
    txt := 'your message here';

    --  how to assign the output from a query
    SELECT dbms_random.value(1,10) num 
    into n
    FROM dual;

end;

Although, you don't need to use the query syntax. This is valid, and better practice:

declare
    n pls_integer;
begin
    n := dbms_random.value(1,10);
end;