A collection method is a PL/SQL a function or a procedure.
The following table summarizes the collection methods.
For a null collection, EXISTS does not raise the exception COLLECTION_IS_NULL.
| Method | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DELETE | Procedure | Deletes elements from collection. |
| TRIM | Procedure | Deletes elements from end of varray or nested table. |
| EXTEND | Procedure | Adds elements to end of varray or nested table. |
| EXISTS | Function | Returns TRUE if and only if specified element of varray or nested table exists. |
| FIRST | Function | Returns first index in collection. |
| LAST | Function | Returns last index in collection. |
| COUNT | Function | Returns number of elements in collection. |
| LIMIT | Function | Returns maximum number of elements that collection can have. |
| PRIOR | Function | Returns index that precedes specified index. |
| NEXT | Function | Returns index that succeeds specified index. |
The basic syntax of a collection method invocation is:
collection_name.method
A collection method invocation can appear anywhere in PL/SQL statement, not in a SQL statement.