Running a Procedure with INOUT, OUT and RETURN parameters

Procedures can return data through parameters. This would typically be done when single values, rather than a set of data, needs to be returned.

The Run Procedure window shows the Type of parameter. This can be:

• OUT. Data is returned into this parameter.
• INOUT. Data is passed to the procedure, plus returned from the procedure, in this paremeter
• RETURN. Some databases support the use of a Return parameter. This would typically be a return code indictating the success of the procedure.

Returning Parameters into a file

When you specify an Out File, the parameter value is written to the specified file. This is useful if the parameter value is very large, is a unreadable object (such as an image) or you are running the procedure in batch.

It is recommended that a fully-qualified filename is given. If not, the file will be created in the default directory.

Return Values containing x'00' values

If your OUT and INOUT parameters contain x'00 (binary zero) characters, then the data will not display. To circumvent this problem, select Options > Display Limits > Display x'00' characters as spaces.