PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference

RETURN Statement

Description

The RETURN statement immediately completes the execution of a subprogram and returns control to the caller. Execution then resumes with the statement following the subprogram call. In a function, the RETURN statement also sets the function identifier to the result value. For more information, see "RETURN Statement"

Syntax

return_statement ::=

RETURN [expression];

Keyword and Parameter Description

expression

This is an arbitrarily complex combination of variables, constants, literals, operators, and function calls. The simplest expression consists of a single variable. For the syntax of expression, see "Expressions"

. When the RETURN statement is executed, the value of expression is assigned to the function identifier.

Usage Notes

Do not confuse the RETURN statement with the RETURN clause, which specifies the datatype of the result value in a function specification.

A subprogram can contain several RETURN statements, none of which need be the last lexical statement. Executing any of them completes the subprogram immediately. However, it is poor programming practice to have multiple exit points in a subprogram.

In procedures, a RETURN statement cannot contain an expression. The statement simply returns control to the caller before the normal end of the procedure is reached.

However, in functions, a RETURN statement must contain an expression, which is evaluated when the RETURN statement is executed. The resulting value is assigned to the function identifier. Therefore, a function must contain at least one RETURN statement. Otherwise, PL/SQL raises the predefined exception PROGRAM_ERROR at run time.

The RETURN statement can also be used in an anonymous block to exit the block (and all enclosing blocks) immediately, but the RETURN statement cannot contain an expression.

Example

In the following example, the function balance RETURNs the balance of a specified bank account:

FUNCTION balance (acct_id INTEGER) RETURN REAL IS
    acct_bal  REAL;
BEGIN
    SELECT bal INTO acct_bal FROM accts WHERE acctno = acct_id;
    RETURN acct_bal;
END balance;