Cannot call function in query

PL/SQL: I've declared a function in a package that simply returns a constant.

When I use this function in a SQL query I get an error message that tells me something like "Cannot perform query as database may be updated. Cannot guarantee nonupdate."

If I then define a copy of this function outside the package (i.e.. simply a stored function) and call it from within a query, the query works fine.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Any help appreciated,
Rowan McCammon. Received on Wed Jun 04 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT