Re: PL/SQL v. OraPerl.

Shawn Casey (casey_at_wharton.upenn.edu) wrote:

: I am at the definition phase of a relatively large database project that
: will require integrating an Oracle database (running on a Sun) and
: the Web (or a web server). Most likely, all of the clients will be
: Web based, but some of the administrative interfaces will be created
: with a simple front-end, that is designed on a tool like Access.
 

: I am not sure about developing some of the more restrictive user
: queries and programs with PL/SQL and OraPerl. I will imagine that
: PL/SQL is probably more powerful than Perl but perl is relatively
: portable and non-proprietary.
 

: I am curious if anyone has faced the same question, or if anyone can
: share some of their eperiences with both tools.

I'd go with oraperl. The biggest problem with PL/SQL for this sort of task is the restrictive output processing: there's just no good way to do a report with logical breaks and footers and what-have-you in PL/SQL. Oraperl's no report writer, either, but IMO it's much easier to work with. The pattern-matching/string-processing alone is worth the effort.

We used[1] both oraperl and wow (which I think was a progenitor of the Oracle Webserver package), and while both had their places, I found oraperl much easier to use.

[1] on a 4GB production tracking database, Oracle 7.0, HP-UX 9.04.

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