From PL/SQL on Server to OS File on CLient - How?

Hi:

        If I write a stored PL/SQL procedure that sends output to the screen (which I assume means stdout) via DBMS_OUTPUT, and someone  later calls this procedure from a Windows program, where would the output go? Does the oracle process created for the Windos program by the listener inherit the listener's stdout and stderr,  and then pass these on to the PL/SQL it calls? If so, does the listener leave stdout and stderr intact as it inherits them or does  it re-assign them to a file somewhere?

        In other words, if I have a function called tell_me and I do the following query:

        Select tell_me(1) from dual;

        If the call to tell_me outputs a message and I want to log it in a file rather than show it to the user, I would want the return from the PL/SQL block (via a DBMS_OUTPUT/DBMS_PIPE) to go to a file on the client machine. Is this possible? Will the output come to the screen if a DBMS_OUTPUT call is issued? If I were to use spool file on the PL/SQL block, it would not work since Spooling is a SQlplus thing - Correct?

thanks a lot,

-Badri Received on Tue May 07 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST