PL/I and PL/SQL Programming Quiz

The %ROWCOUNT cursor attribute returns the number of rows fetched by the cursor so far. It's commonly used to check if any rows were returned or to iterate through results.

The %FOUND cursor attribute returns a BOOLEAN value (TRUE if a row was fetched, FALSE otherwise). It's a boolean indicator, not a number or string.

In Oracle PL/SQL, a package specification defines the public interface and can exist independently without a package body if there are no private procedures, functions, or bodies required.

PLS_INTEGER is a native integer type stored in machine format, making it faster for arithmetic. NUMBER is stored as Oracle's proprietary format with decimal precision. The key difference is STORAGE representation - PLS_INTEGER uses native hardware storage.

In PL/SQL and most stored procedure languages, there are three parameter modes: IN (input only), OUT (output only), and INOUT (bidirectional). These allow procedures to receive values, return values, or both. OUTIN is not a standard parameter mode.

The default parameter mode in PL/SQL and similar languages is IN, meaning parameters are input-only by default. If you want a parameter to return values, you must explicitly specify OUT or INOUT. This default behavior prevents unintended modifications of parameter values.

PL/SQL has two types of cursors: implicit cursors (automatically created by Oracle for SQL statements like SELECT) and explicit cursors (declared and managed by the programmer for finer control over row processing). The terminology is 'implicit' and 'explicit', not 'implied' or 'user defined'.

PL I permits arrays with up to 15 dimensions and elements can be any data type not just numeric. Array subscripts start at 1 by default, not 0, and arrays are memory structures not directly tied to DB2.

Every executable PL I program requires a PROCEDURE statement with OPTIONS MAIN to start and an END to terminate. Code is written in columns 2 72, variables need not always be declared due to default typing, and while procedures can contain internal procedures, the main program structure is what option A describes.

To display the value +123.45 with a decimal sign and support a sign, three integer digits, a decimal point, and two fractional digits, the picture clause PIC S999.99 is appropriate. The S indicates a sign, 999 handles the whole number part, and .99 handles the decimals.

To repeat an instruction 5 times in PL/I, the programmer can use a loop construct.

Option A is not a valid PL/I syntax.

Option B is a correct way to repeat an instruction 5 times in PL/I. It uses a DO loop with a loop control variable J that iterates from 1 to 5, executing the instruction each time.

Option C is also a valid way to repeat an instruction 5 times in PL/I, but it uses a WHILE loop instead of a DO loop. It initializes a counter variable to 1 and repeats the instruction while the counter is less than 5.

Option D is also a valid way to repeat an instruction 5 times in PL/I, but it uses a REPEAT loop with a loop control variable COUNTER that iterates from 1 to 5, executing the instruction each time.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

The Answer is: B

MYPROG calls INIT which executes A, B, then READ X which executes X, then instruction Z, then TERM which executes G, H, then instruction Z again. LOOP is defined but never called, so E and F never execute.

To call an external procedure that returns a value, you must: (2) Declare it with RETURNS clause specifying the return type, (3) Declare both the parameter and result variables, and (6) Call it as a function assignment with the parameter. Option A is incomplete (no RETURNS, wrong call syntax), Option B uses wrong call syntax (CALL with function), Option D omits RETURNS.

VAR1 is 'PL/I' (5 chars). VAR2 receives 'PL/I' but is 10 chars, so it becomes 'PL/I ' (padded with 5 blanks). VAR3 is CHAR(2), so it receives only the first 2 characters 'PL'. RESULT, which is CHAR(5), gets 'PL' from VAR3, then padded with 3 blanks → 'PLbbb'. The variable length truncation at assignment to VAR3 is the key behavior.

Option B is correct because PL/I SELECT statements allow WHEN clauses with simple expressions that evaluate against the selector value. Option A is wrong because WHEN (A=0) is a comparison, not the value itself. Option C is wrong because it omits the selector (A) after SELECT. Option D is wrong since only B is correct.

Option 2 (DCL ARRAY_1 (5,2) DEC FIXED (3)) is NOT correct because PL/I requires the data type attributes to precede the dimension bounds. The correct form is either option 1 (type first, then bounds) or option 3 (bounds with separate type clauses). Option 4 is also invalid syntax.

Whitespace recognizes ONLY three characters: space, tab, and linefeed - not hashes or special characters. Options A, B, C, D are all incorrect because they either include invalid characters (hashes, special characters) or omit linefeeds. The answer key's selection of E is correct since none of A-D accurately describe Whitespace's token set.