SQL & PL/SQL

Dear all

I am creating a PL/SQL program which returns multiple rows of data but only where it meets a set id values that a user has previously chosen. The id values are stored in an associative array and are chosen by a user in the preceding procedure at run time.

I know all the table and column names in advance. The only things I don't know are the exact number of ids selected from the id column and what their values will be. This will only be known at runtime. When the procedure is run by the user it prints multiple rows of data to a web browser.

I have been reading the following posting, which I understand to a large extent, 2452596 But I cannot seem to figure out how I would apply it to my work as I am dealing with multiple rows and a cursor.

The code as I have currently written it is wrong because I get an error not found message in my web browser. I think the var_user_chosen_map_list_ids in the for cursor loop could be the problem. I am using the variable_user_chosen_map_list_ids to store all the id values from my associatative array as a string. Which I modified from the code that vidyadhars posted in the other thread.

Should I be creating a OPEN FOR ref cursor and if so where would I put my associative array into it? At the moment I take the value, turning it into a string and IN part in the WHERE clause holds the string, allowing the WHERE clause to read all the values from it. I would expect the where clause to read everything in the string as 1 complete string of VARCHAR2 data but this would not be the case if this part of the code at least was correct. The code is as follows:

--Global variable section contains:
var_user_chosen_map_list_ids VARCHAR2(32767);
......
PROCEDURE PROCMAPSEARCH (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids PKG_ARR_MAPS.ARR_MAP_LIST)
IS
CURSOR cur_map_search (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN NUMBER)
IS
SELECT MI.map_date
       MT.map_title,
FROM map_info MI,
     map_title MT,
WHERE MI.map_title_id = MT.map_title_id
AND MI.map_publication_id IN 
 (var_user_chosen_map_list_ids);
var_map_list_to_compare VARCHAR2(32767) := '';
var_exe_imm_map VARCHAR2(32767);
BEGIN
FOR rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN 1 .. par_user_chosen_map_list_ids.count
LOOP
   var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := var_user_chosen_map_list_ids || 
   '''' || 
   par_user_chosen_map_list_ids(rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids) || 
   ''',' ;
END LOOP;
 var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := substr(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids,
                                        1, 
                                        length(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids)-1);
var_exe_imm_map := 'FOR rec_search_entered_details IN cur_map_search
LOOP
htp.print('Map date: ' || cur_map_search.map_date || ' Map title: ' || cur_map_search.map_title)
END LOOP;';
END PROCMAPSEARCH;

EXECUTE IMMEDIATE var_exe_imm_map;
I would be grateful of any comments or advice.

Kind regards

Tim