Using Collection Methods

Using Collection Methods The following collection methods help generalize code, make collections easier to use, and make your applications easier to maintain: EXISTS COUNT LIMIT FIRST and LAST PRIOR and NEXT EXTEND TRIM DELETE A collection method is a built-in function or procedure that operates on collections and is called using dot notation. The syntax follows: collection_name.method_name[(parameters)] Collection methods cannot be called from SQL statements. Also, EXTEND and TRIM cannot be used with associative arrays. EXISTS, COUNT, LIMIT, FIRST, LAST, PRIOR, and NEXT are functions; EXTEND, TRIM, and DELETE are procedures. EXISTS, PRIOR, NEXT, TRIM, EXTEND, and DELETE take parameters corresponding to collection subscripts, which are usually integers but can also be strings for associative arrays.