In a data warehousing environment, you might use PL/SQL functions to transform large amounts of data. Perhaps the data is passed through a series of transformations, each performed by a different function. PL/SQL table functions let you perform such transformations without significant memory overhead or the need to store the data in tables between each transformation stage. These functions can accept and return multiple rows, can return rows as they are ready rather than all at once, and can be parallelized.
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See Also: Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference for more information about performing multiple transformations with pipelined table functions |