The direction dropdown is used to specify whether a parameter is an In, Out or In/Out parameter. First select a parameter from the list, then specify the direction of the parameter using this dropdown.

With an In parameter you can give a variable to the database. You do this e.g. in select statements:

select * from emp where empno = :empno.

Out parameters are used to let the database give a variable back to SQL*XL. An example is the use of a function. In Oracle you could e.g. execute a function in a package using the following command:

begin :result := my_package.my_function(1,2,3); end;

In/Out parameters are used to give the database a variable and where the database returns the variable with a new value. An example is the use of a package with an in/out parameter. In Oracle you could e.g. execute a stored procedure using the following command:

begin my_package.my_procedure( :my_in_out ); end;

See also:

• Parameter dialog