IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters > Configure and using adapters > IBM WebSphere Adapters > JDBC > Overview of IBM WebSphere Adapter for JDBC > Technical overview
Stored functions overview
Some databases support stored functions in addition to stored procedures. Stored functions are like stored procedures except that they always return a value. The adapter supports them in a similar manner.
For Oracle databases, the adapter supports stored functions that a user creates with the CREATE FUNCTION statement. Although this type of function is sometimes called a user-defined function (UDF), that term more refers to a Java™ stored function or procedure, which the adapter does not support.
For DB2 databases, the adapter supports stored procedures that return a value. Do not confuse this functionality with user-defined functions in DB2, where the term refers to an extension or addition to the existing built-in functions of the SQL language. You can use DB2 user-defined functions in the SQL you provide for operations, queries, and batch SQL statements performed by the adapter, but a user-defined function created with the CREATE FUNCTION statement is not typically represented to the adapter as a business object.
A function call has the following syntax:
? = call FunctionName parameter_list
A stored procedure call has the following syntax:
call SPName parameter_list
You specify the attribute that contains the returned value by using the ReturnValue business object application-specific information. For more information about ReturnValue, see Business object-level application-specific information.