How to convert Reports formula columns containing DML/DDL

Hello forum

I'm currently in the process of a major analysis of our existing large repository of RDF reports made in Oracle Reports for future migration to BI Publisher. Here, I have encountered my first major challenge. As you may know, Oracle Reports has a concept called "formula columns". This is basically PL/SQL code written as a function directly inside an existing query, which then can access fields in for various operations. Reports has its own built-in PL/SQL engine to executes such code..

BI Publisher does not support a similar concept directly. It has no built-in PL/SQL engine - it's not possible to write PL/SQL code in a Data set. So you have to take the code from the Reports RDF formula column and move it to a database package and then call it directly from SQL in the Data set. That's at least what the Reports->BI Publisher conversion tool does. But doing so is not without problems. In the RDF I'm analyzing right now, a formula column calls out to a database function, which executes insert statements and then returns a value.