SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION wordcount (str IN VARCHAR2)
2 RETURN PLS_INTEGER
3 AS
4 words PLS_INTEGER := 0;
5 len PLS_INTEGER := NVL(LENGTH(str),0);
6 inside_a_word BOOLEAN;
7 BEGIN
8 FOR i IN 1..len + 1
9 LOOP
10 IF ASCII(SUBSTR(str, i, 1)) < 33 OR i > len
11 THEN
12 IF inside_a_word
13 THEN
14 words := words + 1;
15 inside_a_word := FALSE;
16 END IF;
17 ELSE
18 inside_a_word := TRUE;
19 END IF;
20 END LOOP;
21 RETURN words;
22 END;
23 /
Function created.
SQL>