Oracle Database 8i introduced varrays as a modified format of a nested table. The varray or variable size array is quite similar to nested tables but bounded in nature. The varray declaration includes the count of elements that a varray can accommodate. The minimum varray index is 1, the current size is the total number of elements, and the maximum limit is the varray size. At any moment, the current size cannot exceed the maximum limit. Varrays are appropriately used when you know the maximum number of elements in a collection structure.
Like nested tables, varrays can be created in the database as schema objects as well as in a PL/SQL block. When created in the database as a schema object, varrays can be referenced in PL/SQL program units as variables, parameters and function return types. A table can have a column of a varray type. An object type can have an attribute of a varray type. The syntax for varrays, when defined as a database collection type, is as follows:
CREATE [OR REPLACE...
