How to count the number of lines from the text file using PL/SQL - Oracle

In the previous section, you learned how to display all the lines available in a text file.  Now, let us see how to count the number of lines in a text file.  I modified the program in the previous section to meet the new requirement.  The program is as follows: 

declare
    f utl_file.file_type;
    s varchar2(200);
    c number := 0;
begin
    f := utl_file.fopen('SAMPLEDATA','sample1.txt','R');
    loop
        utl_file.get_line(f,s);
        dbms_output.put_line(s);
        c := c + 1;
    end loop;
exception
    when NO_DATA_FOUND then
        utl_file.fclose(f);
        dbms_output.put_line('Number of lines: ' || c);
end;

According to the above program, I am defining a simple variable to maintain the count.  That variable always gets incremented within the loop, thus maintaining the number of lines read!

You can also observe that I am handling the last part of my program only in the “exception” area.  The exception part gets executed only when no lines are available to read.  In my upcoming articles, I shall explain how to deal with these types of scenarios very professionally.  Till then, I shall continue in this fashion.