Exception Handling

Exception Handling - Objectives

At the end of this session, the participants will be able to:

Understand the concept of Exceptions
Comprehend the difference between system and user-defined exceptions
Write PL/SQL blocks to handle system and user-defined exceptions

Exception Handling - Topics
What are Exceptions?
System defined exceptions
User defined exceptions
Exception Propagation


Exception Handling in PL/SQL
An exception is an identifier in PL/SQL, raised during the execution of a block that
terminates its main body of actions

How an exception is raised?
1. An exception is raised implicitly if an Oracle error
occurs e. g. When no rows are retrieved by
SELECT statement then PL/SQL raises the
exception NO_DATA_FOUND

2. We raise an exception explicitly by issuing the RAISE
statement within the block

Exception Handling in PL/SQL
Trapping an Exception

If the exception is raised in the executable section and there is an
associated handler, the exception is trapped
EXCEPTION section specifies an exception, followed by a sequence of
statements
OTHERS traps exceptions not handled in exception handling section

Functions for Trapping Error Code and Message
SQLCODE
Returns the error number

SQLERRM
Returns the error message associated with a given error number
Example
DECLARE
v_code NUMBER;
v_errm varchar2(255);
BEGIN
. . .
. . .
EXCEPTION
. . .
. . .
WHEN OTHERS THEN
v_code : = SQLCODE;
v_errm : = SQLERRM(SQLCODE,1,80);
INSERT INTO errors VALUES(v_code, v_errm);
END;
Exception Handling in PL/SQL
Types of Exceptions
- Predefined Oracle Server Exceptions
- Non-predefined Oracle Server Exceptions
- User-defined Exceptions
Exception

Description

Direction for Handling

Predefined Oracle
Server

Approximately 20 errors that
occur most often in PL/SQL
code
Do not declare and
allow the oracle server
to raise them implicitly

Non-predefined
Oracle Server

Any other standard Oracle
Server error

Declare within the
declarative section and
allow the oracle server
to raise them implicitly

User-defined

A condition that the
developer determines is
abnormal

Declare within the
declarative section and
raise explicitly

Exception Handling in PL/SQL
Pre-defined Exceptions
- Oracle has around 20 named Pre-defined
exceptions
- Trapped within the Exception handling block

Pre-defined Exceptions
- NO_DATA_FOUND
- TOO_MANY_ROWS
- INVALID_CURSOR
- ZERO_DIVIDE
- VALUE_ERROR
Pre-define Exception
Example
DECLARE
v_emp_rec emp%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT * INTO v_emp_rec FROM emp WHERE empno=1001;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Empno : || v_emp_rec.empno);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Emp Name : || v_emp_rec.ename);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Emp Salary : || v_emp_rec.sal);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Emp Deptno : || v_emp_rec.deptno);
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Employee Does Not Exist);
END;

Exception Handling in PL/SQL
Trapping Non-predefined Oracle Server errors
- Trapped by declaring it first or by using OTHERS
handler
- PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT tells the compiler to
associate an exception name with an oracle error
number
- PRAGMA keyword that signifies that the statement
is a compiler directive, which is not processed
when the PL/SQL block is executed

Example
DECLARE
e_emp_exist EXCEPTION;
--Naming non-predefined oracle error
PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT(e_emp_exist , -2292);
v_deptno dept.deptno%TYPE := &p_dno;
BEGIN
DELETE FROM dept
WHERE deptno = v_deptno;
COMMIT;
EXCEPTION
WHEN e_emp_exist THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Can not delete dept Employees exist);
END;
Oracle Server Errors
ORA-00000: normal, successful completion
Cause: Normal exit.
Action: None.
ORA-00001: unique constraint (string.string) violated
Cause: An UPDATE or INSERT statement attempted to insert a duplicate
key. For Trusted Oracle configured in DBMS MAC mode, you may see
this message if a duplicate entry exists at a different level.
Action: Either remove the unique restriction or do not insert the key.
ORA-00017: session requested to set trace event
Cause: The current session was requested to set a trace event by another
session.
Action: This is used internally; no action is required.
ORA-00018: maximum number of sessions exceeded
Cause: All session state objects are in use.
Action: Increase the value of the SESSIONS initialization parameter.
Oracle Server Errors
ORA-00019: maximum number of session licenses exceeded
Cause: All licenses are in use.
Action: Increase the value of the LICENSE MAX SESSIONS initialization
parameter.
ORA-02286: no options specified for ALTER SEQUENCE
Cause: Self-evident.
Action: The statement is meaningless without any options.
ORA-02287: sequence number not allowed here
Cause: The specified sequence number (CURRVAL or NEXTVAL) is
inappropriate here in the statement.
Action: Remove the sequence number.
ORA-02288: invalid OPEN mode
Cause: A token other than RESETLOGS appears following ALTER
DATABASE <name> OPEN.
Action: Either nothing or RESETLOGS should be placed following OPEN.

Oracle Server Errors
ORA-02289: sequence does not exist
Cause: The specified sequence does not exist, or the user does not have the
required privilege to perform this operation.
Action: Make sure the sequence name is correct, and that you have the right to
perform the desired operation on this sequence.
ORA-02290: check constraint (string.string) violated
Cause: The values being inserted do not satisfy the named check constraint.
Action: do not insert values that violate the constraint.
ORA-02291: integrity constraint (string.string) violated - parent key not found
Cause: A foreign key value has no matching primary key value.
Action: Delete the foreign key or add a matching primary key.
ORA-02292: integrity constraint (string.string) violated - child record found
Cause: attempted to delete a parent key value that had a foreign key dependency.
Action: delete dependencies first then parent or disable constraint.
ORA-02293: cannot validate (string.string) - check constraint violated
Cause: an alter table operation tried to validate a check constraint to a populated
table that had nocomplying values.
Action: Obvious

Exception Handling in PL/SQL
User-defined Exceptions
- Declared in the Declare Section with type as
EXCEPTION
- Raised Explicitly by using RAISE keyword
- Handled in the Exception Section
- Local to a PL/SQL block


DECLARE


RAISE


REFERENCE
Declarative Section Executable Section Exception Handling Section
Example
DECLARE
-- Declaring user defined exception
e_invalid_product EXCEPTION;
BEGIN
UPDATE product
SET descrip = &prod_desc
WHERE prod_id = &prod_no;
IF SQL%NOTFOUND THEN
--Raising user defined exception
RAISE e_invalid_product
END IF;
COMMIT;
EXCEPTION
--Handling user defined exception
WHEN e_invalid_product THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Invalid Product Number);
END;
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR
To display your own error messages one can use the built-in
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR.
They display the error message in the same way as Oracle errors.
You should use a negative number between 20000 to 20999 for the
errornumber
The error message should not exceed 512 characters.


RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR (error_number, error_message, { TRUE
| FALSE });

Example
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(Enter Your Name :: );
str:=&NAME;
IF LENGTH(str) < 2 THEN
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20888, What a Funny Name You have);
ELSE
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20222, What a Lovely Name);
END IF;
END;

Enter value for name : LARRY
Old 5: str:=&NAME;
New 5: str:=LARRY;

ERROR at Line 1:
ORA-20222: What a Lovely Name
ORA-06512: at line 9
Exception Propagation
Exceptions Raised in the Executable Section
PL/SQL uses the following rule to determine which exception handler to
invoke:
1. Current block has a handler for the exception,
execute it and complete the block successfully.
Control then passes to the enclosing block.

2. No handler for current exception, propagate the
exception by raising it in the enclosing block.
Step 1 is executed for the enclosing block. If
there is no enclosing block, the exception will be
propagated out to the calling environment, such
as SQL* Plus.
Exceptions Raised in the Executable Section: Example 1




DECLARE
A EXCEPTION;
BEGIN
BEGIN
RAISE A;
EXCEPTION
WHEN A THEN
. . .
END;
END;
Exception A is
raised in the
inner block
A is handled
in the inner
block
Control
resumes
here
Exceptions Raised in the Executable Section: Example 2






DECLARE
A EXCEPTION;
B EXCEPTION;
BEGIN
BEGIN
RAISE B;
EXCEPTION
WHEN A THEN
. . .
END;
EXCEPTION
WHEN B THEN
. . .
END;
Exception B
is raised in
the inner
block
No handler for
exception B in
the inner block
Exception B is propagated
to the enclosing block and
handle there
Control then passes out of
enclosing block, which completes
successfully
Exceptions Raised in Declarative Section:
Example 1


DECLARE
v_number NUMBER(3):=ABC;
BEGIN
. . .
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
. . .
END;
Illegal assignment
raises VALUE_ERROR
Even though there is a
WHEN OTHERS handler, it
is not executed
The block completes
unsuccessfully with the
VALUE_ERROR exception
Exceptions Raised in Declarative Section:
Example 2
BEGIN
DECLARE
v_number NUMBER(3):=ABC;
BEGIN
. . .
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
. . .
END;
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
. . .
END;
Illegal assignment
raises VALUE_ERROR
Even though there is an
OTHERS handler for the
inner block, it is not
executed
The exception handler
in the outer block
handles the exception
Control then passes
out of enclosing block
which completes
successfully
Exceptions Raised in Exception Section:
Example 1


DECLARE
A EXCEPTION;
B EXCEPTION;
BEGIN
RAISE A;
EXCEPTION
WHEN A THEN
RAISE B;
WHEN B THEN
. . .
END;
Exception A is
raised
Exception A is
handled and B is
raised in As handler
Even though there is a
handler for B here, it is
not executed. The exception
is propagated out of the
block
The block completes
unsuccessfully with
unhandled exception B
Exception Handling
The biggest advantage of exception handling is it improves readability and
reliability of the code.
Errors from many statements of code can be handles with a single
handler.
Instead of checking for an error at every point we can just add an
exception handler and if any exception is raised it is handled by that.
For checking errors at a specific spot it is always better to have those
statements in a separate begin end block.

Points To Ponder:


An Exception cannot be declared twice in the same block.
Exceptions declared in a block are considered as local to that block and
global to its sub-blocks.
An enclosing block cannot access Exceptions declared in its sub-block.
Where as it possible for a sub-block to refer its enclosing Exceptions.


Summary
We have discussed,

Terms : Exceptions and Exception handling
Predefined exceptions
User defined exceptions
Exception Propagation

Questions
Thank You