Module 7 PLSQL - 7 - 1

Database Programming with
PL/SQL
7-1
Handling Exceptions
Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Objectives
This lesson covers the following objectives:
• Describe several advantages of including exception
handling code in PL/SQL
• Describe the purpose of an EXCEPTION section in a
PL/SQL block
• Create PL/SQL code to include an EXCEPTION section
• List several guidelines for exception handling
PLSQL S7L1 Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3
Handling Exceptions
Purpose
• You have learned to write PL/SQL blocks with a
declarative section and an executable section.
• All the SQL and PL/SQL code that must be executed is
written in the executable block.
• Thus far, you have assumed that the code works fine if
you take care of compile time errors.
• However, the code can cause some unanticipated errors
at run time.
• In this lesson, you learn how to deal with such errors in
the PL/SQL block.
Handling Exceptions
What is an Exception?
• An exception occurs when an error is discovered during
the execution of a program that disrupts the normal
operation of the program.
• There are many possible causes of exceptions: a user
makes a spelling mistake while typing; a program does
not work correctly; an advertised web page does not
exist; and so on.
• Can you think of errors that you have come across while
using a web site or application?
Handling Exceptions
What is an Exception?
Some examples of errors you may have seen:
• Entering an incorrect username and/or password
• Forgetting to include the @ in an email address
• Entering a credit card number incorrectly
• Entering an expiration date that has passed
• Selecting more than one row into a single variable
• Receiving “no rows returned” from a select statement
Handling Exceptions
Exceptions in PL/SQL
• This example works fine. But what if v_country_name
was 'Korea, South' instead of 'Republic of Korea?'
DECLARE
v_country_name countries.country_name%TYPE
:= 'Republic of Korea';
v_elevation countries.highest_elevation%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT highest_elevation
INTO v_elevation
FROM countries
WHERE country_name = v_country_name;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_elevation);
1950
END;
Statement processed.
Handling Exceptions
• When our v_country_name is not found, our code
results in an error.
DECLARE
v_country_name countries.country_name%TYPE
:='Korea, South';
BEGIN
SELECT highest_elevation
INTO v_elevation
FROM countries
WHERE country_name = v_country_name;
END;
Handling Exceptions
• The code does not work as expected.
• No data was found for 'Korea, South' because the
country name is actually stored as 'Republic of Korea.'
• This type of error in PL/SQL is called an exception.
• When code does not work as expected, PL/SQL raises
an exception.
• When an exception occurs, we say that an exception
has been "raised."
• When an exception is raised, the rest of the execution
section of the PL/SQL block is not executed.
Handling Exceptions
What Is an Exception Handler?
• An exception handler is code that defines the recovery
actions to be performed when an exception is raised
(that is, when an error occurs).
• When writing code, programmers need to anticipate
the types of errors that can occur during the execution
of that code.
• They need to include exception handlers in their code to
address these errors. In a sense, exception handlers
allow programmers to "bulletproof" their code.
Handling Exceptions
What Is an Exception Handler?
• What types of errors might programmers want to
account for by using an exception handler?
• System errors (for example, a hard disk is full)
• Data errors (for example, trying to duplicate a primary
key value)
• User action errors (for example, data entry error)
• Many other possibilities!
Handling Exceptions
Why is Exception Handling Important?
Some reasons include:
• Protects the user from errors (frequent errors,
unhelpful error messages, and software crashes can
frustrate users/customers, and this is not good).
• Protects the database from errors (data can be lost or
overwritten).
• Errors can be costly, in time and resources
(processes may slow as operations are
repeated or errors are investigated).
Handling Exceptions
Handling Exceptions with PL/SQL
• A block always terminates when PL/SQL raises an
exception, but you can specify an exception handler to
perform final actions before the block ends.
DECLARE
v_country_name countries.country_name%TYPE := 'Korea, South';
BEGIN
SELECT highest_elevation INTO v_elevation
FROM countries WHERE country_name = v_country_name;
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Country name, ' || v_country_name || ',
cannot be found. Re-enter the country name using the correct
spelling.');
END;
Handling Exceptions
• The exception section begins with the keyword
EXCEPTION.
DECLARE
BEGIN
EXCEPTION
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Country name, ' || v_country_name || ',
cannot be found. Re-enter the country name using the correct
spelling.');
END;
Handling Exceptions
• When an exception is handled, the PL/SQL program
does not terminate abruptly.
• When an exception is raised, control immediately shifts
to the exception section and the appropriate handler in
the exception section is executed.
• The PL/SQL block terminates with normal, successful
completion.
Country name, Korea, South, cannot be found. Re-enter the
country name using the correct spelling.
Statement processed.
Handling Exceptions
• The code at point A does not execute because the
SELECT statement failed.
DECLARE
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_elevation); -- Point A
EXCEPTION
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Country name, ' || v_country_name || ', cannot be
found. Re-enter the country name using the correct spelling.');
END;
• When an exception is raised, the rest of the executable

section of the block is NOT executed; instead, the
EXCEPTION section is searched for a suitable handler.
Handling Exceptions
• The following is another example.
• The select statement in the block is retrieving the
last_name of Stock Clerks.
DECLARE
v_lname VARCHAR2(15);
BEGIN
SELECT last_name INTO v_lname
FROM employees WHERE job_id = 'ST_CLERK';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('The last name of the ST_CLERK is : '||v_lname);
END;
ORA-01422: exact fetch returns more than requested number of rows
• However, an exception is raised because more than one

ST_CLERK exists in the data.
Handling Exceptions
• The following code includes a handler for the predefined
Oracle server error called TOO_MANY_ROWS.
• You will learn more about predefined server errors in the
next lesson.
DECLARE
v_lname employees.last_name%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT last_name INTO v_lname
FROM employees WHERE job_id = 'ST_CLERK';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('The last name of the ST_CLERK is: ' || v_lname);
EXCEPTION
WHEN TOO_MANY_ROWS THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Your select statement retrieved multiple rows.
Consider using a cursor.');
END;
Handling Exceptions
Trapping Exceptions
• You can handle or "trap" any error by including a
corresponding handler within the exception-handling
section of the PL/SQL block.
• Syntax:
EXCEPTION
WHEN exception1 [OR exception2 . . .] THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .
[WHEN exception3 [OR exception4 . . .] THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .]
[WHEN OTHERS THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .]
Handling Exceptions
Trapping Exceptions
• Each handler consists of a WHEN clause, which specifies
an exception name (exception1, exception 2, etc.),
followed by THEN and one or more statements to be
executed when that exception is raised (statement1,
statement 2, etc.).
• You can include any number of handlers within an
EXCEPTION section to handle different exceptions.
EXCEPTION
statement1;
statement2;
. . .
[WHEN OTHERS THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .]
Handling Exceptions
Trapping
• In the syntax, OTHERS is an optional exception-handling
clause that traps any exceptions that have not been
explicitly handled.
EXCEPTION
statement1;
statement2;
. . .
[WHEN OTHERS THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .]
Handling Exceptions
The OTHERS Exception Handler
• The exception-handling section traps only those
exceptions that are specified; any other exceptions are
not trapped unless you use the OTHERS exception
handler.
• The OTHERS handler traps all the exceptions that are
not already trapped.
• If used, OTHERS must be the last exception handler that
is defined.
Handling Exceptions
The OTHERS Exception Handler
• Consider the following example:
BEGIN
...
...
EXCEPTION
statement1;
statement2;
...
WHEN TOO_MANY_ROWS THEN
statement3;
statement4;
...
WHEN OTHERS THEN
statement5;
statement6;
...
END;
Handling Exceptions
Guidelines for Trapping Exceptions
• Follow these guidelines when trapping exceptions:
• Always add exception handlers whenever there is a
possibility of an error occurring.
• Errors are especially likely during calculations, string
manipulation, and SQL database operations.
• Handle named exceptions whenever possible, instead of
using OTHERS in exception handlers.
• Learn the names and causes of the predefined
exceptions.
• Test your code with different combinations of bad data
to see what potential errors arise.
Handling Exceptions
Guidelines for Trapping Exceptions
• Write out debugging information in your exception
handlers.
• Carefully consider whether each exception handler
should commit the transaction, roll it back, or let it
continue.
• No matter how severe the error is, you want to leave
the database in a consistent state and avoid storing any
bad data.
Handling Exceptions
Terminology
Key terms used in this lesson included:
• Exception
• Exception handler
Handling Exceptions
Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
• Describe several advantages of including exception
handling code in PL/SQL
• Describe the purpose of an EXCEPTION section in a
PL/SQL block
• Create PL/SQL code to include an EXCEPTION section
• List several guidelines for exception handling
Handling Exceptions

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Database Programming with

Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

• When an exception is raised, the rest of the executable

ORA-01422: exact fetch returns more than requested number of rows

• However, an exception is raised because more than one

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