PLSQL 7 1 SG

1
Database Programming with

PL/SQL
7-1
Handling Exceptions
Copyright © 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
2
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 7-1
Handling Exceptions Copyright © 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3
3
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
PLSQL 7-1
Computer programs should be written so that even unanticipated errors are handled, no program
should ever just crash or quit working.
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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?
PLSQL 7-1
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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
PLSQL 7-1
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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);
END; 1950
Statement processed.
PLSQL 7-1
To confirm the spelling of Republic of Korea in the data, run a statement such as the following:
SELECT country_name
FROM countries
WHERE country_name LIKE '%Korea%';
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• 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;
PLSQL 7-1
Remember that a SELECT statement in PL/SQL must return exactly one row. This statement returns
no rows and therefore raises an exception in the executable section.
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• 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
PLSQL 7-1
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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
PLSQL 7-1
PL/SQL programs will start to get longer and more complicated due to the exception handling code
needed to handle all errors, but that is preferable to programs just crashing or quitting. By
including exception handling code, error messages can help the user understand what went wrong
and how to correct it.
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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!
PLSQL 7-1
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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)
PLSQL 7-1
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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;
PLSQL 7-1
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• The exception section begins with the keyword
EXCEPTION
DECLARE
v_country_name countries.country_name%TYPE := 'Korea,
South';
BEGIN
EXCEPTION
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Country name, ' || v_country_name ||
', cannot be found. Re-enter the country name using the
correct spelling.');
END;
PLSQL 7-1
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• 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.
PLSQL 7-1
Only one exception can occur at a time and only one handler (although it may include multiple
statements) may be executed.
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• The code at point A does not execute because the
SELECT statement failed
DECLARE
v_country_name countries.country_name%TYPE := 'Korea, South';
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;
PLSQL 7-1
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• 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
PLSQL 7-1
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• 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
PLSQL 7-1
There is no exception handler in this block, therefore the block terminates unsuccessfully,
returning an "unhandled exception" status code to the calling environment (Application Express),
which then reports the exception as shown.
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• 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
PLSQL 7-1
This code will successfully handle the exception inside the block, so PL/SQL returns a "success"
status code to the calling environment, which therefore will report Statement Processed (below
the display of the PUT_LINE).
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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;
PLSQL 7-1
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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;
. . .]
PLSQL 7-1
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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
PLSQL 7-1
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Trapping Exceptions
EXCEPTION
statement1;
statement2;
. . .
[WHEN OTHERS THEN
statement1;
statement2;
. . .]
PLSQL 7-1
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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;
. . .]
PLSQL 7-1
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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
PLSQL 7-1
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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;
PLSQL 7-1
If the exception NO_DATA_FOUND is raised by the program, then the statements in the
corresponding handler are executed.
If the exception TOO_MANY_ROWS is raised, then the statements in the corresponding handler
are executed.
However, if some other exception is raised, then the statements in the OTHERS exception handler
are executed.
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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
PLSQL 7-1
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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
PLSQL 7-1
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Terminology
• Key terms used in this lesson included:
−Exception
−Exception handler
PLSQL 7-1
• Exception – Occurs when an error is discovered during the execution of a program that disrupts
the normal operation of the program.
• Exception Handler – Code that defines the recovery actions to be performed when execution-
time errors occur.
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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
PLSQL 7-1
30
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Database Programming with

Copyright © 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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

• However, an exception is raised because more than one

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