What does error 'identifier must be declared' means in PL/SQL? - oracle

Question

The task is to write PL/SQL block for entering new employee throw the Oracle database user's dialog to insert data into the table.
I dont really understand what I am missing here:
SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
ACCEPT empno PROMPT 'Enter empno: '
ACCEPT ename PROMPT 'Enter ename: '
ACCEPT job PROMPT 'Enter job: '
ACCEPT mgr PROMPT 'Enter mgr: '
ACCEPT sal PROMPT 'Enter sal: '
ACCEPT deptno PROMPT 'Enter deptno: '
DECLARE
empn NUMBER := &empno;
ena VARCHAR(255) := &ename;
ejob VARCHAR(255) := &job;
emgr NUMBER := &mgr;
ehire DATE := Sysdate;
esal NUMBER := &sal;
ecomm NUMBER := null;
edeptno NUMBER := &deptno;
BEGIN
INSERT INTO EMP(EMPNO, JOB, MGR, HIREDATE, SAL, COMM, DEPTNO) VALUES (empn, ena, ejob, emgr, ehire, esal, ecomm, edeptno);
END;
Error report:
Error report - ORA-06550: line 3, column 21: PLS-00201: identifier 'ANDREW' must be declared ORA-06550: line 3, column 5: PL/SQL: Item ignored ORA-06550: line 4, column 22: PLS-00201: identifier 'MANAGER' must be declared ORA-06550: line 4, column 6: PL/SQL: Item ignored ORA-06550: line 11, column 17: PL/SQL: ORA-00913: too many values ORA-06550: line 11, column 5: PL/SQL: SQL Statement ignored 06550. 00000 - "line %s, column %s:\n%s" *Cause: Usually a PL/SQL compilation error. *Action:
Could you explain, what are the mistakes in my code?
I tried the following:
SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
ACCEPT empno PROMPT 'Enter empno: '
ACCEPT ename PROMPT 'Enter ename: '
ACCEPT job PROMPT 'Enter job: '
ACCEPT mgr PROMPT 'Enter mgr: '
ACCEPT sal PROMPT 'Tneter sal: '
ACCEPT deptno PROMPT 'Enter deptno: '
DECLARE
empn NUMBER := '&empno';
ena VARCHAR(255) := '&ename';
ejob VARCHAR(255) := '&job';
emgr NUMBER := '&mgr';
ehire DATE := Sysdate;
esal NUMBER := '&sal';
ecomm NUMBER := null;
edeptno NUMBER := '&deptno;
BEGIN
INSERT INTO EMP(EMPNO, JOB, MGR, HIREDATE, SAL, COMM, DEPTNO) VALUES (empn, ena, ejob, emgr, ehire, esal, ecomm, edeptno);
END;
Error:
Error report -
ORA-06550: line 9, column 19:
PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "30;
BEGIN
INSERT INTO EMP(EMPNO, JOB, MGR, HIREDATE, SAL, CO" when expecting one of the following:
( - + case mod new not null <an identifier>
<a double-quoted delimited-identifier> <a bind variable>
continue avg count current exists max min prior sql stddev
sum variance execute forall merge time timestamp interval
date <a string literal with character set specification>
<a number> <a single-quoted SQL string> pipe
<an alternatively-quoted string
06550. 00000 - "line %s, column %s:\n%s"
*Cause: Usually a PL/SQL compilation error.

Answer 1

The substitution variables are replaced using your input.
For example, becomes:
ena VARCHAR(255) := &ename;
ena VARCHAR(255) := ANDREW;
And here is the error. Single quotes are missing.
So correct would be:
ena VARCHAR(255) := '&ename';
You should also specify the data type and the format mask. For example:
ACCEPT esal NUMBER FORMAT '999.99'
ACCEPT hired DATE FORMAT 'dd/mm/yyyy'