PL/SQL : Ignoring -942 EXCPETION issues - still bombs on PACKAGE Compilation - oracle

Question

I have a Procedure within a Package that I create a "Temporary" table for processing. I wrote code to IGNORE the -942 error because at the end of the Procedure I drop the table. Therefore when it runs again, the table wouldn't exist and it needs to ignore that error.
However, when I compile the code (without the table present) it still bombs on me even with the EXCEPTION logic claiming the "table does not exist" which is true, but I don't care.
What am I doing wrong?
--Temp Table Setup
V_TEMP_COUNT INT;
NO_SUCH_TABLE EXCEPTION;
PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT (NO_SUCH_TABLE, -942);
--Declare Record Types
REC_P170201 CUR_P170201%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN --[SP_LOAD_A_DEPARTMENT_PVSS]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--PART P17.01 INITIALIZE --
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEGIN
SELECT COUNT (*) INTO V_TEMP_COUNT
FROM USER_TABLES
WHERE TABLE_NAME = UPPER('F_DEPARTMENT_ADT');
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_SUCH_TABLE THEN
NULL;
WHEN OTHERS THEN
RAISE;
END;
-- other stuff
END SP_LOAD_A_DEPARTMENT_PVSS;

Answer 1

The following block of code will not raise the NO_SUCH_TABLE error when there is no table named F_DEPARTMENT_ADT
BEGIN
SELECT COUNT (*) INTO V_TEMP_COUNT
FROM USER_TABLES
WHERE TABLE_NAME = UPPER('F_DEPARTMENT_ADT');
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_SUCH_TABLE THEN
NULL;
WHEN OTHERS THEN
RAISE;
END;
That is because the query is asking the view USER_TABLES if there is a row whose table_name column value is UPPER('F_DEPARTMENT_DAT'). Instead of a NO_SUCH_TABLE error, the error you will get is a no data found err (ORA-1403).

Answer 2

You cannot catch compilation errors. One way to handle the none existence of a table is to perform the SELECT-Statement as dynamic sql, so it does get compiled on runtime:
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'SELECT COUNT (*) FROM USER_TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME = UPPER(''F_DEPARTMENT_ADT'')'
INTO V_TEMP_COUNT;
But I think the code you posted is not the one that throws your error at compile time. It might be the declaration of REC_P170201. So in this case I would recommend you, to create your own record type with only the columns you need in your procedure and then just select the columns you need in the dynamic sql.

Answer 3

SELECT COUNT (*) INTO V_TEMP_COUNT
FROM USER_TABLES
WHERE TABLE_NAME = UPPER('F_DEPARTMENT_ADT');
Is not going to fail if F_DEPARTMENT_ADT does not exist. It will either return a value into V_TEMP_COUNT of 0 or 1. You will can use that to make decisions in the rest of your code.
If you need your code to actually use your table then it will need to be done in dynamic SQL so that the compilation of your PL/SQL is not dependent on the compilation of your SQL (which will sometimes fail).
Saying that, I 100% agree with EdStevens: you're after a global temporary table here.