Catching multiple exception at once in oracle - oracle

Question

Please let me know whether it is possible to catch multiple exception at same time in oracle. Not like 1 user defined and 1 is oracle default .I need to catch multiple user defined exception at same time . Kindly let me know how to do .
Thank you !

Answer 1

Certainly, there is - if I understood the question correctly. It is called WHEN OTHERS. Though, people usually misuse it, especially when they use
exception
when others then
null;
end;
as it successfully hides any errors that might appear. WHEN OTHERS is OK during development process, but might be really bad in production, especially if it doesn't contain raise.

Answer 2

Yes, you can do what you want from "When Others" as indicated by #Littlefoot or bulk processing errors (not covered here). But additionally you can have an OR condition exception name clause on the WHEN . It's not very useful as generally requires more code the 2 separate WHEN condition, but it is valid syntax. The following demonstrates various error definition methods and exception processing.
create table except_demo ( id integer, col1 varchar2(20));
insert into except_demo (id, col1)
select 5,'OK' from dual union all
select 6,'Too Many' from dual union all
select 6,'Still' from dual;
select id, count(*) from except_demo group by id;
create or replace procedure catcher(which_in integer, select_in boolean default False)
is
e_user_1 exception;
e_user_2 exception;
invalid_which_range exception;
appErr_inactive_acct exception;
sample_ora_error exception;
pragma exception_init (sample_ora_error, -00060);
rae exception;
rae_num constant integer := -20100;
pragma exception_init (rae, -20100);
col1_value except_demo.col1%type;
begin
dbms_output.put( 'Enter catcher(' || which_in || ') Result=>');
if which_in > 8
then raise invalid_which_range;
end if ;
if select_in
then
select col1
into col1_value
from except_demo
where id = which_in;
dbms_output.put_line('Select Successful 1 row selected.');
else
case which_in
when 1 then raise e_user_1;
when 2 then raise e_user_2;
when 3 then raise appErr_inactive_acct;
when 4 then raise sample_ora_error;
else raise_application_error(rae_num, 'Which_In=' || which_in || ' invalid. Please specify number 1-7 only');
end case;
end if;
exception
when e_user_1
then dbms_output.put_line('Error e_user_1'); -- user error
when e_user_2
then dbms_output.put_line('Error e_user_2');
when no_data_found or too_many_rows
then dbms_output.put_line('Select except_demo where id=' || which_in ||'; Returned 0 or more than 1 row. Must return exactly 1.' ); -- oracle predefined error
when sample_ora_error
then dbms_output.put_line('Ora Error:: ' || sqlerrm ); -- oracle error NOT predefined
when appErr_inactive_acct
then dbms_output.put_line('Error Account id ' || which_in || ' is inactive.'); -- user error
when rae
then dbms_output.put_line(sqlerrm);
end catcher;
declare
do_select boolean;
begin
for i in 1..9
loop
do_select := (i between 5 and 7);
catcher(i,do_select);
end loop;
exception
when others
then
dbms_output.put_line('Error returned from catcher=>' || sqlerrm);
raise;
end ;
drop procedure catcher;
drop table except_demo;
In a live environment the dbms_output statement would be replaced writing the message and other information to a exception log table and NOT dbms_output.
I have a very minor disagreement with Littlefoot. I firmly believe that what ever is written in development, whether intended or not, will run in production. Too often it is the unintended that gets you into trouble. Therefore the example of a misused WHEN OTHERS is invalid even in development.