Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference

7.5. Exception Section

Even the best-written PL/SQL programs encounter errors or unexpected events. PL/SQL provides a powerful and flexible method for handling both expected and unexpected events through the use of exceptions and exception handlers. Any Oracle error (those reported with Oracle error numbers in the form ORA-xxxxx) PL/SQL runtime error, or user-defined condition (not necessarily an error), can be handled.

PL/SQL compile errors are not handled by PL/SQL exception handling, since these errors occur prior to execution of the PL/SQL program.

PL/SQL error handling is fairly straightforward. When an error occurs in a running PL/SQL program, an exception is raised and the appropriate exception handler takes control.

7.5.1. Types of Exceptions

PL/SQL handles two types of exceptions: predefined and user-defined. User-defined exceptions must be declared in the DECLARE section (see Section 7.3.8 earlier in this chapter) of a PL/SQL block. Predefined exceptions are supplied to handle the most common types of errors and are summarized in Table 7-6.

Table 7-6. Predefined PL/SQL Exceptions

Exception	Oracle Error	Description
CURSOR_ALREADY_OPEN	ORA-06511	An attempt was made to open a cursor that was already open.
DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX	ORA-00001	A unique constraint was violated.
INVALID_CURSOR	ORA-01001	An illegal operation, such as an attempt to close an already closed cursor, ...