Нельзя присвоить значение NULL переменной объявленной с ограничением NOT NULL.
06502, 00000, «PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s»
*Cause: An arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error
occurred. For example, this error occurs if an attempt is made to
assign the value NULL to a variable declared NOT NULL, or if an
attempt is made to assign an integer larger than 99 to a variable
declared NUMBER(2).
Здесь:
a varchar2(10) not null := '',
пустая строка интерпретируется как NULL. Тут подробнее, почему.
v_recx(1).a := 'BBB';
Эта строка будет скомпилирована, так как компилятор не проверяет присваиваемых значений во время компиляции. При выполнении блока, ещё до присваивания полю значения 'BBB', поля записи будут инициализированы, где и произойдёт попытка присвоить полю a с ограничением NOT NULL значения NULL.
Are you getting an ORA-06502 error message when working with Oracle SQL? Learn how to resolve it and what causes it in this article.
ORA-06502 Cause
The cause of the “ORA-06502 PL/SQL numeric or value error” can be one of many things:
- A value is being assigned to a numeric variable, but the value is larger than what the variable can handle.
- A non-numeric value is being assigned to a numeric variable.
- A value of NULL is being assigned to a variable which has a NOT NULL constraint.
Let’s take a look at the solutions for each of these causes.
The solution for this error will depend on the cause.
Let’s see an example of each of the three causes mentioned above.
Solution 1: Value Larger than Variable (Number Precision Too Large)
In this example, we have some code that is setting a numeric variable to a value which is larger than what can be stored.
Let’s create this procedure which declares and then sets a variable:
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestLargeNumber
AS
testNumber NUMBER(3);
BEGIN
testNumber := 4321;
END;If we compile it, it compiles with no errors.
Procedure TESTLARGENUMBER compiled
Now, let’s run the procedure.
EXEC TestLargeNumber;We get an error:
Error starting at line : 8 in command - EXEC TestLargeNumber Error report - ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: number precision too large ORA-06512: at "SYSTEM.TESTLARGENUMBER", line 5 ORA-06512: at line 1 06502. 00000 - "PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s" *Cause: An arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error occurred. For example, this error occurs if an attempt is made to assign the value NULL to a variable declared NOT NULL, or if an attempt is made to assign an integer larger than 99 to a variable declared NUMBER(2). *Action: Change the data, how it is manipulated, or how it is declared so that values do not violate constraints.
The error we’ve gotten is “ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: number precision too large”. It also includes an ORA-06512, but that error just mentions the next line the code is run from, as explained in this article on ORA-06512.
This is because our variable testNumber can only hold 3 digits, because it was declared as a NUMBER(3). But, the value we’re setting it to a few lines later is 4 digit long (4321).
So, the value is too large for the variable.
To resolve it, increase the size of your variable, or manipulate your value to fit the size of the variable (if possible).
In our example , we can change the size of the variable.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestLargeNumber
AS
testNumber NUMBER(4);
BEGIN
testNumber := 4321;
END;Procedure TESTLARGENUMBER compiled
Now, let’s run the procedure.
EXEC TestLargeNumber;PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
The procedure runs successfully. We don’t get any output (because we didn’t code any in), but there are no errors.
Read more on the Oracle data types here.
While you’re here, if you want an easy-to-use list of the main features in Oracle SQL, get my SQL Cheat Sheet here:
Solution 2: Non-Numeric Value
Another way to find and resolve this error is by ensuring you’re not setting a numeric variable to a non-numeric value.
For example, take a look at this function.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestNonNumeric
AS
testNumber NUMBER(4);
BEGIN
testNumber := 'Yes';
END;Procedure TESTNONNUMERIC compiled
The procedure compiles successfully. Now, let’s fun the function.
EXEC TestNonNumeric;Error starting at line : 8 in command - EXEC TestNonNumeric Error report - ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error ORA-06512: at "SYSTEM.TESTNONNUMERIC", line 5 ORA-06512: at line 1 06502. 00000 - "PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s" *Cause: An arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error occurred. For example, this error occurs if an attempt is made to assign the value NULL to a variable declared NOT NULL, or if an attempt is made to assign an integer larger than 99 to a variable declared NUMBER(2). *Action: Change the data, how it is manipulated, or how it is declared so that values do not violate constraints.
The error we get is “ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error”.
This happens because our variable testNumber is set to a NUMBER, but a few lines later, we’re setting it to a string value which cannot be converted to a number
To resolve this error:
- Ensure the value coming in is a number and not a string.
- Convert your string to a number using TO_NUMBER (the conversion might happen implicitly but this may help).
- Convert your string to the ASCII code that represents the string using the ASCII function.
- Change the data type of your variable (but check that your code is getting the right value first).
The solution you use will depend on your requirements.
Solution 3: NOT NULL Variable
This error can appear if you try to set a NULL value to a NOT NULL variable.
Let’s take a look at this code here:
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestNonNull
AS
testNumber NUMBER(4) NOT NULL := 10;
nullValue NUMBER(4) := NULL;
BEGIN
testNumber := nullValue;
END;Procedure TESTNONNULL compiled
Now, the reason we’re using a variable to store NULL and not just setting testNumber to NULL is because we get a different error in that case. Besides, it’s probably more likely that your NULL value will come from another system or a database table, rather than a hard-coded NULL value.
Let’s run this function now.
Error starting at line : 9 in command - EXEC TestNonNull Error report - ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error ORA-06512: at "SYSTEM.TESTNONNULL", line 6 ORA-06512: at line 1 06502. 00000 - "PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s" *Cause: An arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error occurred. For example, this error occurs if an attempt is made to assign the value NULL to a variable declared NOT NULL, or if an attempt is made to assign an integer larger than 99 to a variable declared NUMBER(2). *Action: Change the data, how it is manipulated, or how it is declared so that values do not violate constraints.
We get the ORA-06502 error.
This error message doesn’t give us much more information. But, we can look at the code on line 6, as indicated by the message. We can see we have a variable that has a NOT NULL constraint, and the variable is NULL.
To be sure, we can output some text in our demo when it is null.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestNonNull
AS
testNumber NUMBER(4) NOT NULL := 10;
nullValue NUMBER(4) := NULL;
BEGIN
IF (nullValue IS NULL) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Value is null!');
ELSE
testNumber := nullValue;
END IF;
END;Now let’s call the procedure.
EXEC TestNonNull;Value is null!
The output shows the text message, indicating the value is null.
ORA-06502 character string buffer too small
This version of the error can occur if you set a character variable to a value larger than what it can hold.
When you declare character variables (CHAR, VARCHAR2, for example), you need to specify the maximum size of the value. If a value is assigned to this variable which is larger than that size, then this error will occur.
For example:
DECLARE
charValue VARCHAR2(5);
BEGIN
charValue := 'ABCDEF';
END;If I compile this code, I get an error:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small ORA-06512: at line 4
This happens because the variable is 5 characters long, and I’m setting it to a value which is 6 characters long.
You could also get this error when using CHAR data types.
DECLARE
charValue CHAR(5);
BEGIN
charValue := 'A';
charValue := charValue || 'B';
END;ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small ORA-06512: at line 5
This error happens because the CHAR data type uses the maximum number of characters. It has stored the value of A and added 4 space characters, up until its maximum value of 5.
When you try to concatenate a value of B to it, the resulting value is ‘A B’, which is 6 characters.
To resolve this, use a VARCHAR2 variable instead of a CHAR, and ensure the maximum size is enough for you.
ORA-06502: pl/sql: numeric or value error: null index table key value
Sometimes you might get this error message with the ORA-06502 error:
ORA-06502: pl/sql: numeric or value error: null index table key value
This means that either:
- Your index variable is not getting initialized, or
- Your index variable is getting set to NULL somewhere in the code.
Check your code to see that neither of these two situations are happening.
ORA-06502: pl/sql: numeric or value error: bulk bind: truncated bind
You might also get this specific error message:
ORA-06502: pl/sql: numeric or value error: bulk bind: truncated bind
This is caused by an attempt to SELECT, UPDATE, or INSERT data into a table using a PL/SQL type where a column does not have the same scale as the column in the table.
For example, you may have declared a variable in PL/SQL to be VARCHAR2(100), but your table is only a VARCHAR2(50) field. You may get this error then.
You may also get this error because some data types in PL/SQL have different lengths in SQL.
To resolve this, declare your variables as the same type as the SQL table:
type t_yourcol is table of yourtable.yourcol%TYPE;So, that’s how you resolve the ORA-06502 error.
While you’re here, if you want an easy-to-use list of the main features in Oracle SQL, get my SQL Cheat Sheet here:
ORA-06502 means that PL/SQL engine cannot convert a character-typed string into a number or a subset of arithmetic for overall evaluation. Mostly, it’s because of the following problems:
- Numeric Type Conversion
- Numeric Operator Precedence
A. Numeric Type Conversion
ORA-06502 tells you that PL/SQL engine cannot convert a string into a number. Which means, an arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error occurred. Let’s see a normal case first.
SQL> set serveroutput on;
SQL> declare
2 v_num number;
3 begin
4 v_num := 123;
5 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || v_num);
6 end;
7 /
The number is 123
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
A number 123 is assigned to variable V_NUM which accept only NUMBER type. So there’s no conversion needed. But what if we assign a string to the variable?
SQL> declare
2 v_num number;
3 begin
4 v_num := '123';
5 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || v_num);
6 end;
7 /
The number is 123
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
As you can see, PL/SQL engine converted the string into a number, then assigned it into the variable.
Now, let’s try some basic arithmetic expressions.
SQL> declare
2 v_num number;
3 begin
4 v_num := 2 + 2;
5 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || v_num);
6 end;
7 /
The number is 4
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
OK, the variable accepts value, the result of evaluation, no ORA-06502. What if we use it as a string?
SQL> declare
2 v_num number;
3 begin
4 v_num := '2 + 2';
5 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || v_num);
6 end;
7 /
declare
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error
ORA-06512: at line 4
PL/SQL engine tried to convert the string into a number, but it failed with ORA-06502. This time, V_NUM cannot accept the result.
The solution to this type of error is to avoid implicit type conversion if possible.
B. Numeric Operator Precedence
To better understand ORA-06502, let’s see a more advanced topic about operator precedence in Oracle database. In the following example, we tried to output a string that concatenate an arithmetic.
SQL> begin
2 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || 2 + 2);
3 end;
4 /
begin
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error
ORA-06512: at line 2
ORA-06502 was thrown eventually. Since || (concatenation) and + (addition) operators are at the same level of operator precedence, PL/SQL engine will evaluate them in the order of presence.
First, it concatenated «The number is » and «2» into «The number is 2», which was successful, but when it tried to add the last value «2», it failed to convert the former string into a number and threw ORA-06502.
Solutions
1. Rearrange the Output
We should make PL/SQL engine deal with the numeric evaluation first, then the concatenation by rearranging the output.
SQL> begin
2 dbms_output.put_line(2 + 2 || ' is the number.');
3 end;
4 /
4 is the number.
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
This time, the expression is good because the order of presence of operators has been changed.
2. Override Operator Precedence
Beside rearranging the order of presence, how can we make the latter take the precedence over the former to fix the problem? Here is the trick for our PL/SQL block of codes.
SQL> begin
2 dbms_output.put_line('The number is ' || (2 + 2));
3 end;
4 /
The number is 4
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
As you can see, we used a parenthesis to override operator precedence. The evaluation will start from the highest precedence which is 2 + 2 numeric value inside the parentheses to the rest according to their operator precedence defined in Oracle. This is how we escape from ORA-06502.
In PL/SQL, if multiple parentheses are used in your expression, the evaluation will start from the inner to the outer.
A very similar error that you might see in your statements is ORA-01722: invalid number, which is also related to conversion issues of numeric values.
Learn the cause and how to resolve the ORA-06502 error message in Oracle.
Description
When you encounter an ORA-06502 error, the following error message will appear:
- ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error
Cause
You tried to execute a statement that resulted in an arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error.
The common reasons for this error are:
- You tried to assign a value to a numeric variable, but the value is larger than the variable can handle.
- You tried to assign a non-numeric value to a numeric variable and caused a conversion error.
Resolution
Let’s look at three options on how to resolve the ORA-06502 error:
Option #1 — Value too large
In our first option, this error occurs when you try to assign a value to a numeric variable, but the value is larger than the variable can handle.
For example, if you created a procedure called TestProc as follows:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc 2 AS 3 v_number number(2); 4 BEGIN 5 v_number := 100; 6 END; 7 / Procedure created.
This procedure was successfully created. But when we try to execute this procedure, we will get an ORA-06502 error as follows:
SQL> execute TestProc(); BEGIN TestProc(); END; * ERROR at line 1: ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: number precision too large ORA-06512: at "EXAMPLE.TESTPROC", line 5 ORA-06512: at line 1
The first line of the error message (ie: ORA-06502) indicates the error that occurred, while the second line of the error message (ie: ORA-06512) indicates that the error occurred at line 5 of the PLSQL code.
In this example, you’ve tried to assign a 3 digit number to a variable called v_number that can only handle 2 digits. You could correct this error by redefining the v_number variable as number(3).
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc 2 AS 3 v_number number(3); 4 BEGIN 5 v_number := 100; 6 END; 7 / Procedure created.
And now when we execute our TestProc procedure, the ORA-06502 error has been resolved.
SQL> execute TestProc(); PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
Option #2 — Conversion error
In our second option, this error occurs if you are trying to assign a non-numeric value to a numeric variable.
For example, if you created a procedure called TestProc as follows:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc 2 AS 3 v_number number(2); 4 BEGIN 5 v_number := 'a'; 6 END; 7 / Procedure created.
This procedure was successfully created. But when we try to execute this procedure, we will get an ORA-06502 error as follows:
SQL> execute TestProc(); BEGIN TestProc(); END; * ERROR at line 1: ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error ORA-06512: at "EXAMPLE.TESTPROC", line 5 ORA-06512: at line 1
In this example, the value of ‘a’ does not properly convert to a numeric value. You can correct this error by assigning the variable called v_number a proper numeric value.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc
2 AS
3 v_number number(2);
4 BEGIN
5 v_number := ASCII('a');
6 END;
7 /
Procedure created.
And now when we execute our TestProc procedure, the ORA-06502 error has been resolved.
SQL> execute TestProc(); PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
Option #3 — Assigning NULL to a NOT NULL constrained variable
In our third option, this error occurs if you are trying to assign a NULL value to a NOT NULL constrained variable.
For example, if you created a procedure called TestProc as follows:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc 2 AS 3 v_non_nullable_variable VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL := '5'; 4 v_null_variable VARCHAR2(30) := NULL; 5 BEGIN 6 v_non_nullable_variable := v_null_variable; 7 EXCEPTION 8 WHEN OTHERS THEN 9 dbms_output.put_line(SQLERRM); 10 END; 11 / Procedure created.
This procedure was successfully created. But when we try to execute this procedure, we will get an ORA-06502 error as follows:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error
In this example, you can not assign a NULL value to the variable called v_non_nullable_variable. You can correct this error removing NOT NULL from the variable declaration of the v_non_nullable_variable as follows:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE TestProc 2 AS 3 v_non_nullable_variable VARCHAR2(30) := '5'; 4 v_null_variable VARCHAR2(30) := NULL; 5 BEGIN 6 v_non_nullable_variable := v_null_variable; 7 EXCEPTION 8 WHEN OTHERS THEN 9 dbms_output.put_line(SQLERRM); 10 END; 11 / Procedure created.
I’m trying to run the following insert command in Oracle SQL Developer:
insert into work_comp_rates (company_id, work_comp_rt)
values ('101', 0.11);
Which gives me this error: «ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: number precision too large»
There is a trigger attached:
create or replace
TRIGGER APPS.work_codes_trig
before insert or update ON APPS.WORK_COMP_RATES for each row
begin
if inserting then
if :NEW.RID is null then
:NEW.RID := it_api.gen_pk;
end if;
:NEW.CREATED_ON := sysdate;
end if;
if updating then
:NEW.MODIFIED_ON := sysdate;
end if;
end;
If I replace
:NEW.RID := it_api.gen_pk;
with
:NEW.RID := 599;
the insert statement works.
IT_API Body:
create or replace
package body it_api
as
-- generates and returns unique number used for primary key values
function gen_pk
return number
is
l_pk number := 0;
begin
for c1 in (
select to_number(sys_guid(),'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX') pk
from dual )
loop
l_pk := c1.pk;
exit;
end loop;
return l_pk;
end gen_pk;
end it_api;
I don’t know Oracle very well and that script was written by somebody else. So any help is appreciated!