Re: How do I get column name that causing ORA-01438

  • From: amit poddar <amit.poddar@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: sjaffarhussain@xxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:06:10 -0500

DWH1) oerr ora 12899
12899, 00000, "value too large for column %s (actual: %s, maximum: %s)"
// *Cause: An attempt was made to insert or update a column with a value
//         which is too wide for the width of the destination column.
//         The name of the column is given, along with the actual width
//         of the value, and the maximum allowed width of the column.
//         Note that widths are reported in characters if character length
//         semantics are in effect for the column, otherwise widths are
//         reported in bytes.
// *Action: Examine the SQL statement for correctness.  Check source
//          and destination column data types.
//          Either make the destination column wider, or use a subset
//          of the source column (i.e. use substring).
You have mail in /usr/spool/mail/oracle
DWH1) oerr ora 1438
01438, 00000, "value larger than specified precision allowed for this column" 
// *Cause: When inserting or updating records, a numeric value was entered
//         that exceeded the precision defined for the column.
// *Action: Enter a value that complies with the numeric column's precision,
//          or use the MODIFY option with the ALTER TABLE command to expand
//          the precision.
they are different errors 1438 is for numeric columns and 12899 seems to be varchar2 columns 

Syed Jaffar Hussain wrote:

Niall,

I am just surprised to see this result.
We are on 10gR2, we don't get such information as you get when the error occurs. Interestingly, Oracle support doesn't mention that its available with 10gR2. I have just done a simulation test on 10R2 with 10.2.0.3 <http://10.2.0.3> patch, still I don't get the same explanation as you have shown. 

Can you elabrate more on this.

Jaffar
On 2/22/07, *Niall Litchfield* <niall.litchfield@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:niall.litchfield@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote: 

    They already granted your request.
NIALL @ NL102 >INSERT INTO TEST VALUES ('long'); 
    INSERT INTO TEST VALUES ('long')
                             *
    ERROR at line 1:
    ORA-12899: value too large for column "NIALL"."TEST"."C1" (actual:
    4, maximum: 1)
Oracle 10.2 New Feature.
On 2/22/07, *Syed Jaffar Hussain* <sjaffarhussain@xxxxxxxxx 
    <mailto:sjaffarhussain@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

        Anand,

        We have request to Oracle for an enhancement.

        The trace file although doesn't show the column name, but, you
        have enough information to find out. No matter, this is little
        bit time consuming.

        Jaffar


        On 2/22/07, *Anand Rao* <panandrao@xxxxxxxxx
        <mailto:panandrao@xxxxxxxxx> > wrote:

            hmmm ..its rather difficult even with the event setting.
            the trace file doesn't explicitly show me the column name.

            SQL> create table emp (col1 number(3));

            Table created.

            SQL> ALTER SESSION SET EVENTS='1438 TRACE NAME ERRORSTACK
            FOREVER, LEVEL 12';

            Session altered.

            SQL> insert into emp values (1111) ;
            insert into emp values (1111)
                                    *
            ERROR at line 1:
            ORA-01438: value larger than specified precision allows
            for this column


            SQL> ALTER SESSION SET EVENTS='1438 TRACE NAME ERRORSTACK
            OFF';

            Session altered.

            of course, for varchar2 columns, the error reported isn't
            ORA-1438 but ORA-01401.

            now, if you look at the trace file, you really need to
            search for the keyword "COL1" (the column name i used) to
            be actually able to find something. there is no clear
            message that shows that this column violated the rule.

            <snip>

            ksedmp: internal or fatal error
            ORA-01438: value larger than specified precision allows
            for this column
            Current SQL statement for this session:
            insert into emp values (1111)
            ----- Call Stack Trace -----

            <snip>

            In case an insert or update has more than 5,6 columns, it
            is a cumbersome task to search for each column_name i
            suppose.

            guess the easiest is SQLPlus, where the ' * ' character
            points to the column/value which violates the rule.

            i know this event is the probably as far as we can go...or
            is there something else?

            anand


            On 22/02/07, *Mladen Gogala* < mgogala@xxxxxxxxxxx
            <mailto:mgogala@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

                Syed Jaffar Hussain wrote:
                > Mladen,
                >
                > Yes, I do set the event to trace the culprit. The
                problem is that when
                > I enable this event, Oracle is taking around 6 second
                to return the
                > error msg. on the sql prompt. And ours is a very high
                OLTP application
                > where around 500 tps take places.
                > We have request Oracle for an enhancement. Because,
                when constraints
                > violates, Oracle do gives the constrain name and
                details, likewise, I
                > would like to have so and so column in the particular
                table is the
                > culprit.
                >

                Syed, it's you who should discover the problem and fix
                the SQL. It's
                done once, in a sqlplus session
                and then turned off. It's not intended for all users.

                --
                Mladen Gogala
                Sr. Oracle DBA
                Video Monitoring Systems
                1500 Broadway
                New York City, NY 10036
                Phone: (212) 329-5201
                Email: mgogala@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:mgogala@xxxxxxxxxxx>
-- Best Regards, 
        Syed Jaffar Hussain
        Oracle ACE
        8i,9i & 10g OCP DBA

        http://jaffardba.blogspot.com/
        http://www.oracle.com/technology/community/oracle_ace/ace1.html#hussain
        
<http://www.oracle.com/technology/community/oracle_ace/ace1.html#hussain>
        
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        "Winners don't do different things. They do things differently."
-- Niall Litchfield 
    Oracle DBA
http://www.orawin.info 



--
Best Regards,
Syed Jaffar Hussain
Oracle ACE
8i,9i & 10g OCP DBA

http://jaffardba.blogspot.com/
http://www.oracle.com/technology/community/oracle_ace/ace1.html#hussain
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Winners don't do different things. They do things differently."

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