Re: Sequence returns multiple numbers

In article <01be98a8$99710080$cb6d45c2_at_default>,   "Glenn Baron" <gbaron_at_dial.pipex.com> wrote:
> O dear !
>
> Try "select * from dual" .. a bit paranoid maybe, but somebody might
have
> fouled up the system.dual table (if such a thing is possible)
>
> cheers
>
> Glenn Baron
>

Thanks, guys, you were right on the money! There were two rows in DUAL. Further consulation with Oracle Support in Sweden (they were excellent, BTW) shed some more light on the problem. DUAL works almost like any other table, in that you can INSERT into and SELECT from it. You can't however, do a DELETE FROM DUAL WHERE.... Instead, you have to DELETE FROM DUAL, and then do a simple INSERT od the single row. Apparently, the value which you put in DUAL doesn't matter too much, but the default is 'X'.

I had no idea that it was *possible* to INSERT INTO DUAL. It is, after all, a pretty scary proposition. I haven't yet determined if you need any special privileges to do this kind of thing. If not, I feel that this is a serious security issue.

Anyway, thanks again!

--
Claes Engelin
Prevas AB
Gothenburg, Seden
claes(dot)engelin(at)prevas(dot)se

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