Re: EXCEPTION or Return code?

Ubiquitous wrote:

>How do you all prefer to handle exception handling? I was looking at
>some examples and noticed a lot of them seem to use return code type
>parameters which return a zero is it executed without any trouble
>and some other value(s) if an exception occurred. This struck me as
>silly because the internal exception handling seems to perform that
>function already. Am I missing something or is this a case of "old
>habits die hard"?
>
>

One codes exception handling based on the design of the application.

Exception handling at the application level is often best handled by passing back a return value.
How else for a procedure that calls another to know the outcome of what was done on its behalf.

But within a single procedure or function exception handling can be done in many ways. I usually
use a stored procedure with PRAGMA AUTONOMOUS_TRANSACTION to perform inserts
into a logging table, multiple nested blocks to trap Oracle and application issues using PRAGMA
EXCEPTION_INIT, user defined exceptions, named exceptions, RAISE, and RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR. Each situation demands an approach that makes sense based
on the design. There are not hard and fast rules.

-- 
Daniel Morgan
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/ext/certificates/oad/oad_crs.asp
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/ext/certificates/aoa/aoa_crs.asp
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
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