sequence.nextval out a trigger

Hi,

I'd like to have a before insert for each row trigger, which inserts automatically keys. But what am I doing wrong in the following example:

CREATE TABLE Personal (
  Per_Nr number(6) PRIMARY KEY,
  Per_Name varchar(20) not null
);

CREATE SEQUENCE key_generator;

CREATE TRIGGER insert_personal
BEFORE INSERT ON Personal
FOR EACH ROW
DECLARE v number(6);
BEGIN
  :new.Per_Nr := key_generator.nextval;
END;
/

The sqlplus interpreter simply says:
Table,View Or Sequence reference 'KEY_GENERATOR' not allowed in this context

What am I missing or is it really not possible to use sequences out a triggerbody. May I really ask all the users to type:

INSERT INTO Personal VALUES(key_generator.nextval, 'text');

Any Hints are welcome

Franz Achermann (acherman_at_iwi.unibe.ch) Received on Fri Oct 07 1994 - 14:27:17 CET