Handling DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX

I'm a new Oracle user and I'm having trouble with a database trigger. I've got a
SQLLoad job set up to insert rows from a flat file into an Oracle table. There is
a Before Insert trigger on the table (FOR EACH ROW) which has several edits
that the data must pass through before the insert takes place.

My problem is this: if the record I'm trying to load already exists in the table
(based on unique index keys), I want to update it with the new values
(values

being loaded). I wanted to use the DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX exception to tell me if a duplicate record existed, instead of explicitly doing a database read.
But my before insert trigger has already executed before the actual insert takes
place. Ditto, for an after insert trigger.

Is there a way to trap this duplicate value exception in a case such as this where
you are not doing an explicit insert. Any suggestions?? I know I haven't stated
my case very clearly, but I thought I would give it a shot. Thanks. Received on Sun Jan 14 1996 - 00:00:00 CET