XQuery Modify cannot be compiled

Question

Hi Gurus. Oracle EE 11.2 running on Linux. SQL Dev 3.2.30.09.
I am fairly decent with XPath and XSLT but am new to XQuery. I've implemented a few simple FLOWRs but I am getting a bit more complex. I have an XQuery where I am trying to replace some data inline. I have pared the actual XML and the code down to a very simple example that still returns the same error.
The error:
ORA-19112: error raised during evaluation: XQuery Update connot be compiled
19112. 00000 -  "error raised during evaluation: %s"
*Cause:    The error function was called during evaluation of the XQuery expression.
*Action:   Check the detailed error message for the possible causes.
Error at Line: 7 Column: 14
My Xquery:
SELECT XMLQuery(
  'copy $tmp := $xmldata
       modify (replace value of node $tmp/MSG_CNTNT_XML/Message/msgHdr/Source/Format/text() with "abc")
     return $tmp'
     PASSING msg_cntnt_xml as "xmldata"
     RETURNING CONTENT ) xmlmct
FROM (SELECT xmltype('<Message>
   <msgHdr>
      <Source>
         <Format>CTS</Format>
      </Source>
   </msgHdr>
</Message>') msg_cntnt_xml
       FROM DUAL)
Any general tips for XQuery and modify is cool but what I am really looking for is why am I getting the "Update connot be compiled". (BTW, notice the spelling error, connot - I'm not judging).
Any tips for debugging or being able to display intermediate results would be awesome also.
Thanks.
LewisC

Answer 1

Hi Lewis,
What's your exact database version?
You're trying to use XQuery Update Facility (a small extension to XQuery 1.0) which is only available from 11.2.0.3 and onwards.
On previous versions, you can use updateXML() function :
SQL> SELECT updateXML(
  2           msg_cntnt_xml
  3         , '/Message/msgHdr/Source/Format/text()'
  4         , 'abc'
  5         ) xmlmct
  6  FROM (SELECT xmltype('<Message>
  7     <msgHdr>
  8        <Source>
  9           <Format>CTS</Format>
10        </Source>
11     </msgHdr>
12  </Message>') msg_cntnt_xml
13         FROM DUAL)
14  ;
XMLMCT
<Message><msgHdr><Source><Format>abc</Format></Source></msgHdr></Message>