Character string buffer too small problem

Question

hi, guys:
I have a question that may be silly, I got error "ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small" when I run a query. if I uncomment "and rox.status='Active'" condition, I do not have the error. I guess it is related to some specific rows. I checked online, it looks the length of some varchar2 variable is not enough, but I just cannot find cause. I also notice there might be an error about v_level in the function, I should use number instead of varchar2 type. but after I changed the type of v_level, the error is still there. I would be cautious as this is a legacy system. Could anyone help me on this problem?
I have a query like this:
select *
from registration_offender_xref rox
where SOR_OFFENDER_DETAILS.get_offender_level(rox.offender_ID)=3
--and rox.status='Active'
and rox.end_registration_date is not null;I get error message as :
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small
ORA-06512: at "SORS.SOR_OFFENDER_DETAILS", line 124
06502. 00000 - "PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s"
SOR_OFFENDER_DETAILS.get_offender_level return a number value from 1 to 3, or a null value. Here is the code
  function get_offender_level(p_offender_id IN NUMBER) return NUMBER as
      sex_offender_flag number;
      tier_level number;
      override_num number;
      v_status  varchar2(10);
      v_aggravated  varchar2(10);
      v_habitual  varchar2(10);
      v_level  varchar2(10);
      cursor tierNum is  -- as May 22, 2008 per HKT of DOC (past portal code), Level/Tier is displayed for all offenders
               select max(c.tier)
      from sor_offense o, sor_offense_code c
               where o.offender_id = p_offender_id
               and o.OFFENSE_CODE = c.CODE_ID
      and upper(o.status) = 'ACTIVE';
  begin
      select count(*)
      into sex_offender_flag
      from registration_offender_xref rox
      where rox.offender_ID=p_offender_id
      and reg_type_ID=1;
      if sex_offender_flag>0 then
          OPEN tierNum;
          FETCH tierNum INTO v_level;
            if tierNum%NOTFOUND then
            tier_level := null;
            end if;
          CLOSE tierNum;
          select tier_overRide into overRide_Num
          from registration_offender_xref
          where offender_id = p_offender_id
          and reg_type_id = 1;
          if overRide_Num is not null then
            v_level:=overRide_Num;
          end if;
          --dbms_output.put_line('overRide_Num:'||overRide_Num);   
          --dbms_output.put_line('after override:'||p_level);
/*error line*/        
            select status,  decode(aggravated,'Y','Yes','No') aggravated,
           decode(habitual,'Y','Yes','No') habitual
          into v_status,  v_aggravated, v_habitual
          from registration_offender_xref
          where offender_id = p_offender_id
          and reg_type_id = 1;
            if upper(v_status) in ('COMPLETED', 'DECEASED', 'DELETED') then
               v_level := null;
            end if;
           --dbms_output.put_line('before final:'||p_level);
            if v_aggravated = 'Yes' or v_habitual = 'Yes' or v_level = 3 then
               v_level := 3;
            end if;
           --dbms_output.put_line('final:'||p_level);
            if override_num is not null then
               v_level := overRide_Num;
            end if;   
               else
            v_level:=null;
      end if;
      return v_level;
  end get_offender_level;Thanks a lot!
Sam
Edited by: lxiscas on May 23, 2013 8:38 AM
Edited by: lxiscas on May 23, 2013 8:41 AM
Edited by: lxiscas on May 23, 2013 9:01 AM

Answer 1

I'm not suggesting this is your problem, but
select status
into v_status,
from registration_offender_xref But you have declared
      v_status  varchar2(10);Much better to declare things like this
      v_status  registration_offender_xref.status%type;That way you know your variable is declared with a proper length, if the column length ever changes ... your code doesn't go kaboom.
Cheers,