Determine data type

Question

Hi all,
I've got procedure for inserting data into value1 column of table1.
My need is to determine data type entered by user.
If data type is not number then user should receive error.
How do I perform it?

Answer 1

The easiest and most reliable way would be to declare the formal parameter as a number like:
SQL> create procedure p (p_num in number) as
  2  begin
  3     null;
  4  end;
  5  /
Procedure created.
SQL> exec p('a');
BEGIN p('a'); END;
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error
ORA-06512: at line 1If you cannot do that, or want to be more "user friendly", then the only alternative is to test it and raise an error like:
SQL> create procedure p (p_str in varchar2) is
  2     l_num number;
  3  begin
  4     l_num := to_number(p_str);
  5  exception
  6     when value_error then
  7        raise_application_error(-20001, 'I know I said it was a string, but I really want a number');
  8  end;
  9  /
Procedure created.
SQL> exec p('a');
BEGIN p('a'); END;
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-20001: I know I said it was a string, but I really want a number
ORA-06512: at "OPS$ORACLE.P", line 7
ORA-06512: at line 1John