How do I send a email notification with PL/SQL to Check for Columns

Question

I want to be able to use PL/SQL to check my columns and makes sure that all required columns were populated, and if any were not populated to send an email notification.
Thanks
Hank

Answer 1

I would still suggest that adding appropriate constraints (well, logical constraints) to the table is the right way to go.
When you get the file back, you load the data into the table. If the constraint is satisfied, the data is loaded. If the constraint is violated, the loader gets an error, writes the affected data to another table, to another file, etc. That way, the data in the database is always correct and you have a log of the rows that were bad.
create table t( status varchar2(10), cost number );
create or replace trigger trg_t
before insert or update
on t
for each row
begin
   if :new.status = 'Approved' and :new.cost is null
   then
     raise_application_error( -20001, 'Cost must not be null if status is approved' );
   end if;
end;
SCOTT @ hp92 Local> insert into t values( 'Reject', 1 );
1 row created.
SCOTT @ hp92 Local> insert into t values( 'reject', null );
1 row created.
SCOTT @ hp92 Local> insert into t values( 'Approved', 2 );
1 row created.
SCOTT @ hp92 Local> insert into t values( 'Approved', null );
insert into t values( 'Approved', null )
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-20001: Cost must not be null if status is approved
ORA-06512: at "SCOTT.TRG_T", line 4
ORA-04088: error during execution of trigger 'SCOTT.TRG_T'If you don't want to touch the loader, you can rename the table, create a view with the same name, and use an INSTEAD OF trigger on the view to populate the real table or a reject table.
Either way, you're better off, in general, rejecting invalid records than trying to expend a lot of effort reporting on them.
Justin
Distributed Database Consulting, Inc.
http://www.ddbcinc.com/askDDBC