Is it necessary that 'we should select count(*)' before deleting the recor

Question

hai..
i need to delete a record in my application for that i wrote a pl/sql process shown below....
DECLARE
Symbol varchar2(20);
ctn number(1);
BEGIN
Symbol := :P1_HIDDEN_FLAG;
select count(*) into ctn from emp1 where EMPNO=Symbol;
if ctn > 0 then
Delete from emp1 where EMPNO=Symbol;
End if;
End;
why we need to select count(*) from table.... if we are trying to delete a record that is not available in table... how can we handle that Exception???? Also is it necessary that 'we should select count() before deleting the record from table.....*
plz clarify me....
anoo..

Answer 1

Hello Anoo,
You can modify the foreign key constraint to ON DELETE CASCADE. Then the child automagically is deleted as well. Otherwise you need two (or more - depending on the number of childs ...and childs of the childs etc) statements. Remember that SQL%ROWCOUNT only returns the number of rows of the last SQL statement issued!
BTW : You are allowed to mark answers as 'Correct' or 'Helpful'.... ;-)
Greetings,
Roel
http://roelhartman.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggingaboutoracle.org/
http://www.logica.com/