Multiple constraints cause exception and I don't understand why;

Question

Hi:
I am using a 10.2.0.3 DB to look at some code that to the best of my knowledge works in 8i. The combination of constraints they put on the table end up preventing a user from inserting records in 10g due to a constraint violation.
Caveats: NOT MY CODE! They are using CHAR strings for times. Yes it's scary. Yes it's a problem in its own right. NOT the problem I care about right now. I care about the bigger question of why do the two constraints that (to me) appear to be non-conflicting cause a violation.
Here's the code to recreate the situation:
create table timeConstraintTest
  MY_KEY         NUMBER(11)             NOT NULL,
  SOME_NBR       NUMBER(3)              NOT NULL,
  SOME_DATE      DATE                   NOT NULL,
  CHAR_TIME_IN   VARCHAR2(5 BYTE)       NOT NULL,
  CHAR_TIME_OUT  VARCHAR2(5 BYTE)       NOT NULL
ALTER TABLE timeConstraintTest ADD (
  CONSTRAINT TCT_CPK
PRIMARY KEY
(MY_KEY));
ALTER TABLE timeConstraintTest ADD (
  CONSTRAINT TIME_IN_CCK
CHECK (LENGTH(CHAR_TIME_IN) = 4 AND
    LTRIM(char_time_in,'0123456789') IS NULL AND
    SUBSTR(char_time_in, 1, 2) BETWEEN 0 AND 24 AND
    SUBSTR(char_time_in, 3, 2) BETWEEN 0 AND 59));Now, if I try and insert a record with the following :
insert into timeConstraintTest values(1,1,sysdate,'1234','1245');I get
ORA-02290: check constraint (GAFF.TIME_IN_CCK) violated
Now if I disable the NOT NULL constraint on the CHAR_TIME_IN column (yeah I should have created it explicitly and named it)
alter table timeConstraintTest disable constraint SYS_C0056162;the insert will work.
This may be correct, it may be a bug. I don't know. I just want to understand it. Does anyone know why this violation is being thrown?
Thanks

Answer 1

Failed in my case.
10.2.0.3 on Solaris 64 bit.
SQL> create table timeConstraintTest
  2  (
  3    MY_KEY         NUMBER(11)             NOT NULL,
  4    SOME_NBR       NUMBER(3)              NOT NULL,
  5    SOME_DATE      DATE                   NOT NULL,
  6    CHAR_TIME_IN   VARCHAR2(5 BYTE)       NOT NULL,
  7    CHAR_TIME_OUT  VARCHAR2(5 BYTE)       NOT NULL
  8  );
Table created.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> ALTER TABLE timeConstraintTest ADD (
  2    CONSTRAINT TCT_CPK
  3   PRIMARY KEY
  4   (MY_KEY));
Table altered.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> ALTER TABLE timeConstraintTest ADD (
  2    CONSTRAINT TIME_IN_CCK
  3   CHECK (LENGTH(CHAR_TIME_IN) = 4 AND
  4      LTRIM(char_time_in,'0123456789') IS NULL AND
  5      SUBSTR(char_time_in, 1, 2) BETWEEN 0 AND 24 AND
  6      SUBSTR(char_time_in, 3, 2) BETWEEN 0 AND 59));
Table altered.
SQL>
SQL> insert into timeConstraintTest values(1,1,sysdate,'1234','1245');
insert into timeConstraintTest values(1,1,sysdate,'1234','1245')
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02290: check constraint (ETL_IMPORT.TIME_IN_CCK) violated
SQL>
SQL> select * from v$version
  2  /
BANNER
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.3.0 - 64bi
PL/SQL Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
CORE    10.2.0.3.0      Production
TNS for Solaris: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
SQL>Cheers
Sarma.