Please critque Function that produces the nextval

Question

Hello,
I realize that this is not a SQL/PLSQL workshop, but I am in need of some assistance with the following code. I am sure it is something that I overlooked or 'just don't understand.'
These 2 functions compiles just fine (scroll down).
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION createSSN_fnc
return VARCHAR2
Is
nSSN VARCHAR2(9);
Begin
Select
'916' || lpad(ssn_seq.nextval, 6, '000')
INTO
nSSN
FROM
dual;
return(nSSN);
end;
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION pg_valid_ssn_fnc
(p_ssn IN VARCHAR2)
return VARCHAR2
IS
lv_valid VARCHAR2(1);
BEGIN
IF
substr(p_ssn,1,3) = '000'
OR
substr(p_ssn,1,3) between '650' and '699'
OR
p_ssn = ' '
OR
p_ssn is NULL
OR
substr(p_ssn,1,3) between '729' and '999'
OR
translate(p_ssn,'012345678', '999999999') != '999999999'
THEN
lv_valid := 'N';
ELSIF
substr(p_ssn,1,3) = '916'
THEN
lv_valid := 'Y';
END IF;
return(lv_valid);
END pg_valid_ssn_fnc;
When I call this function in the following procedure I get these errors. What am I missing here?
CREATE or REPLACE PROCEDURE pgUpdateSSN_prc
AS
cursor student_cur IS
SELECT distinct
ce.student_id,
ce.ssn
FROM
dev_sy_district_defaults sd,
dev_st_enrollment st,
dev_ce_family_member ce
WHERE
     st.student_id = ce.student_id
AND
     st.SCHOOL_YEAR = sd.CURRENT_SCHOOL_YEAR
AND
     st.is_active_ind     = 1
AND
     pg_valid_ssn_fnc(ce.ssn) = 'N';
student_rec student_cur%ROWTYPE;
process_counter NUMBER := 0;
BEGIN
FOR student_rec in student_cur
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('start Updating Students');
UPDATE
dev_ce_family_member
     SET
     ssn = createSSN_fnc(ssn_seq.nextval)
WHERE
     pg_valid_ssn_fnc(student_rec.ssn) = 'N';
process_counter := process_counter + 1;
END loop;
COMMIT;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Total records Processed: ' || process_counter);
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE( 'ERROR:' ||sqlcode || sqlerrm);
END;
LINE/COL ERROR
30/12 PL/SQL: SQL Statement ignored
33/14 PL/SQL: ORA-00904: "CREATESSN_FNC": invalid identifier
33/14 PLS-00306: wrong number or types of arguments in call to
'CREATESSN_FNC'
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

WHEN OTHERS THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE( 'ERROR:' ||sqlcode || sqlerrm);This is not a good idea.
- DBMS_OUTPUT is a tool for optional debug messages. Depending on what calls the procedure and the settings in place it can often be silently ignored.
- SQLERRM already contains SQLCODE. SQLCODE is just the number at the start of SQLERRM. Why would you duplicate it?
- Without any exception handler, PL/SQL's default behaviour is to let an exception propagate up to the caller. Writing your own exception handler to catch all exceptions and do less with them is in effect an exception hider.