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2 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>41.9. Errors and Messages</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="plpgsql-transactions.html" title="41.8. Transaction Management" /><link rel="next" href="plpgsql-trigger.html" title="41.10. Trigger Functions" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">41.9. Errors and Messages</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="plpgsql-transactions.html" title="41.8. Transaction Management">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="plpgsql.html" title="Chapter 41. PL/pgSQL — SQL Procedural Language">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 41. <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span> — <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> Procedural Language</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 18.0 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plpgsql-trigger.html" title="41.10. Trigger Functions">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="PLPGSQL-ERRORS-AND-MESSAGES"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">41.9. Errors and Messages <a href="#PLPGSQL-ERRORS-AND-MESSAGES" class="id_link">#</a></h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-errors-and-messages.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RAISE">41.9.1. Reporting Errors and Messages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-errors-and-messages.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-ASSERT">41.9.2. Checking Assertions</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect2" id="PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RAISE"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">41.9.1. Reporting Errors and Messages <a href="#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RAISE" class="id_link">#</a></h3></div></div></div><a id="id-1.8.8.11.2.2" class="indexterm"></a><a id="id-1.8.8.11.2.3" class="indexterm"></a><p>
3 Use the <code class="command">RAISE</code> statement to report messages and
6 </p><pre class="synopsis">
7 RAISE [<span class="optional"> <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> </span>] '<em class="replaceable"><code>format</code></em>' [<span class="optional">, <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> [<span class="optional">, ... </span>]</span>] [<span class="optional"> USING <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> { = | := } <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> [<span class="optional">, ... </span>] </span>];
8 RAISE [<span class="optional"> <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> </span>] <em class="replaceable"><code>condition_name</code></em> [<span class="optional"> USING <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> { = | := } <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> [<span class="optional">, ... </span>] </span>];
9 RAISE [<span class="optional"> <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> </span>] SQLSTATE '<em class="replaceable"><code>sqlstate</code></em>' [<span class="optional"> USING <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> { = | := } <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> [<span class="optional">, ... </span>] </span>];
10 RAISE [<span class="optional"> <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> </span>] USING <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> { = | := } <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> [<span class="optional">, ... </span>];
14 The <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> option specifies
15 the error severity. Allowed levels are <code class="literal">DEBUG</code>,
16 <code class="literal">LOG</code>, <code class="literal">INFO</code>,
17 <code class="literal">NOTICE</code>, <code class="literal">WARNING</code>,
18 and <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code>, with <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code>
20 <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code> raises an error (which normally aborts the
21 current transaction); the other levels only generate messages of different
23 Whether messages of a particular priority are reported to the client,
24 written to the server log, or both is controlled by the
25 <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-logging.html#GUC-LOG-MIN-MESSAGES">log_min_messages</a> and
26 <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-CLIENT-MIN-MESSAGES">client_min_messages</a> configuration
27 variables. See <a class="xref" href="runtime-config.html" title="Chapter 19. Server Configuration">Chapter 19</a> for more
30 In the first syntax variant,
31 after the <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> if any,
32 write a <em class="replaceable"><code>format</code></em> string
33 (which must be a simple string literal, not an expression). The
34 format string specifies the error message text to be reported.
35 The format string can be followed
36 by optional argument expressions to be inserted into the message.
37 Inside the format string, <code class="literal">%</code> is replaced by the
38 string representation of the next optional argument's value. Write
39 <code class="literal">%%</code> to emit a literal <code class="literal">%</code>.
40 The number of arguments must match the number of <code class="literal">%</code>
41 placeholders in the format string, or an error is raised during
42 the compilation of the function.
44 In this example, the value of <code class="literal">v_job_id</code> will replace the
45 <code class="literal">%</code> in the string:
46 </p><pre class="programlisting">
47 RAISE NOTICE 'Calling cs_create_job(%)', v_job_id;
50 In the second and third syntax variants,
51 <em class="replaceable"><code>condition_name</code></em> and
52 <em class="replaceable"><code>sqlstate</code></em> specify an
53 error condition name or a five-character SQLSTATE code, respectively.
54 See <a class="xref" href="errcodes-appendix.html" title="Appendix A. PostgreSQL Error Codes">Appendix A</a> for the valid error condition
55 names and the predefined SQLSTATE codes.
58 of <em class="replaceable"><code>condition_name</code></em>
59 and <em class="replaceable"><code>sqlstate</code></em> usage:
60 </p><pre class="programlisting">
61 RAISE division_by_zero;
62 RAISE WARNING SQLSTATE '22012';
65 In any of these syntax variants,
66 you can attach additional information to the error report by writing
67 <code class="literal">USING</code> followed by <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> = <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> items. Each
68 <em class="replaceable"><code>expression</code></em> can be any
69 string-valued expression. The allowed <em class="replaceable"><code>option</code></em> key words are:
71 </p><div class="variablelist" id="RAISE-USING-OPTIONS"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="RAISE-USING-OPTION-MESSAGE"><span class="term"><code class="literal">MESSAGE</code></span> <a href="#RAISE-USING-OPTION-MESSAGE" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>Sets the error message text. This option can't be used in the
72 first syntax variant, since the message is already supplied.</p></dd><dt id="RAISE-USING-OPTION-DETAIL"><span class="term"><code class="literal">DETAIL</code></span> <a href="#RAISE-USING-OPTION-DETAIL" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>Supplies an error detail message.</p></dd><dt id="RAISE-USING-OPTION-HINT"><span class="term"><code class="literal">HINT</code></span> <a href="#RAISE-USING-OPTION-HINT" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>Supplies a hint message.</p></dd><dt id="RAISE-USING-OPTION-ERRCODE"><span class="term"><code class="literal">ERRCODE</code></span> <a href="#RAISE-USING-OPTION-ERRCODE" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>Specifies the error code (SQLSTATE) to report, either by condition
73 name, as shown in <a class="xref" href="errcodes-appendix.html" title="Appendix A. PostgreSQL Error Codes">Appendix A</a>, or directly as a
74 five-character SQLSTATE code. This option can't be used in the
75 second or third syntax variant, since the error code is already
76 supplied.</p></dd><dt id="RAISE-USING-OPTION-COLUMN"><span class="term"><code class="literal">COLUMN</code><br /></span><span class="term"><code class="literal">CONSTRAINT</code><br /></span><span class="term"><code class="literal">DATATYPE</code><br /></span><span class="term"><code class="literal">TABLE</code><br /></span><span class="term"><code class="literal">SCHEMA</code></span> <a href="#RAISE-USING-OPTION-COLUMN" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>Supplies the name of a related object.</p></dd></dl></div><p>
78 This example will abort the transaction with the given error message
80 </p><pre class="programlisting">
81 RAISE EXCEPTION 'Nonexistent ID --> %', user_id
82 USING HINT = 'Please check your user ID';
85 These two examples show equivalent ways of setting the SQLSTATE:
86 </p><pre class="programlisting">
87 RAISE 'Duplicate user ID: %', user_id USING ERRCODE = 'unique_violation';
88 RAISE 'Duplicate user ID: %', user_id USING ERRCODE = '23505';
90 Another way to produce the same result is:
91 </p><pre class="programlisting">
92 RAISE unique_violation USING MESSAGE = 'Duplicate user ID: ' || user_id;
95 As shown in the fourth syntax variant, it is also possible to
96 write <code class="literal">RAISE USING</code> or <code class="literal">RAISE
97 <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em> USING</code> and put
98 everything else into the <code class="literal">USING</code> list.
100 The last variant of <code class="command">RAISE</code> has no parameters at all.
101 This form can only be used inside a <code class="literal">BEGIN</code> block's
102 <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code> clause;
103 it causes the error currently being handled to be re-thrown.
104 </p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
105 Before <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> 9.1, <code class="command">RAISE</code> without
106 parameters was interpreted as re-throwing the error from the block
107 containing the active exception handler. Thus an <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code>
108 clause nested within that handler could not catch it, even if the
109 <code class="command">RAISE</code> was within the nested <code class="literal">EXCEPTION</code> clause's
110 block. This was deemed surprising as well as being incompatible with
113 If no condition name nor SQLSTATE is specified in a
114 <code class="command">RAISE EXCEPTION</code> command, the default is to use
115 <code class="literal">raise_exception</code> (<code class="literal">P0001</code>).
116 If no message text is specified, the default is to use the condition
117 name or SQLSTATE as message text.
118 </p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
119 When specifying an error code by SQLSTATE code, you are not
120 limited to the predefined error codes, but can select any
121 error code consisting of five digits and/or upper-case ASCII
122 letters, other than <code class="literal">00000</code>. It is recommended that
123 you avoid throwing error codes that end in three zeroes, because
124 these are category codes and can only be trapped by trapping
126 </p></div></div><div class="sect2" id="PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-ASSERT"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">41.9.2. Checking Assertions <a href="#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-ASSERT" class="id_link">#</a></h3></div></div></div><a id="id-1.8.8.11.3.2" class="indexterm"></a><a id="id-1.8.8.11.3.3" class="indexterm"></a><a id="id-1.8.8.11.3.4" class="indexterm"></a><p>
127 The <code class="command">ASSERT</code> statement is a convenient shorthand for
128 inserting debugging checks into <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span>
131 </p><pre class="synopsis">
132 ASSERT <em class="replaceable"><code>condition</code></em> [<span class="optional"> , <em class="replaceable"><code>message</code></em> </span>];
135 The <em class="replaceable"><code>condition</code></em> is a Boolean
136 expression that is expected to always evaluate to true; if it does,
137 the <code class="command">ASSERT</code> statement does nothing further. If the
138 result is false or null, then an <code class="literal">ASSERT_FAILURE</code> exception
139 is raised. (If an error occurs while evaluating
140 the <em class="replaceable"><code>condition</code></em>, it is
141 reported as a normal error.)
143 If the optional <em class="replaceable"><code>message</code></em> is
144 provided, it is an expression whose result (if not null) replaces the
145 default error message text <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">assertion failed</span>”</span>, should
146 the <em class="replaceable"><code>condition</code></em> fail.
147 The <em class="replaceable"><code>message</code></em> expression is
148 not evaluated in the normal case where the assertion succeeds.
150 Testing of assertions can be enabled or disabled via the configuration
151 parameter <code class="literal">plpgsql.check_asserts</code>, which takes a Boolean
152 value; the default is <code class="literal">on</code>. If this parameter
153 is <code class="literal">off</code> then <code class="command">ASSERT</code> statements do nothing.
155 Note that <code class="command">ASSERT</code> is meant for detecting program
156 bugs, not for reporting ordinary error conditions. Use
157 the <code class="command">RAISE</code> statement, described above, for that.
158 </p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="plpgsql-transactions.html" title="41.8. Transaction Management">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="plpgsql.html" title="Chapter 41. PL/pgSQL — SQL Procedural Language">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plpgsql-trigger.html" title="41.10. Trigger Functions">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">41.8. Transaction Management </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 18.0 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 41.10. Trigger Functions</td></tr></table></div></body></html>