SQL Server 2005 offers a more robust set of tools for handling errors than in previous versions of SQL Server. Deadlocks, which are virtually impossible to handle at the database level in SQL Server 2000, can now be handled with ease. By taking advantage of these new features, you can focus more on IT business strategy development and less on what needs to happen when errors occur. In SQL Server 2005, @@ERROR variable is no longer needed after every statement executed, as was the case in SQL Server 2000. SQL Server 2005 provides the TRY…CATCH construct, which is already present in many modern programming languages. TRY/CATCH helps to write logic separate the action and error handling code. The code meant for the action is enclosed in the TRY block and the code for error handling is enclosed in the CATCH block. In case the code within the TRY block fails, the control automatically jumps to the CATCH block, letting the transaction roll back and resume execution. In addition to this, the CATCH block captures and provides error information that shows you the ID, message text, state, severity and transaction state of an error.
Functions to be used in CATCH block are :
- ERROR_NUMBER: returns the error number, and is the same value of @@ERROR.
- ERROR_SEVERITY: returns the severity level of the error that invoked the CATCH block.
- ERROR_STATE: returns the state number of the error.
- ERROR_LINE: returns the line number where the error occurred.
- ERROR_PROCEDURE: returns the name of the stored procedure or trigger for which the error occurred.
- ERROR_MESSAGE: returns the full message text of the error. The text includes the values supplied for any substitutable parameters, such as lengths, object names, or times.
You can use these functions anywhere inside a CATCH block, and they will return information regarding the error that has occurred. These functions will return the value null outside of the CATCH block.
Syntax:
BEGIN TRY
{ sql_statement |
statement_block }
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
{ sql_statement |
statement_block }
END CATCH
The TRY or CATCH block can contain a single T-SQL statement or a series of statements. The CATCH block must follow immediately after the TRY block. The TRY/CATCH block cannot span more than a single batch. In addition, TRY/CATCH block cannot span an IF/ELSE statement.
Example of TRY…CATCH:
BEGIN TRY
DECLARE @X INT
---- Divide by zero to generate Error
SET @X = 1/0
PRINT 'Command after error in TRY block'
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
PRINT 'Error Detected'
END CATCH
PRINT 'Command after TRY/CATCH blocks'
Above code will return following result:
Error Detected
Command after TRY/CATCH blocks
If all the statements within the TRY block are executed successfully, then processing does not enter the CATCH block, but instead skips over the CATCH block and executes the first statement following the END CATCH statement. Removing SET statement in above code PRINT ‘Error Detected’ statement is not executed, but the PRINT statement within the TRY block is executed, as well as the PRINT statement after the TRY/CATCH block. TRY/CATCH blocks can be nested.
Limitation of TRY…CATCH:
- Compiled errors are not caught.
- Deferred name resolution errors created by statement level recompilations. (If process is terminated by Kill commands or broken client connections TRY…CATCH will be not effective)
- Errors with a severity greater than 10 that do not terminate their database connection are caught in the TRY/CATCH block.
For errors that are not trapped, SQL Server 2005 passes control back to the application immediately, without executing any CATCH block code.
Similar example of TRY…CATCH which includes all the ERROR functions:
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
BEGIN TRY
-- Generate a divide-by-zero error.
SELECT 1/0;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SELECT
ERROR_NUMBER() AS ErrorNumber,
ERROR_SEVERITY() AS ErrorSeverity,
ERROR_STATE() AS ErrorState,
ERROR_PROCEDURE() AS ErrorProcedure,
ERROR_LINE() AS ErrorLine,
ERROR_MESSAGE() AS ErrorMessage;
END CATCH;
GO
Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) , BOL
We have found the try/catch functionality extremeley useful, but now I seem to be stuck into a tricky situation with nested cursors.
What if there is an error in crsSub1 or crsSub2?
Where shall I declare, open, close and deallocate cursors when I don´t know where an error might occur??
I cannot close a cursor “on chance”, not knowing if it exists (will cause runtime error) and the same counts for opening a cursor “on chance”.
Shall I use local variables to keep track of what cursors that are open or is there built in functions that I can use??
Example:
declare crsMain local for select Pid from Person
open crsMain
while (1=1)
begin
fetch crsMain into @Pid
begin tran
begin try
— Nested subcursor Sub1
declare crsSub1 local for select * from Sub1
where Pid = @Pid
open crsSub1
insert…
update…
delete…
close crsSub1
deallocate crsSub1
— Nested subcursor Sub2
declare crsSub2 local for select * from Sub2
where Pid = @Pid
open crsSub2
insert…
update…
delete…
close crsSub2
deallocate crsSub2
commit
end try
begin catch
rollback
— do some error logging…
end catch
end
close crsMain
deallocate crsMain
Hi All,
You Can use the Cursor_Status() function to check the status of the cursor in the CATCH Block and write the code accordingly
For full detail go to bookonline topic
ms-help://MS.SQLCC.v9/MS.SQLSVR.v9.en/tsqlref9/html/3a4a840e-04f8-43bd-aada-35d78c3cb6b0.htm
This is a catch block that I created that takes care of a cursor called “file_cursor”. probably could be a little more robust, but it does the trick:
BEGIN CATCH
DECLARE @ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(4000);
IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;
PRINT ‘TRANSACTION ABORTED’
END
PRINT CURSOR_STATUS(‘global’, ‘file_cursor’)
IF CURSOR_STATUS(‘global’,'file_cursor’) > 0
BEGIN
CLOSE file_cursor
DEALLOCATE file_cursor
PRINT ‘The cursor has been closed and deallocated’
END
DECLARE @ErrorSeverity INT;
DECLARE @ErrorState INT;
SELECT
@ErrorMessage = ERROR_MESSAGE(),
@ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(),
@ErrorState = ERROR_STATE();
IF @ErrorState < 1
SET @ErrorState = 1
— Use RAISERROR inside the CATCH block to return error
— information about the original error that caused
— execution to jump to the CATCH block.
–SET @ErrorMessage = ‘Procedure BLAH: ‘ + @ErrorMessage
RAISERROR (@ErrorMessage, — Message text.
@ErrorSeverity, — Severity.
@ErrorState — State.
);
END CATCH
[...] function in new feature of SQL Server 2005 TRY…CATCH. When asked for explanation he suggested SQL SERVER – 2005 Explanation of TRY…CATCH and ERROR Handling article as excuse suggesting that I did not give example of RAISEERROR with TRY…CATCH. We all [...]
Nice work man keep it up..
Nisheeth Pandya
Can we use BEGIN CATCH etc.. in a trigger?
Hi,
Is Try catch block is an alternative of @@raiseerror that we used in SQL 2000.
your article was extremely useful for my sql dba telephonic interview. I need answers for few questions where i was not sure.
1. How will you detect that a deadlock occured in SQL server 2000 and how will you resolve it ?
2.How many stored procedures can be written in a single crystal report?
Hi,
I want to use 2 try blocks in same stored proc. If the FIRST try block fails it goes to catch..suppose.. if my SECOND block fails, whether the first TRY block transaction gets rolledback or not?
this is my scenario
// success
begin tran
begin try
insert1
insert2
insert3
end try
begin catch
rollback
end catch
end try
commit tran
//failure
begin tran
begin try
insert1
insert2
insert3
end try
begin catch
rollback
end catch
end try
commit tran
Hi,
I want to use try-catch block against any user defined condition. say I am ising an IF block to satisfy some conditions . If it will dissatisfy, then I want to go to CATCH block. Is it possible?
BEGIN TRY
IF (@variable between 1 AND 8) –condition as per client emand) –
error produced
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
END CATCH
I am trying to write the exception details in the text file.
What will be the faster way ?
Kamleshkumar Gujarathi.
[...] SQL SERVER – 2005 Explanation of TRY…CATCH and ERROR Handling [...]
Hi,
If I try to drop a constraint which does not exist in the database by using the below command I get the error message
Msg 3728, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
‘FK_ReferencedWorkspace_SchemaVersion1′ is not a constraint.
Msg 3727, Level 16, State 0, Line 1
Could not drop constraint. See previous errors.
However if I have the same code enclosed within a try .. catch block with the statement
select ERROR_NUMBER() as ErrorNumber,
ERROR_LINE() AS ErrorLine,
ERROR_MESSAGE() as ErrorMessage
it only returns me the second error as
“Could not drop constraint. See previous errors.”
How do I get the full error message so that I can trobleshoot easily OR is this a limitation of SQL Server 2005
Thanks
Ryan
Ryan did you ever get an answer to your question. I am having a similar issue.
I’ve got the same problem. Did you guys get answer to this question?
that’s a limitation of Sql Server 2005 – the first error is a compile time error, I think.
I have a problem in SQL 2000 server because I need something like try .. catch.
The problem is.
SELECT tic.cod_record_poliza,tic.cod_ramo
FROM tISO_Claim tic
WHERE cod_record_poliza = 99
Error:
Server: Msg 245, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Syntax error converting the varchar value ‘UP01′ to a column of data type int.
Note: This error is in a select statement because the column name cod_record_poliza is varchar and in this case the values is 99 instead of ’99′.
—>>> I need to detect this error. <<<<——-
The question is: How could I resolve this error?
Hi Perez,
That is not an issue with Select. this issue with “WHERE”.
You can write the query as follows:
SELECT tic.cod_record_poliza,tic.cod_ramo
FROM tISO_Claim tic
WHERE cod_record_poliza = ’99′
Let me know if it helps you.
Thanks,
Tejas
Hi All,
I have a situation in my Trigger.
My trigger is for update on a Table, whenever there is an update it has to fire the trigger and place the data in 2 Servers one is local and another is Remote server. what i need is sometimes my remote server goes offline, thogh the trigger firing and and i am missing some data. what i want is if is there any problem with servers or DB still it has to fire the trigger and it should notify me with a mail that there was a problem with remote server or DB, but still it has to do all the tasks it is suppose to do. so implemented try catch bolck in catch block i wrote like this
END TRY
Begin Catch
SELECT @intErrorCode = @@ERROR
IF (@intErrorCode 0) GOTO PROBLEM
End Catch
PROBLEM:
IF (@intErrorCode 0)
BEGIN
declare @body1 varchar(100)
set @body1 = ‘Server :’+@@servername+ ‘Error Message:’+ERROR_MESSAGE()
EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_send_dbmail @recipients=’mailid’,
@subject = ‘My Mail Test’,
@body = @body1,
@body_format = ‘HTML’ ;
END
while i am trying get some exception trigger is not getting fired i have to rollback my operation.
Is there anyway i canget fired my trigger though there is an exception but notifying me with a mail. Any Help….
@Reddy,
Instead of waiting for trigger to execute SQL statement on remote sql server (which is offline) and fail and then send an email… why don’t you simple check if remote server or remote database is online. If it is online perform action, if it not online, then send email. something like this.
Inside trigger you can add a check like this,
if (condition to check if remote server database is online)
begin
perform what ever your action you want to perform.
end
else
begin
xp_sendemail……
end
This will definitely not rollback your transaction.
If you need more help let me know. Also provide details if you are using linked server to connect to remote server.
~ IM.
Nice one….
Imran
Thanks for your quick reply.
yes i am using linked server. I implemented sqlmail on my local server and i am getting mails.
As i mplemented Try Catch in my trigger and we know that not all the errors will be cathed in the catch block. so better i implement the the way you suggested.
How do we check that remote server is online or not, is there any code snippet you have
part1: if (condition to check if remote server database is online)
begin
perform what ever your action you want to perform.
end
part2: else
begin
xp_sendemail……
end
I am okay with the 2nd part and what should i write for part1? is there any system stored procedure to do that in sql2k5 as i am using sql2k5. Reply will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
I would like to print the query I have written inside the SP while executing it so that I can debug it easily
e.g
BEGIN
DECLARE @SQLQUERY varchar(8000)
SET @SQLQUERY = ‘select * from Roles where Role=1 ‘
PRINT ‘%1!’, @SQLQUERY
EXEC(@SQLQUERY)
END
I want if I execute it in sql plus it shoul give me results as well as print the query for my knowldege.
The baove syntaxt works fine with sybase but in sql server it gives me error nea comma in print statement.
Manisha
What are you trying to print? This print statement will give error. Do you want to concatenate %1 with statemetn in @SQLQUERY.
If yes then Write
PRINT ‘%1!’ + @SQLQUERY
Iam using openrowset function to load data from text file.
First row, first field value has carriage return and hence when
openrowset function is executed outside the Try – Catch block
gives the following error.
Msg 4864, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
“Bulk load data conversion error (type mismatch or invalid character for the specified codepage) for row 1, column 1 (column_name). ”
When openrowset is executed inside the Try block, works fine
, skips the first row as it had problem with the first column value and inserts from second row onwards.
Basically function inserted all rows excluding the problematic ones, without giving any error.
How can i find those problematic rows, as none of the errors are caught in Catch Block.
CAN WE USE TRY CATCH IN FUNCTIONS?
Hi,
I tried to insert data into a table which doesn’t exists from a SP. In this case, I am not able to trap the error in CATCH block and it breaks while running in between.
BEGIN TRY
–Insert statement
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
PRINT ‘Error Detected’
END CATCH
Output:
Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Procedure usp_Calculation, Line 805
Invalid object name ‘tbl_Allocation_Debug’.
Check upfront if object exists or not.
If exists(
Select * from information_schema.tables where table_name=
) … then go ahead inserting data.
Hi ,
kindly let me know how to capture the exception raised by the below sql and i want to use insert Try and Catch in the sql below.
DECLARE @triprequest varchar (50)
DECLARE @xml_str varchar(4000)
DECLARE @hdoc int
declare @temp_table_travel_Req_xml_det table ([triprequest] varchar (50),[name] varchar (50), [created_by] varchar (50), [action] varchar (16), [created_on] datetime)
DECLARE xml_cur cursor for
SELECT CMTRAVELCOMMENTS.tripRequest triprequest, cast(cast(CMTRAVELCOMMENTS.config as
varbinary(8000)) as VARCHAR(8000)) xml_str
FROM CMTRAVELCOMMENTS, PCMTRAVELREQUEST
WHERE
PCMTRAVELREQUEST.NODESTATE = ‘Approved request’
and CMTRAVELCOMMENTS.tripRequest=PCMTRAVELREQUEST.tripRequest
OPEN xml_cur
FETCH xml_cur into @triprequest,@xml_str
WHILE(@@fetch_status=0)
BEGIN
EXEC sp_xml_preparedocument @hdoc OUTPUT, @xml_str
INSERT into temp_table_travel_Req_xml_det
SELECT @triprequest,*
FROM OPENXML (@hdoc,’/cm-comments/comments’, 3)
WITH ([name] varchar (50), [created_by] varchar (50), [action] varchar (16), [created_on] datetime)
EXEC sp_xml_removedocument @hdoc
print @triprequest
FETCH xml_cur into @triprequest,@xml_str
END
CLOSE xml_cur
DEALLOCATE xml_cur
Hello Sir,
Is there any way to catch error with severity less than 10.
I have a Stored Proc wherein dynamic sql query is generated. If the query is wrong, How can i catch the exception?
If the query generated can be wrong, than the user input is wrong and hence i need to update another table.
Can u pls help ..
Thanks
Geervani
Is it possible for try..catch to be global for some reason? We are seeing stored procedures calling an error statement even though there is no error checking (try catch or otherwise) on that particular statement. For example, in the sp we might do inserts and on those we check @@error and we always do an insert into table called errors if we see a failure, but we have some update statements that we expect to not find anything to update in certain conditions so we do not check for any errors yet when they do not work we are getting an error on not being able to insert into the table errors and the sp bombs. Is it possible for there to be a global try catch that gets called somehow?
I have a stored procedure that updates a linked server. The linked server is returning an error (because the update would violate a business rule).
ERROR_MESSAGE() has ‘Cannot fetch a row from OLE DB provider “” for linked server “”.’
This is OK as far as it goes. But when I debug this in VS 2008, the Debug Window displays this much more detailed info:
OLE DB provider “” for linked server “” returned message “Cursor fetch row failed.
exception 98
VER2021-Service Records can not overlap for DSP.”.
How can I access that more detailed message within my stored procedure’s CATCH block?
i want to know in sql script what type of
exception are generate like FOREGIN KEY,PRIMARY KEY, UNIQUE KEY VIOLATION
so that i take a step to generate a appropriate message to
user that it understand what is error.
Pinal,
Can you please provide some more info on NESTED TRY CATCH blocks and how the control passes from one to another during calling one stored procedure from another.
I have the following situation
CREATE PROCEDURE sp_a(
….)
AS
BEGIN…
..
BEGIN TRY — Outer Try block
UPDATE TABLE a…..WHERE …
EXEC sp_b
UPDATE TABLE….
SET a…..
WHERE….
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET @ErrorMsg = ‘ErrNo: ‘ + ERROR_NUMBER() + ‘ Msg: ‘ +
ERROR_MESSAGE()
END CATCH
END
—- End of Stored Proc – sp_a
CREATE PROCEDURE sp_b(..
…)
…
BEGIN TRY — Nested Try Block – Inner block
INSERT INTO TABLE…..
VALUES(…)
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET @ErrorMsg = ‘ErrNo: ‘ + ERROR_NUMBER() + ‘ Msg: ‘ +
ERROR_MESSAGE()
END CATCH
END —
—- End of Stored Proc sp_b
So in this case if the sproc sp_b returns error, does the stored procedure capture that error and goes to the Outer CATCH block or do I have log the Inner CATCH error separately into a table.
Any feedback would be much appreciated
I understand the Try Catch, but how can I catch that the link server is down, and test it without taking down the link server?
BEGIN TRY
–SELECT 1/0
SELECT state_desc FROM LinkedServerName.master.sys.databases WHERE [Name] = ‘DBaseName’
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SELECT
ERROR_NUMBER() AS ErrorNumber,
ERROR_SEVERITY() AS ErrorSeverity,
ERROR_STATE() AS ErrorState,
ERROR_PROCEDURE() AS ErrorProcedure,
ERROR_LINE() AS ErrorLine,
ERROR_MESSAGE() AS ErrorMessage;
END CATCH
Hi,
I am using sqlserver 2005.if i execute following lines of code in sqlserver catch bolck not executing.Since i dont have Permanenttable and Temporarytable in my db.
BEGIN TRY
insert Permanenttable
select * from Temporarytable
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
print ‘catch fired’
END CATCH
The invalid object name error cannot be jhandled by CATCH block
I understand try catch blocks having some limitation.
But how can i handle this type of exception?
I am having scenario like following
Create procedure sp1
as
Begin
Begin Try
Begin Tran
Declare cursor1 cursor for …………
………………
While @@Fetch_status=0
Begin
Declare cursor2 cursor for …………
………………
While @@Fetch_status=0
Begin
Declare cursor3 cursor for …………
………………
While @@Fetch_status=0
Begin
insert Permanenttable
select * from Temporarytable
End
End
End
IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0
COMMIT TRAN
End Try
Begin catch
Rollback tran
IF CURSOR_STATUS(‘GLOBAL’, ‘Cursor1′) >= 0
BEGIN
CLOSE Cursor1
DEALLOCATE Cursor1
END
IF CURSOR_STATUS(‘GLOBAL’, ‘Cursor2′) >= 0
BEGIN
CLOSE Cursor2
DEALLOCATE Cursor2
END
IF CURSOR_STATUS(‘GLOBAL’, ‘Cursor3′) >= 0
BEGIN
CLOSE Cursor3
DEALLOCATE Cursor3
END
End catch
END
If exception raised at the time of inserting then it will terminate.But my all cursors will be open state only.
If next time i execute this SP it will give Cursor1 already exist and transaction opened error.
So can any one tell me how can i acheive this type of scenario.
ALTER PROC SAMPLE1
AS
BEGIN
BEGIN TRY
PRINT ’1′
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(MAX)
SET @SQL = ‘insert Permanenttable select * from Temporarytable’
EXEC(@SQL)
– select 1/0
PRINT ’2′
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
print ‘catch fired’
SELECT
ERROR_NUMBER() AS ErrorNumber,
ERROR_SEVERITY() AS ErrorSeverity,
ERROR_STATE() as ErrorState,
ERROR_PROCEDURE() as ErrorProcedure,
ERROR_LINE() as ErrorLine,
ERROR_MESSAGE() as ErrorMessage;
END CATCH
END
Yes. But it is not possible without dynamic sql
which one we should use transaction/@@error or try/catch.
The best way to test for a linked server is to use SQL’s built in system procedure:
Ex: EXEC sys.sp_testlinkedserver ‘yourlinkedserver’
[...] on Errors: Explanation of TRY…CATCH and ERROR Handling Create New Log file without Server Restart Tips from the SQL Joes 2 Pros Development Series – SQL [...]
can we write insert statement in a trigger catch block in sql server 2005
[...] on Errors: Explanation of TRY…CATCH and ERROR Handling Create New Log file without Server Restart Tips from the SQL Joes 2 Pros Development Series – SQL [...]
Hi….. Pinal
i m new to sql server, so i wanted to know that how can i return the error code using error_number() and error message using error_message() with variable to the calling…………. like we can return in oracle using sqlcode, sqlerrm
Hi… Pinal
I have been following your blog and failed to understand why the stored procedure gets printed “NULL” when it goes to catch. It is returning the stored procedure name only when there is foreign key relationship violation. or else every time it is “NULL” Could you please help me .
[...] Explanation of TRY…CATCH and ERROR Handling SQL Server provides the TRY…CATCH construct, which is already present in many modern programming languages. TRY/CATCH helps to write logic separate the action and error handling code. The code meant for the action is enclosed in the TRY block and the code for error handling is enclosed in the CATCH block. In case the code within the TRY block fails, the control automatically jumps to the CATCH block, letting the transaction roll back and resume execution. In addition to this, the CATCH block captures and provides error information that shows you the ID, message text, state, severity and transaction state of an error. [...]
Thanks… was simple in understanding