Query for particular integer value from multiple columns with number datatype - sql

Question

I try to search a number from multiple columns (datatype number), but get ORA-01722: invalid number error.
My Query:
SELECT *
FROM CAMPAIGN
WHERE 1481125 IN (select column_name
from all_tab_columns
where table_name = 'CAMPAIGN'
AND data_type = 'NUMBER');
What is wrong with it?

Answer 1

You are comparing your number 1481125 with the names of the each column, not the values of each column in your table.
To go from a column's name (from dba_tab_columns) to the values in that column, you need to use some form of dynamic SQL. Here's a relatively simple example:
DECLARE
-- Since I don't have your CAMPAIGN table or data, I'm using DBA_OBJECTS in it's place.
l_table_name VARCHAR2 (30) := 'DBA_OBJECTS';
l_search_number NUMBER := 20; -- 1481125 in your example
l_record dba_objects%ROWTYPE;
l_sql VARCHAR2 (32000);
l_column_number NUMBER := 0;
l_cur SYS_REFCURSOR;
BEGIN
-- First: build dynamic SQL statement of the form:
-- SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE
-- ( ( col_name_a = 20 ) OR ( col_name_b = 20 ) OR ... )
l_sql := 'SELECT * FROM dba_objects WHERE ( ';
FOR r_number_column IN (SELECT column_name
FROM dba_tab_columns
WHERE table_name = l_table_name
AND data_type = 'NUMBER'
ORDER BY column_id) LOOP
IF l_column_number > 0 THEN
l_sql := l_sql || ' OR ';
END IF;
l_column_number := l_column_number + 1;
l_sql := l_sql || '(' || r_number_column.column_name || ' = ' || l_search_number || ')';
END LOOP;
IF l_column_number = 0 THEN
-- No number columns in table, so there should be no matches
l_sql := l_sql || ' 1=0';
END IF;
l_sql := l_sql || ')';
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (l_sql);
OPEN l_cur FOR l_sql;
LOOP
FETCH l_cur INTO l_record;
EXIT WHEN l_cur%NOTFOUND;
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line ('Object Name ' || l_record.object_name || ' has search number ' || l_search_number);
END LOOP;
END;

Answer 2

Your query is:
SELECT * FROM CAMPAIGN WHERE 1481125 IN
(select column_name from all_tab_columns where table_name = 'CAMPAIGN' AND data_type='NUMBER')
Breaking that down we have:
SELECT * FROM CAMPAIGN WHERE 1481125 IN (<a set of numbers>)
and the subquery:
select column_name from all_tab_columns
where table_name = 'CAMPAIGN'
AND data_type='NUMBER'
That subquery is going to return a list of column names e.g.
CAMPAIGN_COUNT
CAMPAIGN_ID
CAMPAIGN_NUMBER_OF_SOMETHINGS
Your query is thus equivalent to:
SELECT * FROM CAMPAIGN WHERE 1481125 IN
('CAMPAIGN_COUNT', 'CAMPAIGN_ID', 'CAMPAIGN_NUMBER_OF_SOMETHINGS')
You can see why you would get the ORA-01722 error there?
You would need to write dynamic SQL to achieve your aim.