ERROR: Reference the counter as the target of an assignment - PL/SQL - sql

Question

I'm relatively new to SQL.
I'm trying to print a simple pattern through this code
declare
n number(2):=5;
temp number(2):=n;
begin
for a in 1..5
a:=a+1;loop
for b in 1..temp loop
b:=b+1;
dbms_output.put_line(' ');
temp:=temp-1;
end loop;
for c in 1..2*a-1 loop
c:=c+1;
dbms_output.put_line('*');
end loop;
end loop;
end;
/
I keep getting this error:
PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "A" when expecting one of the following:
* & - + / at loop mod remainder rem <an exponent (**)> ||
multiset
I understand Oracle doesn't allow to reference the counter as the target of an assignment which is why I keep getting error at line 6 but I'm unable to make it work even by declaring another global variable and assigning increment statement in it but it doesn't work either.
Please help.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Modifying the previous answers to actually give you Pascal's triangle, which you mentioned you were attempting in a comment:
set serveroutput on format wrapped
declare
n number(2):=5;
begin
for a in 1..n loop
for b in 1..n-a loop
dbms_output.put(' ');
end loop;
for c in 1..2*a-1 loop
dbms_output.put('*');
end loop;
dbms_output.new_line;
end loop;
end;
/
*
***
*****
*******
*********
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
Both your dbms_output.put_line calls needed to be just dbms_output.put, as that was printing each * on a line on its own. But you do need a line break after each time around the a loop, so I've added a dbms_output.newline at the end of that. You were also decrementing temp inside the b loop, which meant it was zero instead of (n-1) for the second time around the a loop; but you don't really need a separate temp variable at all as that is always the same as (n-a)+1 and the +1 just puts an extra space on every line. (I also made the a loop 1..n as I assume you want to change the value of n later in one place only). With n := 8:
*
***
*****
*******
*********
***********
*************
***************
Crucially though you also have to set serveroutput on format wrapped, otherwise the leading spaces you're generating in the b loop are discarded.
You can also do this in plain SQL, though you need to supply the 5 twice, or use a bind or substitution variable:
select lpad(' ', 5 - level, ' ') || rpad('*', (level * 2) - 1, '*') as pascal
from dual
connect by level <= 5
PASCAL
------------------------------
*
***
*****
*******
*********
Your b and c loops are just doing a manual lpad really.

Answer 2

When I took your code in my editor I first noticed, you tried to increase a before starting the loop, and Oracle gives first error at that point. And also it does not allow you to increase counter variable in for loop, (I don't know why) I checked on the internet and found that you can not set increment step for Oracle for loops also you can not set a value for counter variable in for loop.
The code below works fine for me :
declare
n number(2):=5;
temp number(2):=n;
begin
for a in 1..5
loop --a:=a+1;
for b in 1..temp loop
--b:=b+1;
dbms_output.put_line(' ');
temp:=temp-1;
end loop;
for c in 1..2*a-1 loop
--c:=c+1;
dbms_output.put_line('*');
end loop;
end loop;
end;
/

Answer 3

As StephaneM says, loop variables are incremented by the loop itself: you don't need to do a := a + 1, and most of all you CAN'T assign them ! Here is a corrected version:
declare
n number(2):=5;
temp number(2):=n;
begin
for a in 1..5
loop
for b in 1..temp loop
dbms_output.put_line(' ');
temp:=temp-1;
end loop;
for c in 1..2*a-1 loop
dbms_output.put_line('*');
end loop;
end loop;
end;
/