Update with after insert trigger on same table - sql

Question

I have a to write a insert trigger on a tableA. which will perform update with same table but different column. I am getting error while doing this. My trigger is
create or replace trigger trigger_A
after insert on table_A
begin
update table_A set col1=1 where col1 is null;
end;
I have an application will perform col2 alone will be inserted and col1 will be kept null. so my trigger will give value for col1 once the row is inserted. But i am getting error saying "Trigger is failed and invalid" when a row is inserted.
How to do this. TIA.

Answer 1

If you want to assign a simple default value, the easiest way is to declare it on the table, using the DEFAULT clause.
SQL> create table t42
2 ( col1 number default 1 not null
3 , col2 date)
4 /
Table created.
SQL> insert into t42 (col2) values (sysdate)
2 /
1 row created.
SQL> select * from t42
2 /
COL1 COL2
---------- ---------
1 03-AUG-11
SQL>
This works with literals or pseudocolumns such as SYSDATE or USER. If you want to derive a more complicated value with a user-defined function or a sequence, you will need to use
a trigger.
Here is a new version of the table...
SQL> create table t42
2 ( col1 number default 1 not null
3 , col2 date default sysdate
4 , col3 varchar2(30) default user
5 , col4 number )
6 /
Table created.
SQL>
... with a trigger:
SQL> create or replace trigger t42_trg
2 before insert or update
3 on t42
4 for each row
5 begin
6 if :new.col4 is null
7 then
8 :new.col4 := my_seq.nextval;
9 end if;
10 end;
11 /
Trigger created.
SQL> insert into t42 (col1, col2, col3)
2 values (99, sysdate, 'MR KNOX')
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> select * from t42
2 /
COL1 COL2 COL3 COL4
---------- --------- ------------------------------ ----------
99 03-AUG-11 MR KNOX 161
SQL>
Note that although every column on the table is defaultable, I have to populate at least one column to make the SQL valid:
SQL> insert into t42 values ()
2 /
insert into t42 values ()
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00936: missing expression
SQL>
But I can pass in NULL to COL4 to get a completely defaulted record:
SQL> insert into t42 (col4) values (null)
2 /
1 row created.
SQL> select * from t42
2 /
COL1 COL2 COL3 COL4
---------- --------- ------------------------------ ----------
99 03-AUG-11 MR KNOX 161
1 03-AUG-11 APC 162
SQL>
Caveat lector: my trigger uses the new 11g syntax. In previous versions we have to assign the sequence value using a SELECT statement:
select my_seq.nextval
into :new.col4
from dual;

Answer 2

You cannot update a table where the trigger is invoked:
Within a stored function or trigger, it is not permitted to modify a
table that is already being used (for reading or writing) by the
statement that invoked the function or trigger.
Doing so will generate Error 1442:
Error Code: 1442
Can't update table 'MyTable' in stored function/trigger because it is already used by statement which invoked this stored function/trigger.
In short, we are not allowed to update the table in use - but your case is simple, only want to update the field if it's NULL, for this choose BEFORE INSERT ON trigger, this way you can update all the fields of the new/current entry/row (as it has not been entered yet):
DELIMITER //
DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS trigger_A//
CREATE TRIGGER trigger_A BEFORE INSERT ON table_A
FOR EACH ROW BEGIN
IF NEW.col1 IS NULL THEN
set NEW.col1 = <some-value>;
ENF IF;
END;
//
DELIMITER ;