Scope Rules for Handlers
A stored program may include handlers to be invoked when certain conditions occur within the program. The applicability of each handler depends on its location within the program definition and on the condition or conditions that it handles:
- A handler declared in a
BEGIN ... END
block is in scope only for the SQL statements following the handler declarations in the block. If the handler itself raises a condition, it cannot handle that condition, nor can any other handlers declared in the block. In the following example, handlersH1
andH2
are in scope for conditions raised by statementsstmt1
andstmt2
. But neitherH1
norH2
are in scope for conditions raised in the body ofH1
orH2
.BEGIN -- outer block DECLARE EXIT HANDLER FOR ...; -- handler H1 DECLARE EXIT HANDLER FOR ...; -- handler H2
stmt1
;stmt2
; END; - A handler is in scope only for the block in which it is declared, and cannot be activated for conditions occurring outside that block. In the following example, handler
H1
is in scope forstmt1
in the inner block, but not forstmt2
in the outer block:BEGIN -- outer block BEGIN -- inner block DECLARE EXIT HANDLER FOR ...; -- handler H1
stmt1
; END;stmt2
; END; - A handler can be specific or general. A specific handler is for a MariaDB error code,
SQLSTATE
value, or condition name. A general handler is for a condition in theSQLWARNING
,SQLEXCEPTION
, orNOT FOUND
class. Condition specificity is related to condition precedence, as described later.
Multiple handlers can be declared in different scopes and with different specificities. For example, there might be a specific MariaDB error code handler in an outer block, and a general SQLWARNING
handler in an inner block. Or there might be handlers for a specific MariaDB error code and the general SQLWARNING
class in the same block.
Whether a handler is activated depends not only on its own scope and condition value, but on what other handlers are present. When a condition occurs in a stored program, the server searches for applicable handlers in the current scope (current BEGIN ... END
block). If there are no applicable handlers, the search continues outward with the handlers in each successive containing scope (block). When the server finds one or more applicable handlers at a given scope, it chooses among them based on condition precedence:
- A MariaDB error code handler takes precedence over an
SQLSTATE
value handler. - An
SQLSTATE
value handler takes precedence over generalSQLWARNING
,SQLEXCEPTION
, orNOT FOUND
handlers. - An
SQLEXCEPTION
handler takes precedence over anSQLWARNING
handler. - The precedence of
NOT FOUND
depends on how the condition is raised:- Normally, a condition in the
NOT FOUND
class can be handled by anSQLWARNING
orNOT FOUND
handler, with theSQLWARNING
handler taking precedence if both are present. Normal occurrence ofNOT FOUND
takes place when a cursor used to fetch a set of rows reaches the end of the data set, or for instances ofSELECT ... INTO
such that thevar_list
WHERE
clause finds no rows. - If a
NOT FOUND
condition is raised by aSIGNAL
(orRESIGNAL
) statement, the condition can be handled by aNOT FOUND
handler but not anSQLWARNING
handler.
- Normally, a condition in the
- It is possible to have several applicable handlers with the same precedence. For example, a statement could generate multiple warnings with different error codes, for each of which an error-specific handler exists. In this case, the choice of which handler the server activates is indeterminate, and may change depending on the circumstances under which the condition occurs.
One implication of the handler selection rules is that if multiple applicable handlers occur in different scopes, handlers with the most local scope take precedence over handlers in outer scopes, even over those for more specific conditions.
If there is no appropriate handler when a condition occurs, the action taken depends on the class of the condition:
- For
SQLEXCEPTION
conditions, the stored program terminates at the statement that raised the condition, as if there were anEXIT
handler. If the program was called by another stored program, the calling program handles the condition using the handler selection rules applied to its own handlers. - For
SQLWARNING
conditions, the program continues executing, as if there were aCONTINUE
handler. - For
NOT FOUND
conditions, if the condition was raised normally, the action isCONTINUE
. If it was raised bySIGNAL
orRESIGNAL
, the action isEXIT
.
The following examples demonstrate how MariaDB applies the handler selection rules.
This procedure contains two handlers, one for the specific SQLSTATE
value ('42S02'
) that occurs for attempts to drop a nonexistent table, and one for the general SQLEXCEPTION
class:
CREATE PROCEDURE p1() BEGIN DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLSTATE '42S02' SELECT 'SQLSTATE handler was activated' AS msg; DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLEXCEPTION SELECT 'SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated' AS msg; DROP TABLE test.t; END;
Both handlers are declared in the same block and have the same scope. However, SQLSTATE
handlers take precedence over SQLEXCEPTION
handlers, so if the table t
is nonexistent, the DROP TABLE
statement raises a condition that activates the SQLSTATE
handler:
mysql> CALL p1();
+--------------------------------+
| msg |
+--------------------------------+
| SQLSTATE handler was activated |
+--------------------------------+
This procedure contains the same two handlers. But this time, the DROP TABLE
statement and SQLEXCEPTION
handler are in an inner block relative to the SQLSTATE
handler:
CREATE PROCEDURE p2() BEGIN -- outer block DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLSTATE '42S02' SELECT 'SQLSTATE handler was activated' AS msg; BEGIN -- inner block DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLEXCEPTION SELECT 'SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated' AS msg; DROP TABLE test.t; -- occurs within inner block END; END;
In this case, the handler that is more local to where the condition occurs takes precedence. The SQLEXCEPTION
handler activates, even though it is more general than the SQLSTATE
handler:
mysql> CALL p2();
+------------------------------------+
| msg |
+------------------------------------+
| SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated |
+------------------------------------+
In this procedure, one of the handlers is declared in a block inner to the scope of the DROP TABLE
statement:
CREATE PROCEDURE p3() BEGIN -- outer block DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLEXCEPTION SELECT 'SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated' AS msg; BEGIN -- inner block DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLSTATE '42S02' SELECT 'SQLSTATE handler was activated' AS msg; END; DROP TABLE test.t; -- occurs within outer block END;
Only the SQLEXCEPTION
handler applies because the other one is not in scope for the condition raised by the DROP TABLE
:
mysql> CALL p3();
+------------------------------------+
| msg |
+------------------------------------+
| SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated |
+------------------------------------+
In this procedure, both handlers are declared in a block inner to the scope of the DROP TABLE
statement:
CREATE PROCEDURE p4() BEGIN -- outer block BEGIN -- inner block DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLEXCEPTION SELECT 'SQLEXCEPTION handler was activated' AS msg; DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR SQLSTATE '42S02' SELECT 'SQLSTATE handler was activated' AS msg; END; DROP TABLE test.t; -- occurs within outer block END;
Neither handler applies because they are not in scope for the DROP TABLE
. The condition raised by the statement goes unhandled and terminates the procedure with an error: