Hints to help handle nested exceptions

Transactions and Error Handling in PostgreSQL

Jason Myers

Principal Engineer

Emulating savepoints with nested blocks

DO $$
BEGIN
    -- Block 1
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Linga';
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Petit-Beurre';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
       INSERT INTO errors (msg) VALUES ('Max cost is 10!');
       RAISE INFO 'Max cost is 10!';
    END;

Emulating savepoint Block 2

-- Block 2
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 35.0 WHERE name = 'Macaron';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
       INSERT INTO errors (msg) VALUES ('Max cost is 10!');
       RAISE INFO 'Max cost is 10!';
    END; 
END;
$$ language 'plpgsql';

Nested blocks with stacked diagnostics

DO $$
DECLARE
   exc_message text;
   exc_detail text;
   exc_context text;
BEGIN
    -- Block 1
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Linga';
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Petit-Beurre';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
        GET STACKED DIAGNOSTICS exc_message = MESSAGE_TEXT,
                                exc_detail = PG_EXCEPTION_DETAIL,
                                exc_context = PG_EXCEPTION_CONTEXT;
       INSERT INTO errors (msg,detail, context) 
           VALUES (exc_message, exc_detail, exc_context);
    END; 
    -- Block 2
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 35.0 WHERE name = 'Macaron';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
       GET STACKED DIAGNOSTICS exc_message = MESSAGE_TEXT,
                               exc_detail = PG_EXCEPTION_DETAIL,
                               exc_context = PG_EXCEPTION_CONTEXT;
       INSERT INTO errors (msg,detail, context) 
           VALUES (exc_message, exc_detail, exc_context);
    END; 
END$$;

Nested blocks with stacked diagnostics

DO $$
DECLARE
   exc_message text;
   exc_detail text;
   exc_context text;
BEGIN

Nested blocks with stacked diagnostics: block 2

    -- Block 1
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Linga';
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 2.33 WHERE name = 'Petit-Beurre';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
        GET STACKED DIAGNOSTICS exc_message = MESSAGE_TEXT,
                                exc_detail = PG_EXCEPTION_DETAIL,
                                exc_context = PG_EXCEPTION_CONTEXT;
       INSERT INTO errors (msg,detail, context) 
           VALUES (exc_message, exc_detail, exc_context);
    END;

Nested blocks with stacked diagnostics: block 2

-- Block 2
    BEGIN
        UPDATE inventory SET cost = 35.0 WHERE name = 'Macaron';
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN others THEN
       GET STACKED DIAGNOSTICS exc_message = MESSAGE_TEXT,
                               exc_detail = PG_EXCEPTION_DETAIL,
                               exc_context = PG_EXCEPTION_CONTEXT;
       INSERT INTO errors (msg,detail, context) 
           VALUES (exc_message, exc_detail, exc_context);
    END; 
END$$;

Results

INFO:  Message: new row for relation "inventory" violates check constraint 
"cost_check" | Details: Failing row contains (7, 35, Macaron). | Context SQL 
statement "UPDATE inventory SET cost = 35.0 WHERE name = 'Macaron'"
PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 23 at SQL statement
DO
postgres=# \x on
Expanded display is on.
postgres=# select * from errors;
-[ RECORD 1 ]---------------------------------------------------------------------
error_id | 15
state    |
msg      | new row for relation "inventory" violates check constraint "cost_check"
detail   | Failing row contains (7, 35, Macaron).
context  | SQL statement "UPDATE inventory SET cost = 35.0 WHERE name = 'Macaron'"+
         | PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 23 at SQL statement

Custom exception handling vs stacked diagnostics

Custom

Clear error context
Expected error condition
Standard error message too generic

Stacked Diagnostics

Need to be able to get more context for the error
Many possible error conditions
Debugging
Generalizing exception handling

Let's practice!

Transactions and Error Handling in PostgreSQL