Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference- P12: This pocket guide features quick-reference information to help you use Oracle's PL/SQL language. It includes coverage of PL/SQL features in the newest version of Oracle, Oracle8i. It is a companion to Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl's bestselling Oracle PL/SQL Programming. Updated for Oracle8, that large volume (nearly 1,000 pages) fills a huge gap in the Oracle market, providing developers with a single, comprehensive guide to building applications with PL/SQL and building them the right way. . | 3. Using another exception section within the first exception section trap this exception as the else in this pseudo-IF statement. Within the exception handler try to convert the string with TO_DATE and the third mask MM YY. If it works I am done. If it doesn t work an exception is raised. 4. I have only three masks so if I cannot convert the string after these three TO_DATE calls the user entry is invalid and I will simply return NULL. The function convert_date that follows illustrates the full PL SQL version of the preceding pseudocode description. I make liberal use of the WHEN OTHERS exception handler because I have no way of knowing which exception would have been raised by the conversion attempt FUNCTION convert_date value_in IN VARCHAR2 RETURN DATE IS return_value DATE BEGIN IF value_int IS NULL THEN return_value NULL ELSE BEGIN IF MM DD YY mask works set return value. return_value TO_DATE value_in MM DD YY EXCEPTION OTHERWISE WHEN OTHERS THEN BEGIN IF DD-MON-YY mask works set return value. return_value TO_DATE value_in DD-MON-YY EXCEPTION OTHERWISE WHEN OTHERS THEN BEGIN IF MM YY mask works set return value. return_value TO_DATE value_in MM YY EXCEPTION OTHERWISE RETURN NULL. WHEN OTHERS THEN return_value NULL END END END END IF RETURN return_value END Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on to remove this watermark. Previous NO_DATA_FOUND Multipurpose Exception NO_DATA_FOUND Multipurpose Exception Oracle PL SQL Programming 2nd Edition Book Index Next RAISE Nothing but Exceptions RAISE Nothing but Exceptions The Oracle Library Navigation Copyright c 2000 O Reilly Associates. All rights reserved. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on to remove this watermark. Chapter 8 Next 9. Records in PL SQL Previous Exception Handler as IF Statement Exception Handlers RAISE Nothing but Exceptions Have you noticed that the RAISE statement acts in many ways like a GOTO statement The GOTO statement in PL SQL looks like this