Migrating Oracle to SQL Server using SSMA - Error O2SS0055 Incorrect EXCEPTION_INIT PRAGMA parameter

2011-06-20

By Bill Ramos and Ankit Matta, Advaiya Inc.

This blog post covers the reason why SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Oracle cannot convert EXCEPTION_INIT.

Exception handling is a programming language construct or mechanism designed to handle the occurrence of exceptions, special conditions that change the normal flow of program execution. One can use the pragma EXCEPTION_INIT to associate exception names with other Oracle error codes that one can anticipate. Once you know the error code, you can use it with pragma EXCEPTION_INIT and write a handler specifically for that error.

Error O2SS0055 Incorrect EXCEPTION_INIT PRAGMA parameter

Background

Whenever you try to convert PL/SQL code having a “PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT” exception without defining an error number in its parameter section, SSMA generates “Error O2SS0055 Incorrect EXCEPTION_INIT PRAGMA parameter” because it doesn’t find a numeric literal. It is mandatory to pass a negative number (i.e. the error number for which you want to throw this exception) in the parameter section.

Possible Remedies

Consider the following example:

DECLARE

MYEXCEPTION EXCEPTION;

PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT(MYEXCEPTION, '');

BEGIN

NULL;

END;

When SSMA doesn’t find a numeric literal in the parameter section of PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT, SSMA generates the error “Error O2SS0055 Incorrect EXCEPTION_INIT PRAGMA parameter” .