get_detailed_sqlerrm syntax on PL/SQL

Question

I'm trying to debug an "HTTP Request Failed" error on PL/SQL for a function trying to consume a SOAP web service. The suggestion is to use get_detailed_sqlerrm to get the details of the error message, but when I try to run the suggested query, it throws an "invalid SQL statement" error.

My query:

UTL_HTTP.get_detailed_sqlerrm 
RETURN VARCHAR2;

I'm using the PL/SQL Developer IDE and the database is Oracle 11g.

Answer 1

You should probably run

select utl_http.get_detailed_sqlerrm from dual;

Just beware - it isn't a general purpose function, works for UTL_HTTP errors only. For example, it won't work for SQL errors:

SQL> select deptno, min(sal) from emp;
select deptno, min(sal) from emp
       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00937: not a single-group group function


SQL> select utl_http.get_detailed_sqlerrm from dual;

GET_DETAILED_SQLERRM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

... nor for PL/SQL errors:

SQL> begin
  2    select empno from emp;
  3  end;
  4  /
  select empno from emp;
  *
ERROR at line 2:
ORA-06550: line 2, column 3:
PLS-00428: an INTO clause is expected in this SELECT statement


SQL> select utl_http.get_detailed_sqlerrm from dual;

GET_DETAILED_SQLERRM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SQL>

... but would work for UTL_HTTP-related errors:

SQL> declare
  2    l_request utl_http.req;
  3  begin
  4    l_request := utl_http.begin_request('http://www.some_company.com');
  5  end;
  6  /
declare
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-29273: HTTP request failed
ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_HTTP", line 1130
ORA-24247: network access denied by access control list (ACL)
ORA-06512: at line 4


SQL> select utl_http.get_detailed_sqlerrm from dual;

GET_DETAILED_SQLERRM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORA-24247: network access denied by access control list (ACL)

SQL>