Oracle Triggers
Controlling When a Trigger Is Fired (BEFORE and AFTER Options)
The BEFORE or AFTER option in the CREATE TRIGGER statement specifies exactly when to fire the trigger body in relation to the triggering statement that is being run. In a CREATE TRIGGER statement, the BEFORE or AFTER option is specified just before the triggering statement. For example, the PRINT_SALARY_CHANGES trigger in the previous example is a BEFORE trigger.
In general, you use BEFORE or AFTER triggers to achieve the following results:
Use BEFORE row triggers to modify the row before the row data is written to disk.
Use AFTER row triggers to obtain, and perform operations, using the row ID.
Views that Require INSTEAD OF Triggers
A view cannot be modified by UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statements if the view query contains any of the following constructs:
A set operator
A DISTINCT operator
An aggregate or analytic function
A GROUP BY, ORDER BY, MODEL, CONNECT BY, or START WITH clause
A collection expression in a SELECT list
A subquery in a SELECT list
A subquery designated WITH READ ONLY
Joins, with some exceptions, as documented in Oracle Database Administrator's Guide
If a view contains pseudocolumns or expressions, then you can only update the view with an UPDATE statement that does not refer to any of the pseudocolumns or expressions.
INSTEAD OF Trigger Example
Note:
You may need to set up the following data structures for this example to work:
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER logontrig AFTER LOGON ON DATABASE
-- Just call an existing procedure. The ORA_LOGIN_USER is a function
-- that returns information about the event that fired the trigger.
CALL foo (ora_login_user)
The BEFORE or AFTER option in the CREATE TRIGGER statement specifies exactly when to fire the trigger body in relation to the triggering statement that is being run. In a CREATE TRIGGER statement, the BEFORE or AFTER option is specified just before the triggering statement. For example, the PRINT_SALARY_CHANGES trigger in the previous example is a BEFORE trigger.
In general, you use BEFORE or AFTER triggers to achieve the following results:
Use BEFORE row triggers to modify the row before the row data is written to disk.
Use AFTER row triggers to obtain, and perform operations, using the row ID.
Views that Require INSTEAD OF Triggers
A view cannot be modified by UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statements if the view query contains any of the following constructs:
A set operator
A DISTINCT operator
An aggregate or analytic function
A GROUP BY, ORDER BY, MODEL, CONNECT BY, or START WITH clause
A collection expression in a SELECT list
A subquery in a SELECT list
A subquery designated WITH READ ONLY
Joins, with some exceptions, as documented in Oracle Database Administrator's Guide
If a view contains pseudocolumns or expressions, then you can only update the view with an UPDATE statement that does not refer to any of the pseudocolumns or expressions.
INSTEAD OF Trigger Example
Note:
You may need to set up the following data structures for this example to work:
CREATE TABLE Project_tab (
Prj_level NUMBER,
Projno NUMBER,
Resp_dept NUMBER);
CREATE TABLE Emp_tab (
Empno NUMBER NOT NULL,
Ename VARCHAR2(10),
Job VARCHAR2(9),
Mgr NUMBER(4),
Hiredate DATE,
Sal NUMBER(7,2),
Comm NUMBER(7,2),
Deptno NUMBER(2) NOT NULL);
CREATE TABLE Dept_tab (
Deptno NUMBER(2) NOT NULL,
Dname VARCHAR2(14),
Loc VARCHAR2(13),
Mgr_no NUMBER,
Dept_type NUMBER);
The following example shows an INSTEAD OF trigger for inserting rows into the MANAGER_INFO view.
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW manager_info AS
SELECT e.ename, e.empno, d.dept_type, d.deptno, p.prj_level,
p.projno
FROM Emp_tab e, Dept_tab d, Project_tab p
WHERE e.empno = d.mgr_no
AND d.deptno = p.resp_dept;
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER manager_info_insert
INSTEAD OF INSERT ON manager_info
REFERENCING NEW AS n -- new manager information
FOR EACH ROW
DECLARE
rowcnt number;
BEGIN
SELECT COUNT(*) INTO rowcnt FROM Emp_tab WHERE empno = :n.empno;
IF rowcnt = 0 THEN
INSERT INTO Emp_tab (empno,ename) VALUES (:n.empno, :n.ename);
ELSE
UPDATE Emp_tab SET Emp_tab.ename = :n.ename
WHERE Emp_tab.empno = :n.empno;
END IF;
SELECT COUNT(*) INTO rowcnt FROM Dept_tab WHERE deptno = :n.deptno;
IF rowcnt = 0 THEN
INSERT INTO Dept_tab (deptno, dept_type)
VALUES(:n.deptno, :n.dept_type);
ELSE
UPDATE Dept_tab SET Dept_tab.dept_type = :n.dept_type
WHERE Dept_tab.deptno = :n.deptno;
END IF;
SELECT COUNT(*) INTO rowcnt FROM Project_tab
WHERE Project_tab.projno = :n.projno;
IF rowcnt = 0 THEN
INSERT INTO Project_tab (projno, prj_level)
VALUES(:n.projno, :n.prj_level);
ELSE
UPDATE Project_tab SET Project_tab.prj_level = :n.prj_level
WHERE Project_tab.projno = :n.projno;
END IF;
END;
Example: Monitoring Logons with a Trigger
Note:
You may need to set up data structures similar to the following for certain examples to work:
CONNECT system/manager
GRANT ADMINISTER DATABASE TRIGGER TO scott;
CONNECT scott/tiger
CREATE TABLE audit_table (
seq number,
user_at VARCHAR2(10),
time_now DATE,
term VARCHAR2(10),
job VARCHAR2(10),
proc VARCHAR2(10),
enum NUMBER);
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE foo (c VARCHAR2) AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO Audit_table (user_at) VALUES(c);
END;
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER logontrig AFTER LOGON ON DATABASE
-- Just call an existing procedure. The ORA_LOGIN_USER is a function
-- that returns information about the event that fired the trigger.
CALL foo (ora_login_user)