Aborting a stored procedure on foreign key constraint violations - sql-server

Is there a way to abort a stored procedure in SQL Server if a delete statement cannot be successfully executed due to a foreign key constraint violation? By default, the procedure seems to ignore the error and go on to the next statement.
For other types of error (e.g. deleting from a table that does not exist) however, the procedure aborts.
Example procedure:
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[TestSP]
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
print 'BEFORE';
DELETE FROM ExistingWithConstraints;
print 'AFTER DELETE ExistingWithConstraints';
DELETE FROM NonExisting;
print 'AFTER DELETE NonExisting';
END
produces output (note that the last message above is not printed):
BEFORE
<snip constraint violation error message>
AFTER DELETE ExistingWithConstraints
<snip invalid object name error message>

Use a transaction and proper error handling
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[TestSP]
AS
SET XACT_ABORT, NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE #starttrancount int
BEGIN TRY
SELECT #starttrancount = ##TRANCOUNT
IF #starttrancount = 0
BEGIN TRANSACTION
DELETE FROM ExistingWithConstraints;
DELETE FROM NonExisting;
IF #starttrancount = 0
COMMIT TRANSACTION
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
IF XACT_STATE() <> 0 AND #starttrancount = 0
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
RAISERROR [rethrow caught error using #ErrorNumber, #ErrorMessage, etc]
END CATCH
GO
This is based on my answer here: Nested stored procedures containing TRY CATCH ROLLBACK pattern?

The execution carries on to allow for you checking the ##ERROR standard variable for problems. A more modern way to do things though it to use the TRY..CATCH blocks added to SQL in 2005:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms179296.aspx

Related

Why the following t-sql transaction does not work as expected?

To test how a transaction work, I wrote the following t-sql. As the first attribute is the primary key, none of the insertions should be committed.
But, the first insertion is committed? Why?
begin transaction
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Yellow', 'Biology', 700000)
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Blue', 'Statistics', 85000)
commit;
select * from instructor where ID = '99999'
--delete from instructor where ID = '99999'
(1 row affected) Msg 2627, Level 14, State 1, Line 100 Violation of
PRIMARY KEY constraint 'PK__instruct__3214EC278C8DA99F'. Cannot insert
duplicate key in object 'dbo.instructor'. The duplicate key value is
(99999). The statement has been terminated.
Completion time: 2019-11-06T14:02:27.3436411+02:00
Because, when the XACT_ABORT IS OFF (which is the default):
When SET XACT_ABORT is OFF, in some cases only the Transact-SQL
statement that raised the error is rolled back and the transaction
continues processing.
and when it is ON:
.. if a Transact-SQL statement raises a run-time error, the entire
transaction is terminated and rolled back.
That's what we need to turn it ON and if you try the code below, you can check this:
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS [dbo].[StackOverflow];
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[StackOverflow]
(
[StackID] TINYINT PRIMARY KEY
);
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO [dbo].[StackOverflow] ([StackID])
VALUES (105);
INSERT INTO [dbo].[StackOverflow] ([StackID])
VALUES (105);
COMMIT TRANSACTION;
SET XACT_ABORT OFF;
SELECT [StackID]
FROM [dbo].[StackOverflow];
Also, note that:
Compile errors, such as syntax errors, are not affected by SET XACT_ABORT.
The above means, that if you want to really have automatic transaction you need to use the following code block:
SET NOCOUNT, XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRY
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
-- CODE BLOCK GOES HERE
COMMIT TRANSACTION;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
IF ##TRANCOUNT > 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
END;
-- GET ERRORS DETAILS OR THROW ERROR
END CATCH;
SET NOCOUNT, XACT_ABORT OFF;
If you do not use TRY-CATCH block in a specific situations, like the next one, the first statement will be again committed:
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS [dbo].[StackOverflow];
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[StackOverflow]
(
[StackID] TINYINT PRIMARY KEY
);
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO [dbo].[StackOverflow] ([StackID])
VALUES (105);
EXEC
(
'INSERrrrrrT INTO [dbo].[StackOverflow] ([StackID]) VALUES (106);'
)
COMMIT TRANSACTION;
SET XACT_ABORT OFF;
SELECT [StackID]
FROM [dbo].[StackOverflow];
You need to add SET XACT_ABORT ON; and/or use TRY/CATCH so that the script doesn't continue to the COMMIT after an error.
SET XACT_ABORT ON example:
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
begin transaction
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Yellow', 'Biology', 700000)
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Blue', 'Statistics', 85000)
commit;
TRY/CATCH example:
BEGIN TRY
begin transaction
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Yellow', 'Biology', 700000)
insert into instructor
values ('99999', 'Blue', 'Statistics', 85000)
commit;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
IF ##TRANCOUNT > 0 ROLLBACK;
THROW;
END CATCH;
Although SET XACT_ABORT ON is optional with this TRY/CATCH pattern, I still recommend it in all T-SQL code with explict transactions. This will ensure the transaction is rolled back immediately even when batch is cancelled manually or due to a query timeout where no CATCH block code executes. Otherwise, the uncommitted transaction will remain open until the connection is closed or reused with connection pooling.

SQL Server XACT_ABORT with exclusion

I have a larger stored procedure which utilizes several TRY/CATCH blocks in order to catch and log individual errors. I have also wrapped a transaction around the entire contents of the procedure, so as to be able to roll back the entire thing in the event of an error raised somewhere along the way (in order to prevent a lot of messy cleanup); XACT_ABORT has been enabled since it would otherwise not roll back the entire transaction.
Key component:
There is a table in my database which gets a record inserted each time this procedure is run with the results of operations and details on what went wrong.
Funny thing is happening - actually, when I finally figured out what was wrong, it was pretty obvious... the the insert statement into my log table is getting rolled back as well, hence, if I am not running this out of SSMS, I will not be able to see that this was even run, as the rollback removes all trances of activity.
Question:
Would it be possible to have the entire transaction roll back with the exception of this single insert statement? I would still want to preserve the error message which I compile during the running of the stored procedure.
Thanks so much!
~Eli
Update 6/28
Here's a code sample of what I'm looking at. Key difference between this and the samples posed by #Alex and #gameiswar is that in my case, the try/catch blocks are all nested inside the single transaction. The purpose of this is to have multiple catches (for the multiple tables), though we would the entire mess to be rolled back even if the last update failed.
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION
DECLARE #message AS VARCHAR(MAX) = '';
-- TABLE 1
BEGIN TRY
UPDATE TABLE xx
SET yy = zz
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET #message = 'TABLE 1 '+ ERROR_MESSAGE();
INSERT INTO LOGTABLE
SELECT
GETDATE(),
#message
RETURN;
END CATCH
-- TABLE 2
BEGIN TRY
UPDATE TABLE sss
SET tt = xyz
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET #message = 'TABLE 2 '+ ERROR_MESSAGE();
INSERT INTO LOGTABLE
SELECT
GETDATE(),
#message
RETURN;
END CATCH
COMMIT TRANSACTION
You can try something like below ,which ensures you log the operation.This takes advantage of the fact that table variables dont get rollbacked..
Psuedo code only to give you idea:
create table test1
(
id int primary key
)
create table logg
(
errmsg varchar(max)
)
declare #errmsg varchar(max)
set xact_abort on
begin try
begin tran
insert into test1
select 1
insert into test1
select 1
commit
end try
begin catch
set #errmsg=ERROR_MESSAGE()
select #errmsg as "in block"
if ##trancount>0
rollback tran
end catch
set xact_abort off
select #errmsg as "after block";
insert into logg
select #errmsg
select * from logg
OK... I was able to solve this using a combination of the great suggestions put forth by Alex and GameisWar, with the addition of the T-SQL GOTO control flow statement.
The basic ideas was to store the error message in a variable, which survives a rollback, then have the Catch send you to a FAILURE label which will do the following:
Rollback the transaction
Insert a record into the log table, using the data from the aforementioned variable
Exit the stored procedure
I also use a second GOTO statement to make sure that a successful run will skip over the FAILURE section and commit the transaction.
Below is a code snippet of what the test SQL looked like. It worked like a charm, and I have already implemented this and tested it (successfully) in our production environment.
I really appreciate all the help and input!
SET XACT_ABORT ON
DECLARE #MESSAGE VARCHAR(MAX) = '';
BEGIN TRANSACTION
BEGIN TRY
INSERT INTO TEST_TABLE VALUES ('TEST'); -- WORKS FINE
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET #MESSAGE = 'ERROR - SECTION 1: ' + ERROR_MESSAGE();
GOTO FAILURE;
END CATCH
BEGIN TRY
INSERT INTO TEST_TABLE VALUES ('TEST2'); --WORKS FINE
INSERT INTO TEST_TABLE VALUES ('ANOTHER TEST'); -- ERRORS OUT, DATA WOULD BE TRUNCATED
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SET #MESSAGE = 'ERROR - SECTION 2: ' + ERROR_MESSAGE();
GOTO FAILURE;
END CATCH
GOTO SUCCESS;
FAILURE:
ROLLBACK
INSERT INTO LOGG SELECT #MESSAGE
RETURN;
SUCCESS:
COMMIT TRANSACTION
I don't know details but IMHO general logic can be like this.
--set XACT_ABORT ON --not include it
declare #result varchar(max) --collect details in case you need it
begin transaction
begin try
--your logic here
--if something wrong RAISERROR(...#result)
--everything OK
commit
end try
begin catch
--collect error_message() and other into #result
rollback
end catch
insert log(result) values (#result)

##trancount value is 1 in stored procedure without begin tran

I have following definition of stored procedure:
CREATE procedure dbo.ImportData
(
#SessionId VARCHAR(20)
,#ImportId int
)
as
begin
PRINT 'TRANCOUNT value = ' + CAST(##TRANCOUNT AS VARCHAR)
begin try
--business log
begin try
BEGIN CATCH
--business log
END CATCH
END
Whenever i am running my SP, i am getting ##Trancount value as 1 however i have not begin any transaction using BEGIN TRAN statement.
Please suggest this behavior of sql server of creating a transition after BEGIN statement of the SP definition.
Also, when i tried to replicate the same behavior by creating another SP without parameter and only one SELECT statement but i am getting Transition value as 0.
Please suggest this concept.
You have already opened transaction (maybe accidentally).
Try to disconnect from sql-server or commit (rollbcack) existing transactions.

SET XACT_ABORT ON Being ignored, transaction continues (SQL Server 2008 R2)

Perhaps I am missing something, but even though the RAISERRORs below have severity of 16 (as per documentation) the transaction is still committed as if XACT_ABORT ON has no effect.
CREATE PROCEDURE [ExploringGroups].[RemoveMember]
#groupId uniqueidentifier,
#adminUsername nvarchar(50),
#targetUsername nvarchar(50)
AS
SET XACT_ABORT ON
BEGIN TRANSACTION
DECLARE
#adminUserId uniqueidentifier = dbo.fn_userId(#adminUsername),
#targetUserId uniqueidentifier = dbo.fn_userId(#targetUsername)
IF #targetUserId IS NULL OR ExploringGroups.IsMember(#groupId, #targetUserId) = 0
RAISERROR('Target user was not located', 16, 1)
IF ExploringGroups.IsInRole(#groupId, #adminUserId, 'adm') = 0
RAISERROR('Specified user is not an administrator of this group', 16, 2)
IF #adminUserId = #targetUserId
RAISERROR('You cannot remove yourself', 16, 3)
-- statements below still execute and commit even though there was an error raised above
DELETE FROM ExploringGroups.MemberRole WHERE GroupId = #groupId AND UserId = #targetUserId
DELETE FROM ExploringGroups.Membership WHERE GroupId = #groupId AND UserId = #targetUserId
COMMIT
RETURN 0
Calling
exec exploringgroups.removemember '356048C5-BAB3-45C9-BE3C-A7227225DFDD', 'Crypton', 'Crypton'
Produces
Msg 50000, Level 16, State 2, Procedure RemoveMember, Line 20
Specified user is not an administrator of this group
Msg 50000, Level 16, State 3, Procedure RemoveMember, Line 24
You cannot remove yourself
I thought XACT_ABORT was supposed to roll back the whole transaction if it's set to ON?
Actually, it behaves exactly as it was supposed to. XACT_ABORT really caused the transaction to roll back, so were there any data modifications up to the point of the error they will be rolled back. However, it didn't affect the flow of execution, and it didn't stop running the stored procedure, so the following two DELETEs were executed as implicite transactions. Explicit RAISERRORs don't abort the batch.
See this simplified version:
create table #t(i int);
insert #t values(1);
go
alter procedure sp
as
set xact_abort on
begin tran
raiserror ('x', 16, 1);
print 'deleting';
delete #t;
commit;
go
exec sp
go
select * from #t
go
The only funny thing was that the error about COMMIT not having a corresponding BEGIN TRAN was swallowed.
With SEH, it would jump into CATCH block.
You should be using a "THROW" statement versus the RAISERROR approach.
Use a BEGIN TRY and BEGIN CATCH and commit the transaction normally or rollback in the CATCH block.
BEGIN TRY
-- Do your inserts or throw error
-- Commit transaction
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
-- Rollback
END CATCH;

Are these code snippets equivalent ('set xact_abort on' vs 'try catch rollback')?

I used to use this code snippet within my stored procedure in SQL Server:
create procedure proc_name
--declare variables
as
set nocount on
begin transaction
begin try
--do something
commit transaction
end try begin catch
rollback transaction
;throw
end catch
go
but today I got to know 'set xact_abort on' statement.
Is the following code equivalent to previous one? Are there any differences between them?
create procedure proc_name
--declare variables
as
set nocount on
set xact_abort on
begin transaction
--do something
commit transaction
go
Quoting from MS docs
A TRY…CATCH construct catches all execution errors that have a severity higher than 10 that do not close the database connection.
So, try catch does not catch all possible errors. You can use xact_abort on in addition to try catch.
try/catch give you more flexibility, i.e., you are not limited to just a rollback when something is not happy.

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