Oracle - cursor using dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statem

Question

I have a requirement to run a SP across multiple DBs at the same time and one part of it is to eliminate some duplicate records from each DB. Now since the SP can be run multiple times i've included a backup table and and what's needed to truncate and drop it in case the SP is run twice in a row.

Now, since i'm creating tables via DBLINK i've researched that i need to use dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement - but in this case even though the procedure executes, the truncate and drop queries seem to do nothing, because when i run the SP the second time it fails telling me the name of the backup table is already in use (even though i've included the DROP execution before CREATE).

loop
    fetch v_data into v_database_name;
    exit when v_data%NOTFOUND;
    sql_update := 'BEGIN'
                ||'    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ''truncate table iSecurity2_dupes_bak'';'
                ||' EXCEPTION'
                ||'    WHEN OTHERS THEN'
                ||'       IF SQLCODE != -942 THEN'
                ||'          RAISE;'
                ||'       END IF;'
                ||' END;';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;
    sql_update := 'BEGIN'
                ||'    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ''DROP TABLE iSecurity2_dupes_bak'';'
                ||' EXCEPTION'
                ||'    WHEN OTHERS THEN'
                ||'       IF SQLCODE != -942 THEN'
                ||'          RAISE;'
                ||'       END IF;'
                ||' END;';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;
    sql_update := 'create table iSecurity2_dupes_bak as select * from iSecurity2';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
commit;
.................

ORA-00955: name is already used by an existing object
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_UTILITY", line 478
ORA-06512: at line 1
ORA-06512: at "database.procedure_name", line 53
ORA-06512: at line 2

The rest of the cursor which includes deletes, inserts, updates and creation of GLOBAL TEMP tables seems to work just fine and everything executes. If i manually delete the backup table even the CREATE that fails executes.

I'm perplexed :(

UPDATE 08/12/2016

With the help provided by @Jon Heller I was able to transform my code in the below which works as long as i use a static name for the DB_LINK. But when i try to use the variable it fails. Tried both of the below versions but stil lcan't get to run however i keep modifying them - am i missing something here?

Note: Now, i added the alter session because without it, re-running the original procedure kept failing due to ORA-04062: timestamp of procedure "cw_drop_table" has been changed;

1st version

    loop
    fetch v_data into v_database_name;
    exit when v_data%NOTFOUND;
    sql_update := 'alter session set REMOTE_DEPENDENCIES_MODE=SIGNATURE';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;
        begin 
                       dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@v_database_name (
                            q'[ 
                            create or replace procedure cw_drop_table is sql_drop varchar2(2000);
                                begin 
                                    sql_drop := 'BEGIN' 
                                        ||'    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ''DROP TABLE iSecurity2_dupes_bak'';' 
                                        ||' EXCEPTION'
                                        ||'    WHEN OTHERS THEN IF SQLCODE != -942 THEN NULL; END IF; END;';
                                    execute immediate sql_drop;
                                    commit;
                                end; ]' );      
                            execute immediate 'begin cw_drop_table@'||v_database_name||'; end;'; 
        end;
    sql_update := 'create table iSecurity2_dupes_bak as select * from iSecurity2';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;

PLS-00352: Unable to access another database 'V_DATABASE_NAME'
PLS-00201: identifier 'DBMS_UTILITY@V_DATABASE_NAME' must be declared
PL/SQL: Statement ignored

2nd version

    loop
        fetch v_data into v_database_name;
        exit when v_data%NOTFOUND;
        sql_update := 'alter session set REMOTE_DEPENDENCIES_MODE=SIGNATURE';
        execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
        commit;
        declare v_db_name varchar2(100);
            begin   select v_database_name into v_db_name from dual;                    
                execute immediate   'dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_db_name||' ('
                            ||' q''[ '
                            ||' create or replace procedure cw_drop_table is sql_drop varchar2(2000);'
                            ||'     begin ' 
                            ||'         sql_drop := ''BEGIN'' '
                            ||'             ||''       EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ''DROP TABLE iSecurity2_dupes_bak'';'' '
                            ||'             ||''    EXCEPTION'' '
                            ||'             ||''       WHEN OTHERS THEN IF SQLCODE != -942 THEN NULL; END IF; END;''; '
                            ||'         execute immediate sql_drop;'
                            ||'         commit;'
                            ||'     end; ]'' ); '   
                            ||' execute immediate ''begin cw_drop_table@'||v_db_name||'; end;''; ';
            end;
        sql_update := 'create table iSecurity2_dupes_bak as select * from iSecurity2';
        execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;

PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "DROP" when expecting one of the following:

* & = - + ; < / > at in is mod remainder not rem
<an exponent (**)> <> or != or ~= >= <= <> and or like LIKE2_
LIKE4_ LIKEC_ between || member SUBMULTISET_

SOLUTION

After much contemplation and a shower i abandoned the above methodology and went with the below. Not sure why i didn't think about it earlier :|

Note: if anyone ever reads through this long-winded question and knows what i did wrong in the 08/12/2016 Update, i am curious to find out :)

    loop
        fetch v_data into v_database_name;
        exit when v_data%NOTFOUND;
        sql_update := 'alter session set REMOTE_DEPENDENCIES_MODE=SIGNATURE';
        execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
        commit;
        begin       
            sql_update:='DROP TABLE iSecurity2_dupes_bak';
            execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_database_name||'(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;

            EXCEPTION
                WHEN OTHERS THEN
                  IF SQLCODE = -942 THEN
                    NULL; -- suppresses ORA-00942 exception
                  ELSE
                     RAISE;
                  END IF;
        END;

Answer 1

DBMS_UTILITY.EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT only reliably runs DDL. If you try to run it with a PL/SQL block it will silently fail and not run anything.

This can be demonstrated by running a PL/SQL block that should obviously fail. The code below should generate ORA-01476: divisor is equal to zero. But instead it does nothing.

begin
    dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@myself(
        q'[declare v_test number; begin v_test := 1/0; end;]'
    );
end;
/

Use a temporary procedure to run a PL/SQL block remotely. Create the procedure with DBMS_UTILITY.EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT and then call it with native dynamic SQL.

begin
    dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@myself(
        q'[
            create or replace procedure test_procedure
            is
                v_test number;
            begin
                v_test := 1/0;
            end;
        ]'
    );
    execute immediate 'begin test_procedure@myself; end;';
end;
/

RESULTS:

ORA-01476: divisor is equal to zero
ORA-06512: at "JHELLER.TEST_PROCEDURE", line 5
ORA-06512: at line 1
ORA-06512: at line 12

I think this behavior is a bug. Oracle should throw an error instead of simply not doing anything.

---

Welcome to concatenation hell. Strings get messy when they're embedded 4 levels deep. But there are a few things you can do to make life easier:

1. Use nested alternative-quoting mechanism. For example, q'[ ... ]', inside a q'< ... >', etc.
2. Use multi-line strings. There's no need to concatenate multiple lines, just use a single string.
3. Use extra spacing to help identify the start and end of strings. When things get this crazy it's worth putting a string delimiter on a line all by itself, so that everything is easy to line up.
4. Use REPLACE instead of concatenation.

I re-formatted part of your code using those tips. Stackoverflow does not understand the alternative quoting mechanism, but the strings should look better in a good Oracle SQL editor.

declare
    v_db_name varchar2(30) := 'myself';
    sql_update varchar2(32767);
begin
    execute immediate replace(
    q'[
        begin
            dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@#DB_NAME#
            (
                q'<
                    create or replace procedure cw_drop_table is
                        sql_drop varchar2(2000);
                    begin
                        sql_drop :=
                        q'{
                            BEGIN
                                EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'DROP TABLE iSecurity2_dupes_bak';
                            EXCEPTION WHEN OTHERS THEN
                                IF SQLCODE != -942 THEN
                                    NULL;
                                END IF;
                            END;
                        }';
                        execute immediate sql_drop;
                    end;
                >'
            );
            execute immediate 'begin cw_drop_table@#DB_NAME#; end;';
        end;
    ]', '#DB_NAME#', v_db_name);

    sql_update := 'create table iSecurity2_dupes_bak as select * from iSecurity2';
    execute immediate 'begin dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement@'||v_db_name||
        '(:sql_update);  end;' using sql_update;
    commit;
end;
/