ORA-00947: not enough values tips

ORA-00947 not enough values

Cause: This error occurs when a SQL statement requires two sets of values equal in number, but the second set contains fewer items than the first set. This can occur in a WHERE or HAVING clause in which a nested SELECT returns too few columns as in:

WHERE (A,B) IN (SELECT C FROM ...)


Another common cause of this error is an INSERT statement in which the VALUES or SELECT clause does not contain enough values needed for the INSERT, as in

INSERT INTO EMP(EMPNO,ENAME) VALUES('JONES')


Action: Check the number of items in each set and change the SQL statement to make them equal.

 

On Oracle DBA-Forums, has a great example of ORA-00947, and a resolution. 

Question:

How do I resolve ORA-00947 in this situation?

SQL> run 1
1 merge into aim m1
2 using flataim m2 on (m2.sn = m1.snam)
3 when matched then update set m1.snam = m2.sn,
4 m1.fnam = m2.fn, m1.lnam = m2.ln, m1.midnam = m2.mn,
5 m1.maidn = m2.md, m1.cntry = m2.na, m1.st = m2.st,
6 m1.city = m2.cy, m1.empt = m2.mt, m1.nick = m2.nk,
7 m1.zip = m2.zp, m1.street = m2.rd
8 when not matched then insert ((select aimsq.nextval from dual),
9 m1.fnam, m1.lnam, m1.midnam,
10 m1.maidn, m1.cntry, m1.state, m1.city, m1.nick,
11 m1.zip, m1.street, m1.snam, m1.empt)
12 values ( m1.fn, m2.ln, m2.mn, m2.md, m2.na, m2.st, m2.cy
13* m2.nk, m2.zp, m2.rd, m2.sn, m2.mt);
when not matched then insert ((select aimsq.nextval from dual),
*
ERROR at line 8:
ORA-00947: not enough values
 

Answer:

Because the ORA-00947 error signifies that there are not enough values passing through INSERT, the insert in the aim table should match all columns.  Here is an example, using snam:

when not matched then insert
(m1.snam,
m1.fnam, m1.lnam, m1.midnam,
m1.maidn, m1.cntry, m1.state, m1.city, m1.nick,
m1.zip, m1.street, m1.snam, m1.empt)
values
(imsq.nextval,
m1.fn, m2.ln, m2.mn, m2.md, m2.na, m2.st, m2.cy,
m2.nk, m2.zp, m2.rd, m2.sn, m2.mt);
 

Also, keep in mind while troubleshooting for ORA-00947, that the (select aimsq.nextval from dual) needs to be on the VALUES side.

MOSC also offers information on ORA-00947 when it occurs along with attempting to add an insert statement, with all necessary columns properly stated. Here is an example:

SQL> create table mytab (c1 date, c2 number);

Table created.

SQL> insert into mytab values(to_date('01-MAY-95',1));
insert into mytab values(to_date('01-MAY-95',1))
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00947: not enough values

In this ORA-00947 case, you need to keep in mind that your parenthesis need to be meticulously placed and counted in order for ORA-00947 to be resolved.