Autonomous Transaction Tips

Question:  I am getting an “ORA-14552: cannot perform a DDL, commit or rollback inside a query or DML”  error and I want to make my function into an autonomous transaction with the “pragma autonomous transaction” syntax:

create or replace function
     rebuildSequence
   return number
   as
   l_csmsgid1 pls_integer;

      pragma autonomous_transaction;

   begin . . .

I got the rid of the ORA-14552 error by making it an autonomous transaction, but I don’t understand what an autonomous transaction is and why this must be an autonomous transaction.

Can you please explain the “pragma autonomous transaction,” when to use an autonomous transaction and why an autonomous transaction stops the ORA-14552 error?

Answer: An autonomous transaction is code which is independent of the transaction that spawned it, allowing the parent transaction to continue regardless of the success or failure of the autonomous transaction.

Autonomous transactions are useful for tasks that you want to execute regardless of the status of the parent transaction.  Consider an error log table, where you want to save error messages generated by a transaction.  You will need to roll back the transaction which caused the error, but you don't want the error code to be lost in the rollback.  When the error is logged and committed in an autonomous transaction and the parent transaction is rolled back, the changes committed by the autonomous transaction are preserved.

Moving your code to the autonomous transaction removes the ORA-14552 error because you are creating a whole new transaction.  When a procedure defined with the pragma autonomous transaction compiler directive is called, the calling transaction suspends untilt he autonomous transaction is completed. 

Guarantee your Success! Oracle is the world's most complex, robust and flexible database, considered impossible to master without a mentor. That's why all BC Oracle trainers are working professionals, experts in Oracle who share their tips and secrets.

Burleson is the American Team Note: This Oracle documentation was created as a support and Oracle training reference for use by our DBA performance tuning consulting professionals.  Feel free to ask questions on our Oracle forum. Verify experience! Anyone considering using the services of an Oracle support expert should independently investigate their credentials and experience, and not rely on advertisements and self-proclaimed expertise. All legitimate Oracle experts publish their Oracle qualifications. Errata?  Oracle technology is changing and we strive to update our BC Oracle support information.  If you find an error or have a suggestion for improving our content, we would appreciate your feedback.  Just  e-mail:  and include the URL for the page.                      Burleson Consulting The Oracle of Database Support Oracle Performance Tuning Remote DBA Services   Copyright ? 1996 -  2012  All rights reserved. Oracle ? is the registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.