Skip to Main Content
  • Questions

  • ORA-00904 Invalid Identifier. Query works in 12c but not in 11g

Breadcrumb

Question and Answer

Connor McDonald

Thanks for the question, Nikhil.

Asked: September 14, 2016 - 12:31 pm UTC

Last updated: September 15, 2016 - 10:07 pm UTC

Version: 12.1.0.2.0

Viewed 10K+ times! This question is

You Asked

Hi Team,

I have a correlated query, trying to execute it on oracle 11g. The same query executes perfectly fine on 12c but it gives ORA-00904 Invalid Identifier u.col_1 on 11g.

Can someone please explain what's causing the issue in 11g?

SELECT *
FROM table_1 u
WHERE u.col_1 LIKE '%XYZ%'
AND EXISTS (SELECT 1
FROM table_2 c,
(SELECT s.col_1 FROM table_2 s WHERE s.col_1 = u.col_1) dd
WHERE c.col_1 = u.col_1
AND c.col_2 = dd.col_2);

Thanks!!

and Chris said...

You've gone "too deep" with your join to table_2. In 11g you can only reference tables in the query immediately inside/outside your current subquery. 12c lifted this restriction.

To resolve this in 11g, your reference to table_1 u needs to be part of the main exists. Not the subquery within this:

SQL> conn chris/chris@12c
Connected.
SQL> select * from v$version;

BANNER                                                                               CON_ID
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production              0
PL/SQL Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production                                                    0
CORE    12.1.0.2.0      Production                                                                0
TNS for Linux: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production                                            0
NLSRTL Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production                                                    0

Elapsed: 00:00:00.55
SQL> with rws as (
  2    select rownum x, 'X' dummy from dual
  3  )
  4    select * from rws r
  5    where  exists (
  6      select null from dual d, (
  7        select x, dummy from rws s where r.x = s.x
  8      ) s
  9      where  d.dummy = s.dummy
 10      and    s.x = r.x
 11    );

         X D
---------- -
         1 X

SQL> conn chris/chris@11g 
Connected.
SQL> select * from v$version;

BANNER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
PL/SQL Release 11.2.0.4.0 - Production
CORE    11.2.0.4.0      Production
TNS for Linux: Version 11.2.0.4.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 11.2.0.4.0 - Production

Elapsed: 00:00:00.54
SQL> with rws as (
  2    select rownum x, 'X' dummy from dual
  3  )
  4    select * from rws r
  5    where  exists (
  6      select null from dual d, (
  7        select x, dummy from rws s where r.x = s.x
  8      ) s
  9      where  d.dummy = s.dummy
 10      and    s.x = r.x
 11    );
      select x, dummy from rws s where r.x = s.x
                                       *
ERROR at line 7:
ORA-00904: "R"."X": invalid identifier


SQL>
SQL> with rws as (
  2    select rownum x, 'X' dummy from dual
  3  )
  4    select * from rws r
  5    where  exists (
  6      select null from dual d, (
  7        select x, dummy from rws s
  8      ) s
  9      where  d.dummy = s.dummy
 10      and    s.x = r.x
 11    );

         X D
---------- -
         1 X

SQL>

Rating

  (3 ratings)

Is this answer out of date? If it is, please let us know via a Comment

Comments

A reader, September 14, 2016 - 4:38 pm UTC


Documented

Albert Nelson A, September 15, 2016 - 8:08 am UTC

Is this restriction lifting in 12c a documented one? Can you point to the relevant section?

Connor McDonald
September 15, 2016 - 10:07 pm UTC

I havent seen such a mention in the docs, although its not uncommon in these cases not to (in the same way you probably didnt see a mention in the earlier docs that it was *not* possible).

Connor

Thanks

Albert Nelson A, September 16, 2016 - 9:47 am UTC

Thanks Connor.

As I couldn't find this as a documented behavior, I just wanted to confirm if this feature can be "safely" used from 12c onwards.
more

Connor and Chris don't just spend all day on AskTOM. You can also catch regular content via Connor's blog and Chris's blog. Or if video is more your thing, check out Connor's latest video and Chris's latest video from their Youtube channels. And of course, keep up to date with AskTOM via the official twitter account.