error in executing ODCIIndexStart() routine - plsql

Question

I have a SEARCH package with several functions within that each return a pipelined table.
I am getting the following error:
ORA-29902: error in executing ODCIIndexStart() routine
ORA-06512: at "<SCHEMA_NAME>.SEARCH", line 955
ORA-06512: at "<SCHEMA_NAME>.SEARCH", line 216
ORA-06512: at line 1
ORA-06512: at "<SCHEMA_NAME>.SEARCH", line 1143
ORA-06512: at line 1
29902. 00000 - "error in executing ODCIIndexStart() routine"
*Cause: The execution of ODCIIndexStart routine caused an error.
*Action: Examine the error messages produced by the indextype code and
take appropriate action.
The command that I use to get this error is:
select * from table(search.user_search(10000003, '', 1, 20, 5, '', '', ''));
Here is the code around line 1143 of the SEARCH body:
FUNCTION USER_SEARCH(p_user_id number, p_search varchar2, p_page number, p_num_results number, p_concept_type_id number := null, p_standard_org varchar2 := null, p_standard_title varchar2 := null, p_standard_number varchar2 := null) RETURN SEARCH_RESULTS_TABLE AS
v_sub char(1);
v_rtn search_results_table := search_results_table();
v_user_id number;
v_page number;
v_num_results number;
v_query varchar2(4000);
cursor c_concept is
select * from table(search.concept_new(v_user_id, v_query, v_page, v_num_results, p_concept_type_id, p_standard_org, p_standard_title, p_standard_number));
BEGIN
v_page := p_page;
v_num_results := p_num_results;
v_query := p_search;
if (v_query = '') then
v_query := null;
end if;
-- ONLY DURING DEVELOPMENT
v_user_id := p_user_id;
if v_user_id = 0 then
v_user_id := 2;
end if;
if v_page = null then
v_page := 1;
end if;
if v_num_results = null then
v_num_results := -1;
end if;
select security.has_permission(p_user_id, 'UNLIMITED_RESULTS') into v_sub from dual;
case v_sub
when 'N' then
v_rtn := search.term(v_user_id, p_search, 1, 20, P_concept_type_id, p_standard_org, p_standard_title, p_standard_number);
when 'Y' then
for r_concept in c_concept loop -- line 1143
v_rtn.extend;
v_rtn(v_rtn.last) := search_results_row(r_concept.SCORE, r_concept.FROM_TABLE, r_concept.ID, r_concept.IN_DICTIONARY);
end loop;
end case;
return v_rtn;
END USER_SEARCH;
The code around line 216:
FUNCTION CONCEPT_NEW(p_user_id number, p_search varchar2, p_page number := 1, p_num_results number := -1, p_concept_type_id number := null, p_standard_org varchar2 := null, p_standard_title varchar2 := null, p_standard_number varchar2 := null) RETURN SEARCH_RESULTS_TABLE PIPELINED AS
out_rec search_results_row := search_results_row(null,null,null,null);
v_num_pages number;
v_num_results number;
cursor c_count is
select count(*) cnt, ceil(count(*) / p_num_results) num_pages from (
select * from (
select rownum rn, bb.* from (
select * from (
select sum(score) score, concept_id from
(
(
select
sum(score) score,
concept_id
from
(
select
s.score + (case
when c.eotd = 'N' then
200
else
0
end) score,
ct.concept_id
from
table(search.synonym_search(p_search)) s,
term_synonym ts,
concept_term ct,
concept c
where
c.eotd = 'N' and
s.table_id = ts.synonym_id and
ts.term_id = ct.term_id and
c.concept_id = ct.concept_id
)
group by
concept_id
)
union all
(
select
sum(score) score,
concept_id
from
(
select
s.score + (case
when c.eotd = 'N' then
200
else
0
end) score,
cd.concept_id
from
table(search.definition_search(p_search)) s,
concept_definition cd,
concept c
where
c.eotd = 'N' and
s.table_id = cd.definition_id and
c.concept_id = cd.concept_id
)
group by
concept_id
)
)
group by concept_id
) order by score desc
) bb) where score > 100) where rn < 1000;
-- another cursor here called c_search (removed for cleanliness)
v_added boolean;
v_in_dict varchar(1);
v_concept_id number;
cursor c_in_dict is
select * from dictionary_concept where concept_id = v_concept_id and dictionary_id in (select dictionary_id from company_dictionary where client_company_id in (select client_company_id from users where users_id = p_user_id));
v_in_dict_result c_in_dict%rowtype;
BEGIN
open c_count;
fetch c_count into v_num_results, v_num_pages; -- line 216
close c_count;
out_rec.SCORE := v_num_results;
out_rec.FROM_TABLE := 'HEADER';
out_rec.ID := v_num_pages;
out_rec.IN_DICTIONARY := 'N';
pipe row(out_rec);
-- more code here but been removed
RETURN;
END CONCEPT_NEW;
The code around line 995:
FUNCTION STANDARD_SEARCH(p_search varchar2) RETURN RESULT_TABLE
PIPELINED
AS
out_rec result_type := result_type(null, null);
cursor c_search is
select
45 score,
source_id
from
source
where
source_title = p_search or
standard_number = p_search
union all
select
40,
source_id
from
source
where
lower(source_title) = lower(p_search) or
lower(standard_number) = lower(p_search)
union all
select
35,
source_id
from
source
where
lower(source_title) like lower(p_search) || '%' or
lower(standard_number) like lower(p_search) || '%'
union all
select
30,
source_id
from
source
where
lower(source_title) like '%' || lower(p_search) || '%' or
lower(standard_number) like '%' || lower(p_search) || '%'
union all
select
10 * contains(source_title, lower(p_search)),
source_id
from
source
where
contains(source_title, lower(p_search)) > 1
union all
select
10 * contains(standard_number, lower(p_search)),
source_id
from
source
where
contains(standard_number, lower(p_search)) > 1;
BEGIN
for r_search in c_search loop -- line 995
out_rec.SCORE := r_search.SCORE;
out_rec.TABLE_ID := r_search.SOURCE_ID;
pipe row(out_rec);
end loop;
return;
END;

Answer 1

Change = null to is null. Zero-length strings in Oracle are already NULL so = '' is also incorrect.
Those are some obvious bugs but the code is so complex I'm not sure if they are directly related to the errors. You may need to shrink your code down until it can fit inside a small, reproducible test case. That can take hours of work sometimes.
Another suggestion is to rethink whether you need to use pipelined functions. In my experience pipelined functions are buggy and over-used. Sometimes they can be replaced by regular SQL statements. Sometimes they can be replaced by a simpler function that returns a complete collection, instead of returning it one row at a time. Unless the collection is so ginormous that it can't reasonably fit in memory, or you need the function to return the first N results so they can be processed immediately, the pipelined feature doesn't help.