GOTO Statement

The GOTO statement branches unconditionally to a statement label or block label. The label must be unique within its scope and must precede an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. The GOTO statement transfers control to the labelled statement or block. For more information, see "Using the GOTO Statement".

Syntax

Description of the illustration label_declaration.gif

Keyword and Parameter Description

label_name

A label that you assigned to an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. A GOTO statement transfers control to the statement or block following <<label_name>>.

Usage Notes

Some possible destinations of a GOTO statement are not allowed. In particular, a GOTO statement cannot branch into an IF statement, LOOP statement, or sub-block.

From the current block, a GOTO statement can branch to another place in the block or into an enclosing block, but not into an exception handler. From an exception handler, a GOTO statement can branch into an enclosing block, but not into the current block.

If you use the GOTO statement to exit a cursor FOR loop prematurely, the cursor is closed automatically. The cursor is also closed automatically if an exception is raised inside the loop.

A given label can appear only once in a block. However, the label can appear in other blocks including enclosing blocks and sub-blocks. If a GOTO statement cannot find its target label in the current block, it branches to the first enclosing block in which the label appears.

Examples

A GOTO label cannot precede just any keyword. It must precede an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. To branch to a place that does not have an executable statement, add the NULL statement:

FOR ctr IN 1..50 LOOP
   DELETE FROM emp WHERE ...
   IF SQL%FOUND THEN 
      GOTO end_loop;
   END IF;
   ...
<<end_loop>>
NULL;   -- an executable statement that specifies inaction
END LOOP;