Question

I have an ASP.NET web application (VB.NET) using an Oracle database. On an insert, I need to get the identity of the inserted row back. I am trying to use RETURNING, but I keep getting a value of 1 returned.

Dim strInsert As String = "INSERT INTO L.TRANSACTIONS (LOCATION_KEY, TRANS_CREATOR, TRANS_EMAIL, TRANS_PHONE) VALUES (:location_key, :trans_creator, :trans_email, :trans_phone) RETURNING TRANS_ID INTO :ukey"

Try
    If oConn.State <> ConnectionState.Open Then
        oConn.Open()
    End If

    Dim oCmnd As New OracleCommand(strInsert, oConn)
    oCmnd.Parameters.Add("location_key", Session.Item("location").ToString.Trim())
    oCmnd.Parameters.Add("trans_creator", Session.Item("userID").ToString.Trim())
    oCmnd.Parameters.Add("trans_email", Session.Item("mail").ToString.Trim())
    oCmnd.Parameters.Add("trans_phone", Session.Item("phone").ToString.Trim())
    oCmnd.Parameters.Add("ukey", Oracle.DataAccess.Client.OracleDbType.Varchar2, System.Data.ParameterDirection.ReturnValue)

    Dim strUkey As String = oCmnd.ExecuteNonQuery()

When I run the application, the record gets inserted and the TRANS_ID is incrementing but the returned value is always “1”.

Answer 1

You’re assigning the result of ExecuteNonQuery to the variable, rather than getting the value assigned to the parameter you’ve created. I believe you want to change the last line to something like this (untested):

oCmnd.ExecuteNonQuery
Dim strUkey As String = oCmnd.Parameters.GetParameter("ukey").Value