Insert deleted rows to new table in stored procedure

Question

How can I insert the rows deleted in a delete statement into a new table within a stored procedure in DB2 SQL?

DB2 allows the following syntax to return the deleted rows:

select * from old table (
    delete from my_table where foo > 1
)

For some reason, you can't just do an insert based on the results returned from that statement. However, you can use common table expressions as a kludgy workaround :

with deleted as (
    select * from old table (delete from my_table where foo > 1)
)
select * from new table (insert into archive_table select * from deleted)

This has an unnecessary extra select statement that I don't want, but at least it works. Deleted rows get inserted into another table.

However, how can I do this within a stored procedure?

A stored procedure doesn't allow a bare select statement. I thought of putting it within a set statement:

set my_var = (
    with deleted as (
        select * from old table (delete from my_table where foo > 1)
    )
    select * from new table (insert into archive_table select * from deleted)
);

However, this fails because a common table expression is not allowed within such a statement.

Is there any way to do this within a stored procedure?

(The task can be done using some other method as a work-around. But I want to find out if it is possible to do it this way. If this is not possible, it seems like quite a dumb restriction.)

Update: I'm using DB2 9.7 LUW.

Answer 1

If you issue a select , you have to consume the result set somehow, whether it is in a procedure or another application. You can either run a dummy loop within the procedure, like:

for t in (with deleted as (
    select * from old table (delete from my_table where foo > 1)
    )
    select * from new table (insert into archive_table select * from deleted)
) loop
  null;
end loop;

or use an explicit cursor:

declare c1 cursor for with deleted as (
    select * from old table (delete from my_table where foo > 1)
    )
    select * from new table (insert into archive_table select * from deleted);
...
open c1;
close c1;

Note that neither of these is tested.

Answer 2

Why dont you flip it around? You can INSERT from a SELECT, and you can SELECT the rows from a DELETE.