java.sql.SQLException: ORA-00917: missing comma

Question

I'm pulling my hair out trying to find the cause of the SqlExcpetion below. I'm using Oracle Database 11g Express and SqlDeveloper. I've looked through other posts, but so far no help.

java.sql.SQLException: ORA-00917: missing comma

at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIoer.processError(T4CTTIoer.java:447)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIoer.processError(T4CTTIoer.java:396)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4C8Oall.processError(T4C8Oall.java:951)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIfun.receive(T4CTTIfun.java:513)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIfun.doRPC(T4CTTIfun.java:227)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4C8Oall.doOALL(T4C8Oall.java:531)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CStatement.doOall8(T4CStatement.java:195)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CStatement.executeForRows(T4CStatement.java:1029)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleStatement.doExecuteWithTimeout(OracleStatement.java:1336)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleStatement.executeQuery(OracleStatement.java:1498)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleStatementWrapper.executeQuery(OracleStatementWrapper.java:406)
at com.ets.hr.dao.EmployeeDAO.createEmployee(EmployeeDAO.java:30)
at Test.main(Test.java:62)

Method below:

public void createEmployee(Employee e){
    try{
        Class.forName(oracleClass);
        Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(oracleUrl, "hr", "hr");
        Statement s = conn.createStatement();
        String query = "INSERT INTO employees VALUES(" +
                       e.getEmployeeId() + ", '" +
                       e.getFirstName() + "', '" +
                       e.getLastName() + "', '" +
                       e.getEmail() + "', '" +
                       e.getPhoneNumber() + "', " +
                       e.getHireDate() + ", '" +
                       e.getJobId() + "', " +
                       e.getSalary() + ", " +
                       e.getCommissionPct() + ", " +
                       e.getManagerId() + ", " +
                       e.getDepartmentId() + ")";

        s.executeQuery(query);//LINE 30 - SqlException Here
        System.out.println("Query Executed: Create Employee");
    }
    catch(SQLException se){
        se.printStackTrace();
    }
    catch(ClassNotFoundException ce){
        ce.printStackTrace();
    }
}

Employee Class:

package com.ets.hr.dto;

import java.util.Date;

public class Employee {

//CONSTRUCTORS
public Employee(){}

public Employee(long eId, 
                String firstName, 
                String lastName, 
                String email, 
                String phoneNumber, 
                Date hireDate, 
                String jobId, 
                double salary, 
                double commissionPct,
                long managerId,
                long departmentId){
    this.firstName = firstName;
    this.lastName = lastName;
    this.email = email;
    this.phoneNumber = phoneNumber;
    this.hireDate = hireDate;
    this.jobId = jobId;
    this.salary = salary;
    this.commissionPct = commissionPct;
    this.managerId = managerId;
    this.departmentId = departmentId;
}

//instance variables (from HR.EMPLOYEE table)
private long employeeId;
private String firstName;
private String lastName;
private String email;
private String phoneNumber;
private Date hireDate;
private String jobId;
private double salary;
private double commissionPct;
private long managerId;
private long departmentId;

//GETTERS
public long getEmployeeId(){
    return this.employeeId;
}
public String getFirstName(){
    return this.firstName;
}
public String getLastName(){
    return this.lastName;
}
public String getEmail(){
    return this.email;
}
public String getPhoneNumber(){
    return this.phoneNumber;
}
public Date getHireDate(){
    return this.hireDate;
}
public String getJobId(){
    return this.jobId;
}
public double getSalary(){
    return this.salary;
}
public double getCommissionPct(){
    return this.commissionPct;
}
public long getManagerId(){
    return this.managerId;
}
public long getDepartmentId(){
    return this.departmentId;
}

//SETTERS
public void setEmployeeId(long employeeId){
    this.employeeId = employeeId;
}
public void setFirstName(String firstName){
    this.firstName = firstName;
}
public void setLastName(String lastName){
    this.lastName = lastName;
}
public void setEmail(String email){
    this.email = email;
}
public void setPhoneNumber(String phoneNumber){
    this.phoneNumber = phoneNumber;
}
public void setHireDate(Date hireDate){
    this.hireDate = hireDate;
}
public void setJobId(String jobId){
    this.jobId = jobId;
}
public void setSalary(double salary){
    this.salary = salary;
}
public void setCommissionPct(double commissionPct){
    this.commissionPct = commissionPct;
}
public void setManagerId(long managerId){
    this.managerId = managerId;
}
public void setDepartmentId(long departmentId){
    this.departmentId = departmentId;
}

public void printEmployee(){
    System.out.println("Employee ID: " + this.getEmployeeId());
    System.out.println("Employee Name: " + this.getFirstName() + this.getLastName());
    System.out.println("Employee Email: " + this.getEmail());
    System.out.println("Employee Phone: " + this.getPhoneNumber());
    System.out.println("Employee Hire Date: " + this.getHireDate());
    System.out.println("Employee Job ID: " + this.getJobId());
    System.out.println("Employee Salary: " + this.getSalary());
    System.out.println("Employee Commission Pct: " + this.getCommissionPct());
    System.out.println("Employee Manager ID: " + this.getManagerId());
    System.out.println("Employee Department ID: " + this.getDepartmentId());
}

}

Answer 1

You shouldn't be trying to build your own SQL string, because you have to deal with quoting and escaping (which has bitten you here).

Instead, use a PreparedStatement and let the JDBC API escape, quote and format (eg dates) your values for you:

String query = "INSERT INTO employees VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)";
PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(query);
ps.setInt(e.getEmployeeId(), 1);
ps.setString(e.getFirstName(), 2);
ps.setDate(e.getHireDate(), 6);
// etc - there is a setter for each basic datatype
ps.execute();
ps.close();

The coding is easier, and readability goes way up too.

Answer 2

It looks like one of the following methods is producing a value that the database expects to be quoted/escaped (maybe it contains a comma itself, or another database special character):

e.getEmployeeId()
e.getHireDate()
e.getSalary()
e.getCommissionPct()
e.getManagerId()
e.getDepartmentId()

I'd recommend looking into the PreparedStatement class to help with bugs like this (as well as guarding against SQL-based security holes).

Answer 3

As OldProgrammer mentions, Instead of embedding the values like this

Statement s = conn.createStatement();
String query = "INSERT INTO employees VALUES(" +
                   e.getEmployeeId() + ", '" +
                   e.getFirstName() + "', '" +
                   e.getLastName() + "', '" +
                   e.getEmail() + "', '" +
                   e.getPhoneNumber() + "', " +
                   e.getHireDate() + ", '" +
                   e.getJobId() + "', " +
                   e.getSalary() + ", " +
                   e.getCommissionPct() + ", " +
                   e.getManagerId() + ", " +
                   e.getDepartmentId() + ")";

s.executeQuery(query);

You could use a PreparedStatement and then any special SQL syntax will be ignored/escaped when the values are put in. Try doing it like this

String query = "INSERT INTO employees VALUES(?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)";
PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(query);
ps.setInt(1, e.getEmployeeId());
ps.setString(2, e.getFirstName());
//.... etc for the rest of your parameters