Log function return with out of range message

Question

All. I have the following code.

with filDelta as(select a.* from delta a
Where a.Pdelta>0
And a.oldprice between 0.0001 and 10000 
and a.new_closeD between 0.0001 and 10000
),

Incr as(
select  a.Symbol, log(a.oldprice,a.New_closeD) increase
From filDelta a
)

Select  a.symbol 
from Incr a
Where a.increase>=1.3459

However, it return me the error on the line where log() is located. Error is

ORA-01428: parameter'0' out of range 01428. 00000 - "argument '%s' is out of range"

But in my with clause, I already filter the value, why is that please?

Answer 1

With some data that simulates the problem , it looks like Oracle optimiser is rewriting the query in a way that pushes the predicate to a different level, meaning your filters are being applied after it's calculated the log. You could avoid that with the /* no_push_pred */ hint.

But you could also trap the condition in the same level before calling log:

with filDelta as(
  select a.* from delta a
  where a.Pdelta>0
  and a.oldprice between 0.0001 and 10000 
  and a.new_closeD between 0.0001 and 10000
),
Incr as(
  select a.Symbol,
    case when a.New_closeD <= 0 then null
      else log(a.oldprice,a.New_closeD) end increase
  From filDelta a
)
Select a.symbol 
from Incr a
where a.increase>=1.3459;

SQL Fiddle .

Or with fewer levels of CTE:

with filDelta as(
  select a.*
  from delta a
  where a.Pdelta>0
  and a.oldprice between 0.0001 and 10000 
  and a.new_closeD between 0.0001 and 10000
)
select a.Symbol
from filDelta a
where case when a.New_closeD <= 0 then null
  else log(a.oldprice,a.New_closeD) end >=1.3459;

[SQL Fiddle](http://sqlfiddle.com/#!4/85ac0/10).

Or without a CTE at all:

select a.Symbol
from delta a
where a.Pdelta>0
and a.oldprice between 0.0001 and 10000 
and a.new_closeD between 0.0001 and 10000
and case when a.New_closeD <= 0 then null
  else log(a.oldprice,a.New_closeD) end >=1.3459;

SQL Fiddle .