What are the causes of ORA 4068 errors?

Resolving The Problem

Problem Description
-------------------

You receive the following error from user-written and Oracle packages:

ORA-04068 existing state of packages%s%s%s has been discarded


Causes of ORA-4068 Errors
-------------------------

1) A dependent object was altered through a DDL statement.

When a package is compiled, all copies in the shared pool are
flagged as invalid. The next invocation of the package sees
this flag set, and goes to get a new copy.

If the package is now invalid, cannot compile, or relied on
a package state (i.e., package level variables), then this error
occurs because the current copy of the package is no longer valid
and must be thrown out.

2) The package was changed or recompiled (both DDL) and the package
being used contains package level variables.

Same as above. When a package dependency is altered through
DDL statements (DROP, CREATE, ALTER, ...), this package is
flagged as invalid through cascade invalidation.

3) A package relied on another package that had no body, and during
execution, the call failed.

When a package is compiled, it only looks for the specification.
During execution, it calls a non-existent routine and throws an
error. This error then invalidates the package.

Another variation is if the procedure being called is not defined
in the package body and possibly as a standalone routine.

4) A remote dependent object has been altered through a DDL statement.
This can occur between database instances or from Forms or Reports
to a database instance.

The default remote dependency model uses the Timestamp model, and when
an execution of a procedure takes place, the remote object's timestamp
is validated, thus forcing invalidation on the local package.

To check for these situations, several SQL statements can be run:

a. To check the package's last compile:

SELECT object_name, object_type, owner, status, last_ddl_time FROM
dba_objects WHERE object_name = '<PACKAGE NAME>';

For example:

SQL> SELECT object_name, object_type, owner, status, last_ddl_time FROM
2 dba_objects WHERE object_name = 'DBMS_SQL';

OBJECT_NAME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBJECT_TYPE OWNER STATUS LAST_DDL_
------------- ------------------------------ ------- ---------
DBMS_SQL
PACKAGE SYS VALID 13-JUL-99

DBMS_SQL
PACKAGE BODY SYS VALID 13-JUL-99

DBMS_SQL
SYNONYM PUBLIC VALID 13-JUL-99

SQL>

b. To check the dependent objects last alteration:

SELECT object_name, object_type, owner, status, last_ddl_time FROM
dba_objects WHERE ( object_name, object_type ) IN ( SELECT
referenced_name, referenced_type FROM dba_dependencies WHERE name =
'<PACKAGE NAME>' );

For example:

SQL> SELECT object_name, object_type, owner, status, last_ddl_time FROM
2 dba_objects WHERE ( object_name, object_type ) IN ( SELECT
3 referenced_name, referenced_type FROM dba_dependencies WHERE name =
4 'DBMS_SQL' );

OBJECT_NAME
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br > OBJECT_TYPE OWNER STATUS LAST_DDL_
------------- ------------------------------ ------- ---------
DBMS_SQL
PACKAGE SYS VALID 13-JUL-99

DBMS_SYS_SQL
PACKAGE SYS VALID 13-JUL-99

STANDARD
PACKAGE SYS VALID 13-JUL-99


SQL>

c. To check for existing errors on package:

SELECT name, type, text FROM dba_errors WHERE name = '<PACKAGE NAME>';

For example:

SQL> SELECT name, type, text FROM dba_errors WHERE name = 'DBMS_SQL';

no rows selected

SQL>


Solutions for ORA-4068 Errors
-----------------------------

1) Simply re-execute the package.

For example:

Session 1: Create the package and body for package p_pack:

SQL> create or replace package p_pack as
2 p_var varchar2(1);
3 procedure p;
4 end p_pack;
5 /

Package created.

SQL> create or replace package body p_pack as
2 procedure p is
3 begin
4 p_var := 1;
5 end;
6 end p_pack;
7 /

Package body created.

SQL>

Session 2: Execute the package:

SQL> exec p_pack.p

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

Session 1: Recreate the package and body:

SQL> create or replace package p_pack as
2 p_var varchar2(1);
3 procedure p;
4 end p_pack;
5 /

Package created.

SQL> create or replace package body p_pack as
2 procedure p is
3 begin
4 p_var := 1;
5 end;
6 end p_pack;
7 /

Package body created.

SQL>

Session 2: Re-execute the package:

SQL> exec p_pack.p
begin p_pack.p; end;

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-04068: existing state of packages has been discarded
ORA-04061: existing state of package "SCOTT.P_PACK" has been invalidated
ORA-04065: not executed, altered or dropped package "SCOTT.P_PACK"
ORA-06508: PL/SQL: could not find program unit being called
ORA-06512: at line 1


SQL> exec p_pack.p

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>


2) Attempt to recompile the package by using the ALTER PACKAGE command.

For example:

SQL> ALTER PACKAGE DBMS_SQL COMPILE;

Package altered.

SQL>

3) Verify that proper execute permissions have been provided. In PL/SQL
stored program units, roles are disabled prior to the release of Oracle
8i. Oracle 8i definers rights follow the previous release model of
requiring explicit permission to the object.

In Oracle 8i, if invoker's rights are set on the routine, then execution
is done with roles enabled, so permission could be granted explicitly to
the schema executing or through a role. For additional information,
refer to [NOTE:74149.1] entitled "Invoker Rights versus Definer Rights
in Oracle 8i".

For example:

SQL> SELECT owner, table_name, privilege FROM dba_tab_privs WHERE
2 table_name = 'DBMS_SQL' AND ( grantee = 'SCOTT' OR grantee = 'PUBLIC' );

OWNER TABLE_NAME
------------------------------ ------------------------------
PRIVILEGE
----------------------------------------
SYS DBMS_SQL
EXECUTE


SQL>

4) If errors exist (check DBA_ERRORS or USER_ERRORS views with above
query), then take the appropriate action to correct the errors.

If the package is a system package that comes with the Oracle server,
the scripts are located in $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin. Most packages have
their own .sql and .plb script to build the specification and body (see
below for names).

System packages that come with the Oracle server, as well as other Oracle
products, typically need to be owned by a particular schema. In the case
of the Oracle server DBMS packages, these need to be owned by SYS. If these
packages are not owned by SYS, some packages start getting 'ORA-6509 PL/SQL
ICD vector missing for this package' errors.

5) If duplicate SYS owned objects exist, clean them up.