ORA-00936: missing expression

ORA-00936: missing expression error occurs when a required part of a clause or expression in the Oracle SQL query is omitted or incomplete. The syntax of the missing expression should be verified in the Oracle SQL query, and the missing expression should be corrected. If a clause is missing from the sql query, add it using the sql query syntax. If you run an Oracle SQL query with a missing clause, missing expression, or incomplete expression, Oracle will throw this error ORA-00936: missing expression.

Oracle SQL queries must adhere to the structured query language syntax. SQL syntax is made up of clauses and expressions. The clauses and expressions must be added in the order specified by the sql syntax. Oracle SQL query could not find the required information from the query syntax if the clause and expression were omitted, incomplete, or in the wrong order. Oracle was unable to execute the sql query. The error ORA-00936: missing expression will be displayed.

The Problem

Create a SQL query that includes a missing expression or clause. Oracle will attempt to locate the missing part of the expression or clause in the query. Oracle will throw an error because it is not found in the sql. The error will be resolved if the missing part of the expression or clause is corrected in the Oracle SQL query. The following example shows an Oracle SQL query with a missing expression and the corresponding Oracle error message.

select from employee; 

Error

ORA-00936: missing expression
00936. 00000 -  "missing expression"
*Cause:    
*Action:
Error at Line: 1 Column: 8

Solution 1

If the sql query contains the missing clause, add the missing clause. The missing clause will be found as a part of Oracle SQL query syntax. Check the Oracle SQL syntax, add the missing clause. If any part of the clause is missing, correct the missing clause.

Error

select from employee; 

Solution

select * from employee; 

Solution 2

If the order of the clauses or elements in the SQL query is incorrect, the missing expression error will be thrown. The Oracle SQL contains all of the clauses and expressions, but the order of the clauses may be incorrect. Examine the Oracle SQL query and make any necessary changes based on the sql syntax. This will fix the problem.

Error

select name, distinct(deptid) from employee;

Solution

select distinct name,deptid from employee;

Solution 3

If the Oracle SQL query contains a missing or invalid expression, check the missing expression section of the query and replace the missing expression. This will fix the problem. To be evaluated, the expression must be complete. Otherwise, Oracle would be unable to run the SQL query.

Error

select 1 / from employee;

Solution

select 1 / 2 from employee;

Solution 4

Here is another example for missing expression. Oracle SQL can concatenate two or more strings using two pipelines. If concatenate is used with only one operand, the missing expression error will be shown.

Error

select fname || from employee;

Solution

select fname || name from employee;

Solution 5

This example demonstrates the where clause’s missing expression. To correct this error, the where clause should contain all necessary information.

Error

select * from employee where deptid=;

Solution

select * from employee where deptid=1;

Solution 6

This example shows how the missing expression is caused by a syntax error. The sql query has a syntax error that displays a missing expression. The missing expression error will be resolved once the syntax error has been corrected.

Error

select id, ,name from employee;

Solution

select id, ,name from employee;

Solution 7

In this example, the aggregation function is responsible for the missing expression error. To resolve this error, the aggregation function should adhere to the required syntax format.

Error

select deptid, avg(salary) from employee;

Solution

select deptid, avg(salary) from employee group by deptid;