GOTO Statement

The GOTO statement branches unconditionally to a statement label or block label. The label must be unique within its scope and must precede an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. The GOTO statement transfers control to the labelled statement or block. For more information, see "Using the GOTO Statement".

Syntax

label declaration ::=

Description of the illustration label_declaration.gif

goto statement ::=

Description of the illustration goto_statement.gif

Keyword and Parameter Description

label_name

A label that you assigned to an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. A GOTO statement transfers control to the statement or block following <<label_name>>.

Usage Notes

A GOTO label must precede an executable statement or a PL/SQL block. A GOTO statement cannot branch into an IF statement, LOOP statement, or sub-block. To branch to a place that does not have an executable statement, add the NULL statement.

From the current block, a GOTO statement can branch to another place in the block or into an enclosing block, but not into an exception handler. From an exception handler, a GOTO statement can branch into an enclosing block, but not into the current block.

If you use the GOTO statement to exit a cursor FOR loop prematurely, the cursor is closed automatically. The cursor is also closed automatically if an exception is raised inside the loop.

A given label can appear only once in a block. However, the label can appear in other blocks including enclosing blocks and sub-blocks. If a GOTO statement cannot find its target label in the current block, it branches to the first enclosing block in which the label appears.

Examples

For examples, see the following:

Example 4-19, "Using a Simple GOTO Statement"
Example 4-21, "Using a GOTO Statement to Branch an Enclosing Block"