PLSQL handles the errors caused at the server level and publishes them using the following functions:
EXCEPTION Thisdatatype is declared in DECLARE section of the PLSQL code enables to call those as and when they are required.
An internal exception is raised implicitly whenever your PL/SQL program violates an Oracle rule or exceeds a system-dependent limit. Every Oracle error has a number, but exceptions must be handled by name. So, PL/SQL predefines some common Oracle errors as exceptions. For example, PL/SQL raises the predefined exception NO_DATA_FOUND if a SELECT INTO statement returns no rows.
To handle other Oracle errors, you can use the OTHERS handler.
The functions SQLCODE and SQLERRM are especially useful in the OTHERS handler because they return the Oracle error code and message text. Alternatively, you can use the pragma EXCEPTION_INIT to associate exception names with Oracle error codes.
Your program attempts to apply collection methods other than EXISTS to an uninitialized (atomically null) nested table or varray, or the program attempts to assign values to the elements of an uninitialized nested table or varray.
Your program attempts to open an already open cursor. A cursor must be closed before it can be reopened. A cursor FOR loop automatically opens the cursor to which it refers. So, your program cannot open that cursor inside the loop.
In a SQL statement, the conversion of a character string into a number fails because the string does not represent a valid number. (In procedural statements, VALUE_ERROR is raised.) This exception is also raised when the LIMIT-clause expression in a bulk FETCH statement does not evaluate to a positive number.
A SELECT INTO statement returns no rows, or your program references a deleted element in a nested table or an un-initialized element in an index-by table. SQL aggregate functions such as AVG and SUM always return a value or a null. So, a SELECT INTO statement that calls an aggregate function never raises NO_DATA_FOUND. The FETCH statement is expected to return no rows eventually, so when that happens, no exception is raised.
The host cursor variable and PL/SQL cursor variable involved in an assignment have incompatible return types. For example, when an open host cursor variable is passed to a stored subprogram, the return types of the actual and formal parameters must be compatible.
Your program attempts to call a MEMBER method on a null instance. That is, the built-in parameter SELF (which is always the first parameter passed to a MEMBER method) is null.
An arithmetic, conversion, truncation, or size-constraint error occurs. For example, when your program selects a column value into a character variable, if the value is longer than the declared length of the variable, PL/SQL aborts the assignment and raises VALUE_ERROR. In procedural statements, VALUE_ERROR is raised if the conversion of a character string into a number fails. (In SQL statements, INVALID_NUMBER is raised.)
An Example of handling exception (from Oracle Docs)
DECLARE
past_due EXCEPTION;
acct_num NUMBER;
BEGIN
DECLARE ---------- sub-block begins
past_due EXCEPTION; -- this declaration prevails
acct_num NUMBER;
BEGIN
...
IF ... THEN
RAISE past_due; -- this is not handled
END IF;
END; ------------- sub-block ends
EXCEPTION
WHEN past_due THEN -- does not handle RAISE exception
...
END;