Can't delete Null value from a not null field
I have a very simple table defined as
CREATE TABLE custlist (
listid int4 NOT NULL,
custid int4 NOT NULL);
Somehow a record has gotten into the table with both values null. When I
try to delete using
delete from custlist where custid is null;
or
delete from custlist where listid is null;
I get the output:
ERROR: ExecutePlan: (junk) `ctid' is NULL!
I get the same error if I try to update the null row.
At this point I figured I would outsmart it and use the oid. However it
appears the oid is null as well.
Any suggestions? At this point the only thing I can see to do is dump the
table and run the dump through a filter for the bad record and then reload
it.
This is all being done on 6.5.3.
BTW the database is dumped and loaded onto a backup machine nightly. The
load of this table is failing because of the null row.
"Bryan White" <bryan@arcamax.com> writes:
I get the output:
ERROR: ExecutePlan: (junk) `ctid' is NULL!
I get the same error if I try to update the null row.
At this point I figured I would outsmart it and use the oid. However it
appears the oid is null as well.
Wow, that's bizarre. It shouldn't be *possible* for oid or ctid to be
null --- AFAIK they don't have a null-value bit. There must be
something really hosed up about that tuple's header.
Any suggestions? At this point the only thing I can see to do is dump the
table and run the dump through a filter for the bad record and then reload
it.
Slightly faster than a dump and reload:
RENAME broken table to something else;
CREATE TABLE new-table;
INSERT INTO new-table SELECT * FROM broken-table WHERE custid IS NOT NULL;
then recreate the indexes wanted on new-table...
regards, tom lane