How to diagnose and fix the 22012 division_by_zero error code in Postgres.

by

The 22012 error code in PostgreSQL indicates a division_by_zero error. This happens when an operation in a query attempts to divide a number by zero, which is undefined and causes the database to raise an error. There are several ways to handle this error to prevent it from occurring.

One common method to avoid a division by zero error is to use the NULLIF function. The NULLIF function takes two arguments and returns NULL if the two are equal. So, if you use NULLIF to compare the denominator with zero, it will return NULL instead of zero, thus avoiding the division by zero error.

Here’s an example of how to use NULLIF to prevent division by zero:

SELECT column1 / NULLIF(column2, 0) FROM your_table;

In this case, if column2 is zero, the NULLIF function will return NULL, and the division operation will also yield NULL instead of causing an error.

Another approach is to use a CASE statement to check for a zero before performing the division. Here’s an example:

SELECT
  CASE
    WHEN column2 = 0 THEN NULL
    ELSE column1 / column2
  END
FROM your_table;

In this example, the CASE statement checks if column2 is zero. If it is, it returns NULL, otherwise, it performs the division.

These methods are also suggested in the search results, such as in the Stack Overflow discussion on how to avoid division by zero in PostgreSQL and in the guide on how to handle divide by zero in SQL.

Remember that when NULL is returned, it may affect the results of your query, so you should decide how to handle NULL values in your application logic.

Leave a Comment