failed to load view source for %s.%s: DBMS_METADATA: %v; ALL

Error message

failed to load view source for %s.%s: DBMS_METADATA: %v; ALL_VIEWS: %w

What it means

The driver loads a view's source first via DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL and falls back to querying ALL_VIEWS.TEXT. If the fallback query fails with a real error (not just no rows) AND the DBMS_METADATA attempt also failed, both causes are combined into this dual-cause error so developers can see why each path failed.

Source

Thrown at agents/drivers/oracle-go/main.go:3419

	metadataErr := db.QueryRow(
		"SELECT DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL('VIEW', :1, :2) FROM DUAL",
		viewName, schema,
	).Scan(&ddl)
	if metadataErr == nil && strings.TrimSpace(ddl) != "" {
		return strings.TrimSpace(ddl), nil
	}

	var source string
	fallbackErr := db.QueryRow(
		"SELECT TEXT FROM ALL_VIEWS WHERE OWNER = :1 AND VIEW_NAME = :2",
		schema, viewName,
	).Scan(&source)
	if fallbackErr == nil && strings.TrimSpace(source) != "" {
		return strings.TrimSpace(source), nil
	}
	if fallbackErr != nil && !errors.Is(fallbackErr, sql.ErrNoRows) {
		if metadataErr != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf(
				"failed to load view source for %s.%s: DBMS_METADATA: %v; ALL_VIEWS: %w",
				schema, viewName, metadataErr, fallbackErr,
			)
		}
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to load view source for %s.%s from ALL_VIEWS: %w", schema, viewName, fallbackErr)
	}
	return "", fmt.Errorf("view source not found: %s.%s", schema, viewName)
}

func (s *server) buildTableDDL(schema, table string) (string, error) {
	columns, err := s.getColumns(schema, table)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	if len(columns) == 0 {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("table not found: %s.%s", schema, table)
	}
	var builder strings.Builder

View on GitHub (pinned to c0390bff16)

Solutions

Read both wrapped causes: fix the DBMS_METADATA error (usually grants) and the ALL_VIEWS error separately
Grant the user EXECUTE on DBMS_METADATA and SELECT ANY DICTIONARY (or dictionary access) as appropriate
Confirm schema/viewName are correct and the caller has SELECT on the view itself
Retry if the underlying cause was transient (network/ORA-03113)

Example fix

// before
-- user can see the view but not DBMS_METADATA
GRANT SELECT ON hr.v TO app;
// after
GRANT EXECUTE ON DBMS_METADATA TO app;
GRANT SELECT ANY DICTIONARY TO app; -- then retry DDL extraction

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

var canMeta, canDict bool
db.QueryRow(`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM session_privs WHERE privilege IN ('EXECUTE ANY PROCEDURE','SELECT ANY DICTIONARY')`).Scan(&canDict)
_ = canMeta; _ = canDict // require dictionary access before view DDL extraction

Try / catch

src, err := loadViewSource(s, schema, view)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "DBMS_METADATA: ") {
    // both paths failed; inspect each cause and retry with elevated introspection role
    log.Printf("both extraction paths failed for %s.%s: %v", schema, view, err)
}

Prevention

Grant EXECUTE on DBMS_METADATA and dictionary SELECT to the introspection user
Test both extraction paths with a known-good view during setup
Handle LONG-column TEXT carefully when reading ALL_VIEWS
Retry transient network failures before concluding grants are the problem

When it happens

Trigger: Both DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL and the ALL_VIEWS fallback query fail — e.g. missing SELECT_CATALOG privileges plus a network error, invalid view text in ALL_VIEWS, or the view lives in a schema the caller cannot read.

Common situations: User granted access to the view but not to DBMS_METADATA or dictionary views; long views whose TEXT is in LONG column requiring special handling; network blips during introspection.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of t8y2/dbx@c0390bff16 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6f61e16042cebe7f. Report an issue: GitHub.