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Oracle9i SQL Reference
Release 2 (9.2)

Part Number A96540-02
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Use the ALTER TRIGGER statement to enable, disable, or compile a database trigger.


This statement does not change the declaration or definition of an existing trigger. To redeclare or redefine a trigger, use the CREATE TRIGGER statement with the OR REPLACE keywords.

See Also:




See Also:

CREATE TRIGGER for more information on triggers based on DATABASE triggers



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Text description of alter_trigger



Specify the schema containing the trigger. If you omit schema, then Oracle assumes the trigger is in your own schema.


Specify the name of the trigger to be altered.


Specify ENABLE to enable the trigger. You can also use the ENABLE ALL TRIGGERS clause of ALTER TABLE to enable all triggers associated with a table.

See Also:

ALTER TABLE and "Enabling Triggers: Example"


Specify DISABLE to disable the trigger. You can also use the DISABLE ALL TRIGGERS clause of ALTER TABLE to disable all triggers associated with a table.

See Also:

ALTER TABLE and "Disabling Triggers: Example"


Specify RENAME TO new_name to rename the trigger. Oracle renames the trigger and leaves it in the same state it was in before being renamed.




Specify COMPILE to explicitly compile the trigger, whether it is valid or invalid. Explicit recompilation eliminates the need for implicit run-time recompilation and prevents associated run-time compilation errors and performance overhead.

Oracle first recompiles objects upon which the trigger depends, if any of these objects are invalid. If Oracle recompiles the trigger successfully, then the trigger becomes valid.

During recompilation, Oracle drops all persistent compiler switch settings, retrieves them again from the session, and stores them at the end of compilation. To avoid this process, specify the REUSE SETTINGS clause.

If recompiling the trigger results in compilation errors, then Oracle returns an error and the trigger remains invalid. You can see the associated compiler error messages with the SQL*Plus command SHOW ERRORS.


Specify DEBUG to instruct the PL/SQL compiler to generate and store the code for use by the PL/SQL debugger.

See Also:

Specify REUSE SETTINGS to prevent Oracle from dropping and reacquiring compiler switch settings. With this clause, Oracle preserves the existing settings and uses them for the recompilation.

If you specify both DEBUG and REUSE SETTINGS, Oracle sets the persistently stored value of the PLSQL_COMPILER_FLAGS parameter to INTERPRETED, DEBUG. No other compiler switch values are changed.

See Also:

PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference and Oracle9i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals for more information on the interaction of the PLSQL_COMPILER_FLAGS parameter with the COMPILE clause


Disabling Triggers: Example

The sample schema hr has a trigger named update_job_history created on the employees table. The trigger is fired whenever an UPDATE statement changes an employee's job_id. The trigger inserts into the job_history table a row that contains the employee's ID, begin and end date of the last job, and the job ID and department.

When this trigger is created, Oracle enables it automatically. You can subsequently disable the trigger with the following statement:

ALTER TRIGGER update_job_history DISABLE;

When the trigger is disabled, Oracle does not fire the trigger when an UPDATE statement changes an employee's job.

Enabling Triggers: Example

After disabling the trigger, you can subsequently enable it with the following statement:

ALTER TRIGGER update_job_history ENABLE; 

After you reenable the trigger, Oracle fires the trigger whenever an employee's job changes as a result of an UPDATE statement. If an employee's job is updated while the trigger is disabled, then Oracle does not automatically fire the trigger for this employee until another transaction changes the job_id again.