22011
PostgreSQLERRORNotableData ExceptionHIGH confidence

substring error

What this means

SQLSTATE 22011 is raised when arguments to the SUBSTRING function are invalid — for example, a negative or zero length argument in contexts where the standard requires validation.

Why it happens
  1. 1Invalid from/for arguments to SUBSTRING that violate the SQL standard length requirements
How to reproduce

SUBSTRING with an invalid length argument.

trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
SELECT SUBSTRING('hello' FROM 2 FOR -1);

expected output

ERROR:  negative substring length not allowed

Fix

Ensure SUBSTRING arguments are non-negative

WHEN When using SUBSTRING with computed arguments.

Ensure SUBSTRING arguments are non-negative
SELECT SUBSTRING('hello' FROM 2 FOR GREATEST(len_val, 0));

Why this works

GREATEST clamps the length to 0 or above. A FOR 0 returns an empty string, which is usually safer than an error.

Sources
Official documentation ↗

Class 22 — Data Exception

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