The CHANGE_DUPKEY_ERROR_INDEX, IGNORE_ROW_ON_DUPKEY_INDEX, and RETRY_ON_ROW_CHANGE hints are unlike other hints in that they have a semantic effect. The general philosophy explained in "Hints" does not apply for these three hints.
The IGNORE_ROW_ON_DUPKEY_INDEX hint applies only to single-table INSERT operations. It is not supported for UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE, or multitable insert operations. IGNORE_ROW_ON_DUPKEY_INDEX causes the statement to ignore a unique key violation for a specified set of columns or for a specified index. When a unique key violation is encountered, a row-level rollback occurs and execution resumes with the next input row. If you specify this hint when inserting data with DML error logging enabled, then the unique key violation is not logged and does not cause statement termination.
The semantic effect of this hint results in error messages if specific rules are violated:
If you specify index, then the index must exist and be unique. Otherwise, the statement causes ORA-38913.
You must specify exactly one index. If you specify no index, then the statement causes ORA-38912. If you specify more than one index, then the statement causes ORA-38915.
You can specify either a CHANGE_DUPKEY_ERROR_INDEX or IGNORE_ROW_ON_DUPKEY_INDEX hint in an INSERT statement, but not both. If you specify both, then the statement causes ORA-38915.
As with all hints, a syntax error in the hint causes it to be silently ignored. The result will be that ORA-00001 will be caused, just as if no hint were used.
