Throw an error in a MySQL trigger

Question

If I have a trigger before the update on a table, how can I throw an error that prevents the update on that table?

Answer 1

Another (hack) method (if you are not on 5.5+ for some reason) that you can use:

If you have a required field, then within a trigger set the required field to an invalid value such as NULL. This will work for both INSERT and UPDATE. Do note that if NULL is a valid value for the required field (for some crazy reason) then this approach will not work.

BEGIN
    -- Force one of the following to be assigned otherwise set required field to null which will throw an error
    IF (NEW.`nullable_field_1` IS NULL AND NEW.`nullable_field_2` IS NULL) THEN
        SET NEW.`required_id_field`=NULL;
    END IF;
END

If you are on 5.5+ then you can use the signal state as described in other answers:

BEGIN
    -- Force one of the following to be assigned otherwise use signal sqlstate to throw a unique error
    IF (NEW.`nullable_field_1` IS NULL AND NEW.`nullable_field_2` IS NULL) THEN
        SIGNAL SQLSTATE '45000' set message_text='A unique identifier for nullable_field_1 OR nullable_field_2 is required!';
    END IF;
END