insert into returns 0 rows

Hi,
when a SELECT in an INSERT INTO statement returns no rows, NO_DATA_FOUND exception is raised. How do I write a "nice" SELECT INTO when I expect that 0 or 1 row gets returned, and the variable should be NULL if no rows are returned.
By "nice" I mean that my intention is clear from the source code and no exception-catching is involved, since that would suggest that I'm handling such a condition that shouldn't occur.
Therefore the following two techniques are not satisfying:

SELECT MIN(thefield) INTO myvar ... -- (not clear what is intended)

BEGIN --exception handling where no real exceptional condition occurs SELECT thefield INTO myvar...
EXCEPTION WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
myvar := NULL
END; Received on Wed Oct 27 2004 - 08:17:33 CDT