Missing Select Keyword SQL

Question

PROMPT ' Data entry for the Publishers ' 

ACCEPT v_pub_id    varchar2(30)   FORMAT 'A10'         PROMPT 'Enter Publisher ID: '
ACCEPT v_pub_name  char   FORMAT 'A80'         PROMPT 'Enter Publisher Name: '
ACCEPT v_pubdate   date   FORMAT 'dd/mm/yyyy'  PROMPT 'Enter the pulication date(dd/mm/yyyy):' 

INSERT INTO PUBLISHERS
('&v_pub_id','&v_pub_name','&v_pubdate');

I not sure what is missing in the statement.

Answer 1

You are missing the values keyword before the list of values:

INSERT INTO PUBLISHERS
VALUES ('&v_pub_id', '&v_pub_name', '&v_pubdate');

Answer 2

Although your specific syntax error is the missing VALUES keyword, you should always include the list of columns in an INSERT:

INSERT INTO PUBLISHERS(pub_id, pub_name, pubdate)
    VALUES ('&v_pub_id','&v_pub_name','&v_pubdate');

If the table format changes, then the statement will start generating errors. Furthermore, it will not be clear to another person (or to you in two weeks), what variables are being assigned to which columns. Be explicit and avoid future errors.