SQL Server Error Msg 136 – Cannot use a CONTINUE statement outside the scope of a WHILE statement.

In this blog post, let’s learn about the error message “136 – Cannot use a CONTINUE statement outside the scope of a WHILE statement.” in Microsoft SQL Server, the reason why it appears and the solution to fix it.

SQL Server Error Message

136 – Cannot use a CONTINUE statement outside the scope of a WHILE statement.

Reason for the Error

SQL Server Error Msg 136 occurs when a CONTINUE statement is used outside the scope of a WHILE loop. This error message indicates that the CONTINUE statement can only be used within the body of a WHILE loop to skip to the next iteration of the loop.

Here is an example of how this error can occur:

DECLARE @counter INT = 0;

CONTINUE;

In this example, the code attempts to use the CONTINUE statement outside of a WHILE loop. This will result in SQL Server throwing an error message similar to the following:

Msg 136, Level 15, State 1, Line 3
Cannot use a CONTINUE statement outside the scope of a WHILE statement.

Solution

To resolve this error, ensure that the CONTINUE statement is used within the body of a WHILE loop. For example:

DECLARE @counter INT = 0;

WHILE @counter < 10
BEGIN
    SET @counter = @counter + 1;

    IF @counter = 5
    BEGIN
        CONTINUE;
    END

    PRINT @counter;
END

In this updated example, the code declares a WHILE loop and uses the CONTINUE statement within the loop to skip the iteration when the counter value is equal to 5. The error should no longer occur.