title: Getting ORA-01036 error when using output parameter in C#
body: <p>I am having a problem with an Output parameter in C#/Oracle. I have isolated the code that I need to get working.</p>
  
  <p>This is part of a much larger SQL statement, so do not worry too much if it doesn't make sense. In short I need to copy a row, give it a new ID and return that new ID. I tried using "RETURNING" which did not work. I see no reason why the code below should not work, but I'm getting an "ORA-01036: illegal variable name/number" error. Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong?</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-cs prettyprint-override"><code>using (OracleConnection conn = new OracleConnection(connString))
  {
      // Open connection and create command.
      conn.Open();
      using (OracleCommand cmd = new OracleCommand())
      {
          cmd.Connection = conn;
          cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
          cmd.Parameters.Add("outValue", OracleType.Int32).Direction = ParameterDirection.Output;
          cmd.CommandText = "SELECT seq.nextval INTO :outValue FROM dual";
           try
           {
               cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
           }
           catch (Exception e)
           {
               // This is just to see the exception when it fails.
           }
       }
   }
  </code></pre>