What Is SQL*Plus?

SQL*Plus is essentially an interactive query tool with some scripting

capabilities. You can enter a SQL statement, such as a SELECT query, and
view the results. You can execute data definition language (DDL) statements
to create tables and other objects. DBAs can use SQL*Plus to start up, shut
down, and otherwise administer a database. You can even enter and execute
PL/SQL code.

SQL*Plus is primarily a command-line application, but, despite its lack of

“flash,” it is a workhorse tool used daily by database administrators,
developers, and yes, even end users. As a DBA, it is my tool of choice for
managing the databases under my care. I use it to peek under the hood—to
explore the physical implementation of my database, and to create and
manage users, tables, and tablespaces. In my role as a developer, SQL*Plus is
the first tool that I fire up when I need to develop a query. In spite of all the
fancy, GUI-based SQL generators contained in products such as
PowerBuilder, Clear Access, and Crystal Reports, I still find it quicker and
easier to build up and test a complex query in SQL*Plus before transferring it
to whatever development tool I am using.

Uses for SQL*Plus

Originally developed simply as a way to enter queries and see results,

SQL*Plus has been enhanced with scripting and formatting capabilities and
can be used for many different purposes. The basic functionality is simple.
With SQL*Plus, you can do the following:

 Issue a SELECT query and view the results.

 Insert, update, and delete data from database tables.
 Submit PL/SQL blocks to the Oracle server for execution.
 Issue DDL statements, such as those used to create, alter, or
drop database objects (e.g., tables, indexes, and users), as well as
any other types of SQL statements that Oracle supports.
 Execute SQL*Plus script files.
 Write output to a file.
 Execute procedures and functions that are stored in a database.

While these operations may not seem significant, they are the building blocks
you can use to perform various useful functions.

Consider the ability to enter a SELECT statement and view the

results. Example 1-1 shows how to do this using SQL*Plus.

Example 1-1. Executing a query in SQL*Plus

SQL> SELECT employee_id, employee_name, employee_billing_rate

2 FROM employee;

EMPLOYEE_ID EMPLOYEE_NAME EMPLOYEE_BILLING_RATE

----------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------
101 Marusia Churai 169
102 Mykhailo Hrushevsky 135
104 Pavlo Virsky 99
105 Mykola Leontovych 121
107 Lesia Ukrainka 45
108 Pavlo Chubynsky 220
110 Ivan Mazepa 84
111 Taras Shevchenko 100
112 Igor Sikorsky 70
113 Mykhailo Verbytsky 300

Combine this capability with SQL*Plus’s formatting abilities and you can
turn these results into a credible-looking report, such as that shown
in Example 1-2, complete with page titles, page numbers, column titles, and
nicely formatted output.

Example 1-2. A SQL*Plus formatted report

Employee Listing Page 1

Billing
Emp ID Name Rate
---------- ------------------- --------
101 Marusia Churai $169.00
102 Mykhailo Hrushevsky $135.00
104 Pavlo Virsky $99.00
105 Mykola Leontovych $121.00
107 Lesia Ukrainka $45.00
108 Pavlo Chubynsky $220.00
110 Ivan Mazepa $84.00
111 Taras Shevchenko $100.00
112 Igor Sikorsky $70.00
113 Mykhailo Verbytsky $300.00

Another twist on the same theme is to format the output as a list of comma-
separated values, such as that shown in Example 1-3.

Example 1-3. Comma-separated values from SQL*Plus

101,"Marusia Churai",169
102,"Mykhailo Hrushevsky",135
104,"Pavlo Virsky",99
105,"Mykola Leontovych",121
107,"Lesia Ukrainka",45
108,"Pavlo Chubynsky",220
110,"Ivan Mazepa",84
111,"Taras Shevchenko",100
112,"Igor Sikorsky",70
113,"Mykhailo Verbytsky",300

Using the SQL*Plus SPOOL command, which you’ll read more about

in Chapter 5, you can write this output to a .csv file easily readable by most,
if not all, spreadsheet programs. In fact, if you are running Microsoft
Windows with Microsoft Office installed, simply double-clicking on
a .csv file will open that file in Microsoft Excel, where you can further
manipulate the data.

Beginning with SQL*Plus in Oracle8i Database, you can use the SET

MARKUP HTML command to generate HMTL output, such as that shown
in Example 1-4.

Example 1-4. A SQL*Plus report formatted in HTML

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=US-ASCII">
<meta name="generator" content="SQL*Plus 10.1.0">
<style type='text/css'> body {font:10pt Arial,Helvetica,
sans-serif; color:black; background:White;}
...
<tr>
<td align="right">
101
</td>
<td>
Marusia Churai
</td>
<td align="right">
$169.00
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right">
102
</td>
<td>
Mykhailo Hrushevsky
</td>
...

By writing such HTML output to a file, you can easily generate ad hoc
reports for users to view from a corporate intranet. One DBA whom I spoke
with regularly refreshes the phone list on his departmental intranet using this
mechanism. Figure 1-1 shows the output in Example 1-4 as you would see it
rendered in a browser.
Figure 1-1. A SQL*Plus-generated HTML report rendered in a browser

It’s a small leap from executing only queries to executing any other SQL
statement. In fact, SQL*Plus will let you execute any valid SQL statement
and is frequently used during database maintenance tasks. For example, you
can create a new user with the following statement:

CREATE USER sql_dude IDENTIFIED BY some_password;

Of course, it’s rare that you would issue such a simple statement, or just one
statement, when you add a new user. Usually, you also want to assign a
default tablespace and often a quota on that tablespace. You may also want to
grant the privilege needed to connect to the database. Whenever you have a
task that requires a sequence of statements to be executed, you can simplify
things by taking advantage of SQL*Plus’s scripting capabilities. The
statements in Example 1-5, when placed in a script file, allow you to add a
new user with just one command.

Example 1-5. Script to create a new database user

CREATE USER &&1 IDENTIFIED BY &&2

DEFAULT TABLESPACE users
TEMPORARY TABLESPACE temp
QUOTA &&3.M ON users;

GRANT CONNECT TO &&1;

The &&1, &&2, and &&3 in Example 1-5 are SQL*Plus user variables marking the

locations at which to insert parameters that you pass to the script. Assuming
that you give the name create_user.s ql to the file shown in Example 1-5, and
assuming that you are the DBA, you can issue the following command from
SQL*Plus whenever you need to add a user to your database:
@create_user username password quota

Example 1-6 shows how this works, by creating a user named sql_dude with a

password of yooper and a quota of 10 megabytes.

Example 1-6. Running a script to create a new database user

SQL> @ex1-5 sql_dude yooper 10

old 1: CREATE USER &&1 IDENTIFIED BY &&2
new 1: CREATE USER sql_dude IDENTIFIED BY yooper
old 4: QUOTA &&3.M ON users
new 4: QUOTA 10M ON users

User created.

old 1: GRANT CONNECT TO &&1

new 1: GRANT CONNECT TO sql_dude

Grant succeeded.

The output you see is SQL*Plus showing you the before and after version of
each line containing a SQL*Plus user variable. You will read more about user
variables and the subject of scripting in Chapter 8.

To write complicated scripts, you can take advantage of Oracle’s built-in

procedural language, PL/SQL. Example 1-7 shows a simple PL/SQL block
being executed from SQL*Plus.

Example 1-7. “Hello World” written as a PL/SQL block and executed from

SQL*Plus

SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

SQL> BEGIN
 2 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Hello World!');
3 END;
4 /
Hello World!

You’ve just seen several examples of what can be done using SQL*Plus to
generate simple text reports, perform database administration tasks, extract
data, generate HTML reports, run automated scripts, and otherwise make
your life easier. Subsequent chapters delve deeply into each of these areas
and more.

SQL*Plus’s Relation to SQL, PL/SQL, and the Oracle Database

SQL*Plus is often used in conjunction with two other products, both of

which have the letters “SQL” in their names. The first is SQL itself. Without
a doubt, the most common use of SQL*Plus is to submit SQL statements to
the database for execution. The second product is Oracle’s PL/SQL
procedural language. Table 1-1 provides a short summary of each of these

Product Description

SQL is an ANSI and ISO standard language used to

insert, delete, update, and retrieve data from relational
databases. SQL is also used to manage relational
SQL databases.

PL/SQL is a proprietary procedural language developed

by Oracle as an extension to SQL, for use in coding
business rules and other procedural logic at the database
level. Like SQL, PL/SQL executes inside the database
PL/SQL engine.

SQL*Plus SQL*Plus is an Oracle-developed tool that allows you to

Product Description

interactively enter and execute SQL commands and

PL/SQL blocks.

three products.

Table 1-1. The three SQLs: SQL, PL/SQL, and SQL*Plus

Because these three products all have “SQL” as part of their names, people
occasionally get confused about the relationships among them and about
which statements get executed where. SQL*Plus does have its own set of
commands that it recognizes and executes (for example, SET
SERVEROUTPUT ON from Example 1-7), but any SQL statements and
PL/SQL blocks are sent to the database server for execution. Figure 1-
2 illustrates this relationship.

Figure 1-2. Relationships among SQL*Plus, SQL, and PL/SQL

Think of SQL*Plus as kind of a middleman, standing between you and

Oracle and helping you to communicate with your database. You type in a
SQL query, SQL*Plus takes it and sends it to the database, the database
returns the results to SQL*Plus, and SQL*Plus displays those results in a
format you can understand.
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