Producing Readable Output with iSQL*Plus

Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following: Produce queries that require a substitution variable

Customize the iSQL*Plus environment Produce more readable output Create and execute script files

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Substitution Variables

... salary = ? department_id = ? ... last_name = ? ...

I want to query different values.

User

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Substitution Variables

Use iSQL*Plus substitution variables to:

Temporarily store values

Single ampersand (&) Double ampersand (&&)

DEFINE command

Pass variable values between SQL statements Dynamically alter headers and footers

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the & Substitution Variable

Use a variable prefixed with an ampersand (&) to prompt the user for a value.
SELECT FROM WHERE employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id employees employee_id = &employee_num ;

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the & Substitution Variable

2
101

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Character and Date Values with Substitution Variables

Use single quotation marks for date and character values.
SELECT last_name, department_id, salary*12 FROM employees WHERE job_id = '&job_title' ;

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Specifying Column Names, Expressions, and Text

Use substitution variables to supplement the following: WHERE conditions

ORDER BY clauses Column expressions Table names Entire SELECT statements

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Specifying Column Names, Expressions, and Text

SELECT FROM WHERE ORDER BY employee_id, last_name, job_id, &column_name employees &condition &order_column ;

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Defining Substitution Variables

You can predefine variables using the iSQL*Plus DEFINE command.

DEFINE variable = value creates a user variable with the CHAR data type.

If you need to predefine a variable that includes spaces, you must enclose the value within single quotation marks when using the DEFINE command. A defined variable is available for the session

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

DEFINE and UNDEFINE Commands

A variable remains defined until you either:

Use the UNDEFINE command to clear it Exit iSQL*Plus

You can verify your changes with the DEFINE command.

DEFINE job_title = IT_PROG DEFINE job_title DEFINE JOB_TITLE = "IT_PROG" (CHAR) UNDEFINE job_title DEFINE job_title SP2-0135: symbol job_title is UNDEFINED

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the DEFINE Command with & Substitution Variable

Create the substitution variable using the DEFINE command. Use a variable prefixed with an ampersand (&) to substitute the value in the SQL statement.

DEFINE employee_num = 200

SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id FROM employees7 WHERE employee_id = &employee_num ;

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the && Substitution Variable

Use the double-ampersand (&&) if you want to reuse the variable value without prompting the user each time.
SELECT employee_id, last_name, job_id, &&column_name FROM employees ORDER BY &column_name;

7-13 Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the VERIFY Command

Use the VERIFY command to toggle the display of the substitution variable, before and after iSQL*Plus replaces substitution variables with values.
SET VERIFY ON SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id FROM employees WHERE employee_id = &employee_num;

old new

3: WHERE 3: WHERE

employee_id = &employee_num employee_id = 200

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Customizing the iSQL*Plus Environment

Use SET commands to control current session.

SET system_variable value

Verify what you have set by using the SHOW command.

SET ECHO ON SHOW ECHO echo ON

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

SET Command Variables

ARRAYSIZE FEEDBACK HEADING LONG

{20 | n} {6 | n |OFF | ON} {OFF | ON}

{80 | n}| ON | text}

SET HEADING OFF SHOW HEADING HEADING OFF

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

iSQL*Plus Format Commands COLUMN TTITLE BTITLE BREAK

[column option] [text | OFF | ON] [text | OFF | ON] [ON report_element]

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

The COLUMN Command

Controls display of a column:

COL[UMN] [{column|alias} [option]]

CLE[AR]: Clears any column formats HEA[DING] text: Sets the column heading FOR[MAT] format: Changes the display of the column using a format model NOPRINT | PRINT NULL

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the COLUMN Command

Create column headings.

COLUMN last_name HEADING 'Employee|Name' COLUMN salary JUSTIFY LEFT FORMAT $99,990.00 COLUMN manager FORMAT 999999999 NULL 'No manager'

Display the current setting for the LAST_NAME column.

COLUMN last_name

Clear settings for the LAST_NAME column.

COLUMN last_name CLEAR

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

COLUMN Format Models

Element 9

Description Single zero-suppression digit Enforces leading zero Floating dollar sign Local currency Position of decimal point Thousand separator

Example 999999

Result 1234

0 $ L . ,

099999 $9999 L9999 9999.99 9,999

001234 $1234 L1234 1234.00 1,234

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the BREAK Command

Use the BREAK command to suppress duplicates.

BREAK ON job_id

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the TTITLE and BTITLE Commands

Display headers and footers.

TTI[TLE] [text|OFF|ON]

Set the report header.

TTITLE 'Salary|Report'

Set the report footer.

BTITLE 'Confidential'

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Using the TTITLE and BTITLE Commands

Display headers and footers.

TTI[TLE] [text|OFF|ON]

Set the report header.

TTITLE 'Salary|Report'

Set the report footer.

BTITLE 'Confidential'

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Creating a Script File to Run a Report

1. Create and test the SQL SELECT statement. 2. Save the SELECT statement into a script file. 3. Load the script file into an editor. 4. Add formatting commands before the SELECT statement. 5. Verify that the termination character follows the SELECT statement.

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Creating a Script File to Run a Report

6. Clear formatting commands after the SELECT statement. 7. Save the script file. 8. Load the script file into the iSQL*Plus text window, and click the Execute button.

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Sample Report

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Sample Report

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Summary

In this lesson, you should have learned how to:

Use iSQL*Plus substitution variables to store values temporarily Use SET commands to control the current iSQL*Plus environment Use the COLUMN command to control the display of a column Use the BREAK command to suppress duplicates and divide rows into sections Use the TTITLE and BTITLE commands to display headers and footers

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

Practice 7 Overview

This practice covers the following topics:

Creating a query to display values using substitution variables Starting a command file containing variables

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.