SET System Variable Summary

An asterisk (*) indicates the SET option is not available in iSQL*Plus.

SET APPI[NFO]{ON | OFF | text}

Sets automatic registering of scripts through the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package.

This enables the performance and resource usage of each script to be monitored by your DBA. The registered name appears in the MODULE column of the V$SESSION and V$SQLAREA virtual tables. You can also read the registered name using the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO.READ_MODULE procedure.

ON registers scripts invoked by the @, @@ or START commands. OFF disables registering of scripts. Instead, the current value of text is registered. text specifies the text to register when no script is being run or when APPINFO is OFF, which is the default. The default for text is "SQL*Plus". If you enter multiple words for text, you must enclose them in quotes. The maximum length for text is limited by the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package.

The registered name has the format nn@xfilename where: nn is the depth level of script; x is '<' when the script name is truncated, otherwise, it is blank; and filename is the script name, possibly truncated to the length allowed by the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package interface.

For more information on the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package, see the Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide.

Example

To display the value of APPINFO, as it is SET OFF by default, enter

SET APPINFO ON
SHOW APPINFO

APPINFO is ON and set to "SQL*Plus"

To change the default text, enter

SET APPINFO 'This is SQL*Plus'

To make sure that registration has taken place, enter

VARIABLE MOD VARCHAR2(50)
VARIABLE ACT VARCHAR2(40)
EXECUTE DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO.READ_MODULE(:MOD, :ACT);

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

PRINT MOD

MOD
---------------------------------------------------
This is SQL*Plus

To change APPINFO back to its default setting, enter

SET APPINFO OFF

SET ARRAY[SIZE] {15 | n}

Sets the number of rows that SQL*Plus will fetch from the database at one time.

Valid values are 1 to 5000. A large value increases the efficiency of queries and subqueries that fetch many rows, but requires more memory. Values over approximately 100 provide little added performance. ARRAYSIZE has no effect on the results of SQL*Plus operations other than increasing efficiency.

SET AUTO[COMMIT]{ON | OFF | IMM[EDIATE] | n}

Controls when Oracle Database commits pending changes to the database after SQL or PL/SQL commands.

ON commits pending changes to the database after Oracle Database executes each successful INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE, or PL/SQL block. OFF suppresses automatic committing so that you must commit changes manually (for example, with the SQL command COMMIT). IMMEDIATE functions in the same manner as ON. n commits pending changes to the database after Oracle Database executes n successful SQL INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE commands, or PL/SQL blocks. n cannot be less than zero or greater than 2,000,000,000. The statement counter is reset to zero after successful completion of n INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE commands or PL/SQL blocks, a commit, a rollback, or a SET AUTOCOMMIT command.

SET AUTOCOMMIT does not alter the commit behavior when SQL*Plus exits. Any uncommitted data is committed by default.

SET AUTOP[RINT] {ON | OFF}

Sets the automatic printing of bind variables.

ON or OFF controls whether SQL*Plus automatically displays bind variables (referenced in a successful PL/SQL block or used in an EXECUTE command).

See PRINT for more information about displaying bind variables.

SET AUTORECOVERY [ON | OFF]

ON sets the RECOVER command to automatically apply the default filenames of archived redo log files needed during recovery.

No interaction is needed, provided the necessary files are in the expected locations with the expected names. The filenames used are derived from the values of the initialization parameters LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST and LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT.

OFF, the default option, requires that you enter the filenames manually or accept the suggested default filename given. See RECOVER for more information about database recovery.

You must set AUTORECOVERY to ON to use the RECOVER command in iSQL*Plus.

Example

To set the recovery mode to AUTOMATIC, enter

SET AUTORECOVERY ON
RECOVER DATABASE

SET AUTOT[RACE] {ON | OFF | TRACE[ONLY]} [EXP[LAIN]] [STAT[ISTICS]]

Displays a report on the execution of successful SQL DML statements (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE).

The report can include execution statistics and the query execution path.

OFF does not display a trace report. ON displays a trace report. TRACEONLY displays a trace report, but does not print query data, if any. EXPLAIN shows the query execution path by performing an EXPLAIN PLAN. STATISTICS displays SQL statement statistics. Information about EXPLAIN PLAN is documented in the Oracle Database SQL Reference.

Using ON or TRACEONLY with no explicit options defaults to EXPLAIN STATISTICS.

The TRACEONLY option may be useful to suppress the query data of large queries. If STATISTICS is specified, SQL*Plus still fetches the query data from the server, however, the data is not displayed.

The AUTOTRACE report is printed after the statement has successfully completed.

Information about Execution Plans and the statistics is documented in the Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide.

When SQL*Plus produces a STATISTICS report, a second connection to the database is automatically created. This connection is closed when the STATISTICS option is set to OFF, or you log out of SQL*Plus.

The formatting of your AUTOTRACE report may vary depending on the version of the server to which you are connected and the configuration of the server. The additional information and tabular output of AUTOTRACE PLAN is supported when connecting to Oracle Database 10g (Release 10.1) or later. When you connect to an earlier database, the older form or AUTOTRACE reporting is used.

AUTOTRACE is not available when FIPS flagging is enabled.

AUTOTRACE PLAN does not use glogin.sql column definitions to display output.

See Tracing Statements for more information on AUTOTRACE.

SET BLO[CKTERMINATOR] {. | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the character used to end PL/SQL blocks to c.

It cannot be an alphanumeric character or a whitespace. To execute the block, you must issue a RUN or / (slash) command.

OFF means that SQL*Plus recognizes no PL/SQL block terminator. ON changes the value of c back to the default period (.), not the most recently used character.

SET CMDS[EP] {; | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the non-alphanumeric character used to separate multiple SQL*Plus commands entered on one line to c.

ON or OFF controls whether you can enter multiple commands on a line. ON automatically sets the command separator character to a semicolon (;).

Example

To specify a title with TTITLE and format a column with COLUMN, both on the same line, enter

SET CMDSEP +
TTITLE LEFT 'SALARIES' + COLUMN SALARY FORMAT $99,999
SELECT LAST_NAME, SALARY FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE JOB_ID = 'SH_CLERK';

SALARIES
LAST_NAME                   SALARY
------------------------- --------
Taylor                      $3,200
Fleaur                      $3,100
Sullivan                    $2,500
Geoni                       $2,800
Sarchand                    $4,200
Bull                        $4,100
Dellinger                   $3,400
Cabrio                      $3,000
Chung                       $3,800
Dilly                       $3,600
Gates                       $2,900
Perkins                     $2,500
Bell                        $4,000
Everett                     $3,900
McCain                      $3,200
Jones                       $2,800

SALARIES
LAST_NAME                   SALARY
------------------------- --------
Walsh                       $3,100
Feeney                      $3,000
OConnell                    $2,600
Grant                       $2,600

20 rows selected.

SET COLSEP { | text}

Sets the column separator character printed between columns in output.

If the COLSEP variable contains blanks or punctuation characters, you must enclose it with single quotes. The default value for text is a single space.

In multi-line rows, the column separator does not print between columns that begin on different lines. The column separator does not appear on blank lines produced by BREAK ... SKIP n and does not overwrite the record separator. See SET RECSEP {WR[APPED] | EA[CH] | OFF} for more information.

The Column Separator (SET COLSEP) is only used in iSQL*Plus when Preformatted Output is ON (SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT).

Example

To set the column separator to "|" enter

SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT ON
SET COLSEP '|'
SELECT LAST_NAME, JOB_ID, DEPARTMENT_ID
FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE DEPARTMENT_ID = 20;

LAST_NAME                |JOB_ID    |DEPARTMENT_ID
-------------------------|----------|-------------
Hartstein                |MK_MAN    |           20
Fay                      |MK_REP    |           20

SET CON[CAT] {. | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the character used to terminate a substitution variable reference when SQL*Plus would otherwise interpret the next character as a part of the variable name.

SQL*Plus resets the value of CONCAT to a period when you switch CONCAT on.

SET COPYC[OMMIT] {0 | n}

Controls the number of rows after which the COPY command commits changes to the database.

COPY commits rows to the destination database each time it copies n row batches. Valid values are zero to 5000. You can set the size of a batch with the ARRAYSIZE variable. If you set COPYCOMMIT to zero, COPY performs a commit only at the end of a copy operation.

SET COPYTYPECHECK {ON | OFF}

Sets the suppression of the comparison of datatypes while inserting or appending to tables with the COPY command.

This is to facilitate copying to DB2, which requires that a CHAR be copied to a DB2 DATE.

SET DEF[INE] {& | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the character used to prefix substitution variables to c.

ON or OFF controls whether SQL*Plus will scan commands for substitution variables and replace them with their values. ON changes the value of c back to the default '&', not the most recently used character. The setting of DEFINE to OFF overrides the setting of the SCAN variable.

See SET SCAN {ON|OFF}(obsolete) for more information on the SCAN variable.

SET DESCRIBE [DEPTH {1 | n | ALL}] [LINENUM {ON | OFF}] [INDENT {ON | OFF}]

Sets the depth of the level to which you can recursively describe an object.

The valid range of the DEPTH clause is from 1 to 50. If you SET DESCRIBE DEPTH ALL, then the depth will be set to 50, which is the maximum level allowed. You can also display the line number and indentation of the attribute or column name when an object contains multiple object types. Use the SET LINESIZE command to control the width of the data displayed.

See DESCRIBE for more information about describing objects.

Example

To create an object type ADDRESS, enter

CREATE TYPE ADDRESS AS OBJECT
  ( STREET  VARCHAR2(20),
    CITY    VARCHAR2(20)
  );
/

Type created

To create the table EMPLOYEE that contains a nested object, EMPADDR, of type ADDRESS, enter

CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE
  (LAST_NAME VARCHAR2(30),
   EMPADDR ADDRESS,
   JOB_ID VARCHAR2(20),
   SALARY NUMBER(7,2)
  );
/

Table created

To describe the table EMPLOYEE to a depth of two levels, and to indent the output and display line numbers, enter:

SET DESCRIBE DEPTH 2 LINENUM ON INDENT ON
DESCRIBE employee

Name                            Null?    Type
       ------------------------------- -------- --------------------------
1      LAST_NAME                                VARCHAR2(30)
2      EMPADDR                                  ADDRESS
3    2   STREET                                 VARCHAR2(20)
4    2   CITY                                   VARCHAR2(20)
5      JOB_ID                                   VARCHAR2(20)
6      SALARY                                   NUMBER(7,2)

SET ECHO {ON | OFF}

Controls whether or not to echo commands in a script that is executed with @, @@ or START. ON displays the commands on screen. OFF suppresses the display. ECHO does not affect the display of commands you enter interactively or redirect to SQL*Plus from the operating system.

SET EDITF[ILE] file_name[.ext]

SET EDITFILE is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the default filename for the EDIT command. See EDIT for more information about the EDIT command. The default filename for the EDIT command is afiedt.buf which is the SQL buffer. The buffer has no command history list and does not record SQL*Plus commands.

You can include a path and/or file extension. See SET SUF[FIX] {SQL | text} for information on changing the default extension. The default filename and maximum filename length are operating system specific.

SET EMB[EDDED] {ON | OFF}

Controls where on a page each report begins.

OFF forces each report to start at the top of a new page. ON enables a report to begin anywhere on a page. Set EMBEDDED to ON when you want a report to begin printing immediately following the end of the previously run report.

SET ESC[APE] {\ | c | ON | OFF}

Defines the character used as the escape character.

OFF undefines the escape character. ON enables the escape character. ON changes the value of c back to the default "\".

You can use the escape character before the substitution character (set through SET DEFINE) to indicate that SQL*Plus should treat the substitution character as an ordinary character rather than as a request for variable substitution.

Example

If you define the escape character as an exclamation point (!), then

SET ESCAPE !
ACCEPT v1 PROMPT 'Enter !&1:'

displays this prompt:

Enter &1:

To set the escape character back to the default value of \ (backslash), enter

SET ESCAPE ON

SET FEED[BACK] {6 | n | ON | OFF}

Displays the number of records returned by a script when a script selects at least n records.

ON or OFF turns this display on or off. Turning feedback ON sets n to 1. Setting feedback to zero is equivalent to turning it OFF.

SET FEEDBACK OFF also turns off the statement confirmation messages such as 'Table created' and 'PL/SQL procedure successfully completed' that are displayed after successful SQL or PL/SQL statements.

SET FLAGGER {OFF | ENTRY | INTERMED[IATE] | FULL}

Checks to make sure that SQL statements conform to the ANSI/ISO SQL92 standard.

If any non-standard constructs are found, the Oracle Database Server flags them as errors and displays the violating syntax. This is the equivalent of the SQL language ALTER SESSION SET FLAGGER command.

You may execute SET FLAGGER even if you are not connected to a database. FIPS flagging will remain in effect across SQL*Plus sessions until a SET FLAGGER OFF (or ALTER SESSION SET FLAGGER = OFF) command is successful or you exit SQL*Plus.

When FIPS flagging is enabled, SQL*Plus displays a warning for the CONNECT, DISCONNECT, and ALTER SESSION SET FLAGGER commands, even if they are successful.

SET FLU[SH] {ON | OFF}

SET FLUSH is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Controls when output is sent to the user's display device. OFF enables the operating system to buffer output. ON disables buffering. FLUSH only affects display output, it does not affect spooled output.

Use OFF only when you run a script non-interactively (that is, when you do not need to see output and/or prompts until the script finishes running). The use of FLUSH OFF may improve performance by reducing the amount of program I/O.

SET HEA[DING] {ON | OFF}

Controls printing of column headings in reports.

ON prints column headings in reports; OFF suppresses column headings.

The SET HEADING OFF command does not affect the column width displayed, it only suppresses the printing of the column header itself.

Example

To suppress the display of column headings in a report, enter

SET HEADING OFF

If you then run a SQL SELECT command

SELECT LAST_NAME, SALARY
FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE JOB_ID = 'AC_MGR';

the following output results:

Higgins 12000

To turn the display of column headings back on, enter

SET HEADING ON

SET HEADS[EP] { | | c | ON | OFF}

Defines the character used as a line break in column headings.

The heading separator character cannot be alphanumeric or white space. You can use the heading separator character in the COLUMN command and in the old forms of BTITLE and TTITLE to divide a column heading or title onto more than one line. ON or OFF turns heading separation on or off. When heading separation is OFF, SQL*Plus prints a heading separator character like any other character. ON changes the value of c back to the default "|".

The Heading Separator character (SET HEADSEP) is only supported in iSQL*Plus when the Preformatted Output preference is ON (SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT).

SET INSTANCE [instance_path | LOCAL]

Changes the default instance for your session to the specified instance path.

Using the SET INSTANCE command does not connect to a database. The default instance is used for commands when no instance is specified. Any commands preceding the first use of SET INSTANCE communicate with the default instance.

To reset the instance to the default value for your operating system, you can either enter SET INSTANCE with no instance_path or SET INSTANCE LOCAL.

Note, you can only change the instance when you are not currently connected to any instance. That is, you must first make sure that you have disconnected from the current instance, then set or change the instance, and reconnect to an instance in order for the new setting to be enabled.

This command may only be issued when Oracle Net is running. You can use any valid Oracle Net connect identifier as the specified instance path. See your operating system-specific Oracle Database documentation for a complete description of how your operating system specifies Oracle Net connect identifiers. The maximum length of the instance path is 64 characters.

Example

To set the default instance to "PROD1" enter

DISCONNECT
SET INSTANCE PROD1

To set the instance back to the default of local, enter

SET INSTANCE local

You must disconnect from any connected instances to change the instance.

SET LIN[ESIZE] {80 | n} SET LIN[ESIZE] {150 | n} in iSQL*Plus

Sets the total number of characters that SQL*Plus displays on one line before beginning a new line.

It also controls the position of centered and right-aligned text in TTITLE, BTITLE, REPHEADER and REPFOOTER. Changing the linesize setting can affect text wrapping in output from the DESCRIBE command. DESCRIBE output columns are typically allocated a proportion of the linesize. Decreasing or increasing the linesize may give unexpected text wrapping in your display. You can define LINESIZE as a value from 1 to a maximum that is system dependent.

SET LOBOF[FSET] {1 | n}

Sets the starting position from which CLOB and NCLOB data is retrieved and displayed.

Example

To set the starting position from which a CLOB column's data is retrieved to the 22nd position, enter

SET LOBOFFSET 22

The CLOB data will wrap on your screen; SQL*Plus will not truncate until the 23rd character.

SET LOGSOURCE [pathname]

Specifies the location from which archive logs are retrieved during recovery.

The default value is set by the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST initialization parameter in the Oracle Database initialization file, init.ora. Using the SET LOGSOURCE command without a pathname restores the default location.

Example

To set the default location of log files for recovery to the directory "/usr/oracle10/dbs/arch" enter

SET LOGSOURCE "/usr/oracle10/dbs/arch"
RECOVER DATABASE

SET LONG {80 | n}

Sets maximum width (in bytes) for displaying CLOB, LONG, NCLOB and XMLType values; and for copying LONG values.

Querying LONG columns requires enough local memory to store the amount of data specified by SET LONG, irrespective of the value of the SET LONGCHUNKSIZE command. This requirement does not apply when querying LOBs.

It is recommended that you do not create tables with LONG columns. LONG columns are supported only for backward compatibility. Use LOB columns (CLOB, NCLOB) instead. LOB columns have fewer restrictions than LONG columns and are still being enhanced.

The maximum value of n is 2,000,000,000 bytes.

Example

To set the maximum number of bytes to fetch for displaying and copying LONG values, to 500, enter

SET LONG 500

The LONG data will wrap on your screen; SQL*Plus will not truncate until the 501st byte. The default for LONG is 80 bytes.

SET LONGC[HUNKSIZE] {80 | n}

Sets the size (in bytes) of the increments SQL*Plus uses to retrieve a CLOB, LONG, NCLOB or XMLType value.

LONGCHUNKSIZE is not used for object relational queries such as CLOB, or NCLOB.

Example

To set the size of the increments in which SQL*Plus retrieves LONG values to 100 bytes, enter

SET LONGCHUNKSIZE 100

The LONG data will be retrieved in increments of 100 bytes until the entire value is retrieved or the value of SET LONG is reached, whichever is the smaller.

SET MARK[UP] HTML [ON | OFF] [HEAD text] [BODY text] [TABLE text] [ENTMAP {ON | OFF}] [SPOOL {ON | OFF}] [PRE[FORMAT] {ON | OFF}]

Outputs HTML marked up text, which is the output used by iSQL*Plus.

Beware of using options which generate invalid HTML output in iSQL*Plus as it may corrupt the browser screen. The HEAD and BODY options may be useful for dynamic reports and for reports saved to local files.

To be effective, SET MARKUP commands that change values in dynamic report output must occur before statements that produce query output. The first statement that produces query output triggers the output of information affected by SET MARKUP such as HEAD and TABLE settings. Subsequent SET MARKUP commands have no effect on the information already sent to the report.

SET MARKUP only specifies that SQL*Plus output will be HTML encoded. You must use SET MARKUP HTML ON SPOOL ON and the SQL*Plus SPOOL command to create and name a spool file, and to begin writing HMTL output to it. SET MARKUP has the same options and behavior as SQLPLUS -MARKUP.

See MARKUP Options for detailed information. For examples of usage, see SET MARK[UP] HTML [ON | OFF] [HEAD text] [BODY text] [TABLE text] [ENTMAP {ON | OFF}] [SPOOL {ON | OFF}] [PRE[FORMAT] {ON | OFF}], and Generating HTML Reports from SQL*Plus.

Use the SHOW MARKUP command to view the status of MARKUP options.

Example

The following is a script which uses the SET MARKUP HTML command to enable HTML marked up text to be spooled to a specified file:

Use your favorite text editor to enter the commands necessary to set up the HTML options and the query you want for your report.

SET MARKUP HTML ON SPOOL ON HEAD "<TITLE>SQL*Plus Report</title> -
<STYLE TYPE='TEXT/CSS'><!--BODY {background: ffffc6} --></STYLE>"
SET ECHO OFF
SPOOL employee.htm
SELECT FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, SALARY
FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE SALARY>12000;
SPOOL OFF
SET MARKUP HTML OFF
SET ECHO ON

As this script contains SQL*Plus commands, do not attempt to run it with / (slash) from the buffer because it will fail. Save the script in your text editor and use START to execute it:

START employee.sql

As well as writing the HTML spool file, employee.htm, the output is also displayed on screen because SET TERMOUT defaults to ON. You can view the spool file, employee.htm, in your web browser. It should appear something like the following:

SET NEWP[AGE] {1 | n | NONE}

Sets the number of blank lines to be printed from the top of each page to the top title. A value of zero places a formfeed at the beginning of each page (including the first page) and clears the screen on most terminals. If you set NEWPAGE to NONE, SQL*Plus does not print a blank line or formfeed between the report pages.

SET NULL text

Sets the text displayed whenever a null value occurs in the result of a SQL SELECT command.

Use the NULL clause of the COLUMN command to override the setting of the NULL variable for a given column. The default output for a null is blank ("").

SET NUMF[ORMAT] format

Sets the default format for displaying numbers. See the FORMAT clause of the COLUMN command for number format descriptions. Enter a number format for format. To use the default field width and formatting model specified by SET NUMWIDTH, enter

SET NUMFORMAT "" 

SET NUM[WIDTH] {10 | n}

Sets the default width for displaying numbers. See the FORMAT clause of the COLUMN command for number format descriptions.

COLUMN FORMAT settings take precedence over SET NUMFORMAT settings, which take precedence over SET NUMWIDTH settings.

SET PAGES[IZE] {14 | n}

Sets the number of rows on each page of output in iSQL*Plus, and the number of lines on each page of output in command-line and Windows GUI. You can set PAGESIZE to zero to suppress all headings, page breaks, titles, the initial blank line, and other formatting information.

In iSQL*Plus, sets the number of rows displayed on each page. Error and informational messages are not counted in the page size, so pages may not always be exactly the same length. The default pagesize for iSQL*Plus is 24.

SET PAU[SE] {ON | OFF | text}

Enables you to control scrolling of your terminal when running reports. You need to first, SET PAUSE text, and then SET PAUSE ON if you want text to appear each time SQL*Plus pauses.

In command-line and Windows GUI, SET PAUSE ON pauses output at the beginning of each PAGESIZE number of lines of report output. Press Return to view more output. SET PAUSE text specifies the text to be displayed each time SQL*Plus pauses. Multiple words in text must be enclosed in single quotes.

You can embed terminal-dependent escape sequences in the PAUSE command. These sequences allow you to create inverse video messages or other effects on terminals that support such characteristics.

In iSQL*Plus, SET PAUSE ON displays the value of text, then pauses output and displays a Next Page button after PAGESIZE number of rows of report output. Click the Next Page button to view more report output. The Next Page button is not displayed on the final page of output.

SET RECSEP {WR[APPED] | EA[CH] | OFF}

RECSEP tells SQL*Plus where to make the record separation.

For example, if you set RECSEP to WRAPPED, SQL*Plus prints a record separator only after wrapped lines. If you set RECSEP to EACH, SQL*Plus prints a record separator following every row. If you set RECSEP to OFF, SQL*Plus does not print a record separator.

The Display Record Separator preference (SET RECSEP) is only supported in iSQL*Plus when Preformatted Output is On (SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT).

SET RECSEPCHAR { | c}

Defines the character to display or print to separate records.

A record separator consists of a single line of the RECSEPCHAR (record separating character) repeated LINESIZE times. The default is a single space.

SET SERVEROUT[PUT] {ON | OFF} [SIZE {n | UNL[IMITED]}] [FOR[MAT] {WRA[PPED] | WOR[D_WRAPPED] | TRU[NCATED]}]

Controls whether to display output (that is, DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE) of stored procedures or PL/SQL blocks in SQL*Plus. The DBMS_OUTPUT line length limit is 32767 bytes.

OFF suppresses the output of DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE. ON displays the output.

ON uses the SIZE and FORMAT of the previous SET SERVEROUTPUT ON SIZE n FORMAT f, or uses default values if no SET SERVEROUTPUT command was previously issued in the current connection.

SIZE sets the number of bytes of the output that can be buffered within the Oracle Database server. The default is UNLIMITED. n cannot be less than 2000 or greater than 1,000,000. In iSQL*Plus you can enter the word UNLIMITED in the Size field of the Script Formatting Preferences screen.

Resources are not pre-allocated when SERVEROUTPUT is set. As there is no performance penalty, use UNLIMITED unless you want to conserve physical memory.

Every server output line begins on a new output line.

When WRAPPED is enabled SQL*Plus wraps the server output within the line size specified by SET LINESIZE, beginning new lines when required.

When WORD_WRAPPED is enabled, each line of server output is wrapped within the line size specified by SET LINESIZE. Lines are broken on word boundaries. SQL*Plus left justifies each line, skipping all leading whitespace.

When TRUNCATED is enabled, each line of server output is truncated to the line size specified by SET LINESIZE.

For detailed information about using UTL_FILE and associated utilities, see the Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference .

For more information on DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE, see your Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals.

Example

To enable text display in a PL/SQL block using DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE, enter

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

The following example shows what happens when you execute an anonymous procedure with SET SERVEROUTPUT ON:

BEGIN
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Task is complete');
END;
/

Task is complete.
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

The following example shows what happens when you create a trigger with SET SERVEROUTPUT ON:

CREATE TABLE SERVER_TAB (Letter CHAR);
CREATE TRIGGER SERVER_TRIG BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE -
OR DELETE
ON SERVER_TAB
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Task is complete.');
END;
/

Trigger Created.

INSERT INTO SERVER_TAB VALUES ('M');
DROP TABLE SERVER_TAB; 
/* Remove SERVER_TAB from database */

Task is complete.
1 row created.

To set the output to WORD_WRAPPED, enter

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON FORMAT WORD_WRAPPED
SET LINESIZE 20
BEGIN
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('If there is nothing left to do');
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('shall we continue with plan B?');
END;
/

If there is nothing
left to do
shall we continue
with plan B?

To set the output to TRUNCATED, enter

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON FORMAT TRUNCATED
SET LINESIZE 20
BEGIN
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('If there is nothing left to do');
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('shall we continue with plan B?');
END;
/

If there is nothing
shall we continue wi

SET SHIFT[INOUT] {VIS[IBLE] | INV[ISIBLE]}

SET SHIFTINOUT is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Enables correct alignment for terminals that display shift characters. The SET SHIFTINOUT command is useful for terminals which display shift characters together with data (for example, IBM 3270 terminals). You can only use this command with shift sensitive character sets (for example, JA16DBCS).

Use VISIBLE for terminals that display shift characters as a visible character (for example, a space or a colon). INVISIBLE is the opposite and does not display any shift characters.

Example

To enable the display of shift characters on a terminal that supports them, enter

SET SHIFTINOUT VISIBLE
SELECT LAST_NAME, JOB_ID FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE SALARY > 12000;

LAST_NAME      JOB_ID
---------- ----------
:JJOO:       :AABBCC:
:AA:abc       :DDEE:e

where ":" = visible shift character uppercase represents multibyte characters

lowercase represents singlebyte characters

SET SHOW[MODE] {ON | OFF}

SET SHOWMODE is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Controls whether SQL*Plus lists the old and new settings of a SQL*Plus system variable when you change the setting with SET. ON lists the settings; OFF suppresses the listing. SHOWMODE ON has the same behavior as the obsolete SHOWMODE BOTH.

SET SQLBL[ANKLINES] {ON | OFF}

SET SQLBLANKLINES is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Controls whether SQL*Plus puts blank lines within a SQL command or script. ON interprets blank lines and new lines as part of a SQL command or script. OFF, the default value, does not allow blank lines or new lines in a SQL command or script or script.

Enter the BLOCKTERMINATOR to stop SQL command entry without running the SQL command. Enter the SQLTERMINATOR character to stop SQL command entry and run the SQL statement.

Example

To allow blank lines in a SQL statement, enter

SET SQLBLANKLINES ON
REM Using the SQLTERMINATOR (default is ";") 
REM Could have used the BLOCKTERMINATOR (default is ".")
SELECT *

FROM

DUAL

;

The following output results:

D
-
X

SET SQLC[ASE] {MIX[ED] | LO[WER] | UP[PER]}

Converts the case of SQL commands and PL/SQL blocks just prior to execution.

SQL*Plus converts all text within the command, including quoted literals and identifiers, to uppercase if SQLCASE equals UPPER, to lowercase if SQLCASE equals LOWER, and makes no changes if SQLCASE equals MIXED.

SQLCASE does not change the SQL buffer itself.

SET SQLCO[NTINUE] {> | text}

SET SQLCONTINUE is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the character sequence SQL*Plus displays as a prompt after you continue a SQL*Plus command on an additional line using a hyphen (–).

Example

To set the SQL*Plus command continuation prompt to an exclamation point followed by a space, enter

SET SQLCONTINUE '! '

SQL*Plus will prompt for continuation as follows:

TTITLE 'MONTHLY INCOME' -
! RIGHT SQL.PNO SKIP 2 -
! CENTER 'PC DIVISION'

The default continuation prompt is "> ".

SET SQLN[UMBER] {ON | OFF}

SET SQLNUMBER is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the prompt for the second and subsequent lines of a SQL command or PL/SQL block. ON sets the prompt to be the line number. OFF sets the prompt to the value of SQLPROMPT.

SET SQLPLUSCOMPAT[IBILITY] {x.y[.z]}

Sets the behavior to that of the release or version specified by x.y[.z].

Where x is the version number, y is the release number, and z is the update number. For example, 8.1.7, 9.0.1 or 10.2. The features affected by SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY are tabulated in the SQL*Plus Compatibility Matrix shown. You can also set the value of SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY using the -C[OMPATIBILITY] argument of the SQLPLUS command when starting SQL*Plus from the command line.

The default setting for SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY is the value of the SQL*Plus client.

It is recommended that you add SET SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY 10.2.0 to your scripts to maximize their compatibility with future versions of SQL*Plus.

SQL*Plus Compatibility Matrix

The SQL*Plus Compatibility Matrix tabulates behavior affected by each SQL*Plus compatibility setting. SQL*Plus compatibility modes can be set in three ways:

• You can include a SET SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY command in your site or user profile. On installation, there is no SET SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY setting in glogin.sql. Therefore the default compatibility is 10.2.

• You can use the SQLPLUS -C[OMPATIBILITY] {x.y[.z]} command argument at startup to set the compatibility mode of that session.

• You can use the SET SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY {x.y[.z]} command during a session to set the SQL*Plus behavior you want for that session.

The following table shows the release of SQL*Plus which introduced the behavior change, and hence the minimum value of SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY to obtain that behavior. For example, to obtain the earlier behavior of the VARIABLE command, you must either use a version of SQL*Plus earlier than 9.0.1, or you must use a SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY value of less than 9.0.1. The lowest value that can be set for SQLPLUSCOMPATIBILITY is 7.3.4

SET SQLPRE[FIX] {# | c}

SET SQLPREFIX is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the SQL*Plus prefix character. While you are entering a SQL command or PL/SQL block, you can enter a SQL*Plus command on a separate line, prefixed by the SQL*Plus prefix character. SQL*Plus will execute the command immediately without affecting the SQL command or PL/SQL block that you are entering. The prefix character must be a non-alphanumeric character.

SET SQLP[ROMPT] {SQL> | text}

SET SQLPROMPT is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the SQL*Plus command prompt. SET SQLPROMPT substitute variables dynamically. This enables the inclusion of runtime variables such as the current connection identifier. Substitution variables used in SQLPROMPT do not have to be prefixed with '&', and they can be used and accessed like any other substitution variable. Variable substitution is not attempted for the default prompt, "SQL> ".

Variable substitution occurs each time SQLPROMPT is SET. If SQLPROMPT is included in glogin.sql, then substitution variables in SQLPROMPT are refreshed with each login or connect.

Example

To change your SQL*Plus prompt to display your connection identifier, enter:

SET SQLPROMPT "_CONNECT_IDENTIFIER > "

To set the SQL*Plus command prompt to show the current user, enter

SET SQLPROMPT "_USER > "

To change your SQL*Plus prompt to display your the current date, the current user and the users privilege level, enter:

SET SQLPROMPT "_DATE _USER _PRIVILEGE> "

To change your SQL*Plus prompt to display a variable you have defined, enter:

DEFINE mycon = Prod1
SET SQLPROMPT "mycon> "

Prod1> 

Text in nested quotes is not parsed for substitution. To have a SQL*Plus prompt of your username, followed by "@", and then your connection identifier, enter:

SET SQLPROMPT "_USER'@'_CONNECT_IDENTIFIER > "

SET SQLT[ERMINATOR] {; | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the character used to end script or data entry for PL/SQL blocks or SQL statements, to execute the script, and to load it into the buffer.

It cannot be an alphanumeric character or a whitespace. OFF means that SQL*Plus recognizes no command terminator; you terminate a SQL command by entering an empty line or a slash (/). If SQLBLANKLINES is set ON, you must use the BLOCKTERMINATOR to terminate a SQL command. ON resets the terminator to the default semicolon (;).

SET SUF[FIX] {SQL | text}

SET SUFFIX is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Sets the default file extension that SQL*Plus uses in commands that refer to scripts. SUFFIX does not control extensions for spool files.

Example

To change the default command-file extension from the default, .SQL to .TXT, enter

SET SUFFIX TXT

If you then enter

GET EXAMPLE

SQL*Plus will look for a file named EXAMPLE.TXT instead of EXAMPLE.SQL.

SET TAB {ON | OFF}

SET TAB is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Determines how SQL*Plus formats white space in terminal output. OFF uses spaces to format white space in the output. ON uses the TAB character. TAB settings are every eight characters. The default value for TAB is system dependent.

SET TERM[OUT] {ON | OFF}

SET TERMOUT is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Controls the display of output generated by commands in a script that is executed with @, @@ or START. OFF suppresses the display so that you can spool output to a file without displaying the output on screen. ON displays the output on screen. TERMOUT OFF does not affect output from commands you enter interactively or redirect to SQL*Plus from the operating system.

SET TI[ME] {ON | OFF}

SET TIME is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Controls the display of the current time. ON displays the current time before each command prompt. OFF suppresses the time display.

SET TIMI[NG] {ON | OFF}

Controls the display of timing statistics.

ON displays timing statistics on each SQL command or PL/SQL block run. OFF suppresses timing of each command.

See TIMING for information on timing multiple commands.

SET TRIM[OUT] {ON | OFF}

SET TRIMOUT is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Determines whether SQL*Plus puts trailing blanks at the end of each displayed line. ON removes blanks at the end of each line, improving performance especially when you access SQL*Plus from a slow communications device. OFF enables SQL*Plus to display trailing blanks. TRIMOUT ON does not affect spooled output.

SET TRIMS[POOL] {ON | OFF}

SET TRIMSPOOL is not supported in iSQL*Plus

Determines whether SQL*Plus puts trailing blanks at the end of each spooled line. ON removes blanks at the end of each line. OFF enables SQL*Plus to include trailing blanks. TRIMSPOOL ON does not affect terminal output.

SET UND[ERLINE] {- | c | ON | OFF}

Sets the character used to underline column headings in reports. The underline character cannot be an alphanumeric character or a white space. ON or OFF turns underlining on or off. ON changes the value of c back to the default "-".

SET UNDERLINE is only supported in iSQL*Plus when preformatted output is On (SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT).

SET VER[IFY] {ON | OFF}

Controls whether to list the text of a SQL statement or PL/SQL command before and after replacing substitution variables with values. ON lists the text; OFF suppresses the listing.

SET WRA[P] {ON | OFF}

Controls whether to truncate the display of a selected row if it is too long for the current line width. OFF truncates the selected row; ON enables the selected row to wrap to the next line.

Use the WRAPPED and TRUNCATED clauses of the COLUMN command to override the setting of WRAP for specific columns.

The Wrap Lines preference (SET WRAP) is only supported in iSQL*Plus when Preformatted Output is On (SET MARKUP HTML PREFORMAT).

SET XQUERY BASEURI {text}

Specifies the base URI used to resolve relative URIs in functions. It enables the prefix of the file accessed by an XQuery to be changed.

To unset the BASEURI, set an empty string, for example:

SET XQUERY BASEURI ''

Take care to enter valid values as values are checked only when an XQUERY command is issued.

Example

SET XQUERY BASEURI '/public/scott'
XQUERY for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i
/

This is equivalent to:

XQuery declare base-uri "/public/hr"; 
for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i

SET XQUERY ORDERING {UNORDERED | ORDERED | DEFAULT}

Sets the ordering of output from an XQuery. There are three values:

UNORDERED specifies that results are sorted in the order they are retrieved from the database.

ORDERED specifies that results are sorted as defined by the XQuery.

DEFAULT specifies the database default. In Oracle Database 10g the default is UNORDERED.

When SET XQUERY ORDERING is not set, the default is DEFAULT (UNORDERED).

Example

SET XQUERY ORDERING ORDERED
XQUERY for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i
/

This is equivalent to:

XQuery declare ordering ordered; 
for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i
/

SET XQUERY NODE {BYVALUE | BYREFERENCE | DEFAULT}

Sets the node identity preservation mode. The preservation mode applies to all expressions that either create a new node (such as element constructors) or return an item or sequence containing nodes (such as path expressions). There are three values:

BYVALUE specifies that the node identity need not be preserved. This means that any node operation such as creation, or that is returned as a result of an expression is deep copied and loses its context from the original tree. Subsequent operations on this node that test for node identity, parent or sibling axes or ordering will be undefined.

BYREFERENCE specifies that node identities are to be preserved. Subsequent operations on this node preserve the node's context and definition.

DEFAULT specifies the database default. In Oracle Database 10g the default is BYVALUE.

When SET XQUERY NODE is not set, the default is DEFAULT (BYVALUE).

Example

SET XQUERY NODE BYREFERENCE
XQUERY for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i
/

This is equivalent to:

XQuery declare node byreference; 
for $i in doc("foo.xml") return $i
/

SET XQUERY CONTEXT {text}

Specifies an XQuery context item expression. A context item expression evaluates to the context item, which may be either a node (as in the expression fn:doc("bib.xml")//book[fn:count(./author)>1]), or an atomic value (as in the expression (1 to 100)[. mod 5 eq 0]).

To unset the XQUERY CONTEXT, set an empty string, for example:

SET XQUERY CONTEXT ''

Take care to enter valid values as values are checked only when an XQUERY command is issued.

Example

SET XQUERY CONTEXT 'doc("foo.xml")'
XQUERY for $i in /a return $i
/

This is equivalent to:

XQuery for $i in /a return $i 
passing XMLQuery("doc('foo.xml')")
/