ORACLE SQL * PLUS Commands

SQL*Plus Commands

SQL*Plus commands allow a user to manipulate and submit SQL statements. Specifically, they enable a user to:

• Enter, edit, store, retrieve, and run SQL statements
• List the column definitions for any table
• Format, perform calculations on, store, and print query results in the form of reports
• Access and copy data between SQL databases

The following is a list of SQL*Plus commands and their functions. The most commonly used commands are emphasized in italics:

• / – Execute the current SQL statement in the buffer – same as RUN
• ACCEPT – Accept a value from the user and place it into a variable
• APPEND – Add text to the end of the current line of the SQL statement in the buffer
• AUTOTRACE – Trace the execution plan of the SQL statement and gather statistics
• BREAK – Set the formatting behavior for the output of SQL statements
• BTITLE – Place a title on the bottom of each page in the printout from a SQL statement
• CHANGE – Replace text on the current line of the SQL statement with new text
• CLEAR – Clear the buffer
• COLUMN – Change the appearance of an output column from a query
• COMPUTE – Does calculations on rows returned from a SQL statement
• CONNECT – Connect to another Oracle database or to the same Oracle database under a different user name
• COPY – Copy data from one table to another in the same or different databases
• DEL – Delete the current line in the buffer
• DESCRIBE – List the columns with datatypes of a table (Can be abbreviated as DESC)
• EDIT – Edit the current SQL statement in the buffer using an external editor such as vi or emacs
• EXIT – Exit the SQL*Plus program
• GET – Load a SQL statement into the buffer but do not execute it
• HELP – Obtain help for a SQL*Plus command (In some installations)
• HOST – Drop to the operating system shell
• INPUT – Add one or more lines to the SQL statement in the buffer
• LIST – List the current SQL statement in the buffer
• QUIT – Exit the SQL*Plus program
• REMARK – Place a comment following the REMARK keyword
• RUN – Execute the current SQL statement in the buffer
• SAVE – Save the current SQL statement to a script file
• SET – Set an environemnt variable to a new value
• SHOW – Show the current value of an environemnt variable
• SPOOL – Send the output from a SQL statement to a file
• START – Load a SQL statement located in a script file and then run that SQL statement
• TIMING – Used to time the execution of SQL statements for performance analysis
• TTITLE – Place a title on the top of each page in the printout from a SQL statement
• UNDEFINE – Delete a user defined variable