SQLPLUS Survival Tips
Editing commands in SQLPLUS
The SQLPLUS interface is not very user-friendly. The best method of
using it may be to open a Notepad file in a second window. Edit
commands in the notepad file. Then copy and paste them into SQLPLUS.
Note that the slash "/" may not work if copied and pasted.
If you want to invoke an editor from within SQLPLUS, here is how:
In the SQLPLUS Window menu, click on Options-Environment-editfile.
Select "Custom". Insert "H:\" before "afiedt.buf". Once you have done
this, you can invoke the editor by typing
edit (or ed) in SQLPLUS.
Don't include a semicolon at the end of the command if using the editor.
Type r to run a command after editing.
Other useful SQLPLUS commands
to look at the system catalog of your tables:
select * from cat
look at table details:
describe tablename
to stop information from scrolling off the screen:
set pause on
(but then you need to press enter twice after issuing an SQL command)
if backspace does not work: use Ctrl h
to re-execute the previous command type /
for help type help index
(but the on-line documentation is better! See below)
to exit type exit
Oracle On-line Documentation
To use some of this documentation you need to sign up
for a free Oracle OTN user account. You will be prompted for your
email address once you click on any of the links below.
SQL Reference
SQLPlus Quick Reference
Oracle9i Application Developer's Guide -
Object-Relational Features
Oracle 9i Release 2.
Oracle 9.0.1 Documentation