Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Name

SET CONCAT

Synopsis

The CONCAT setting changes the character used to terminate a substitution variable reference. You can use the command to turn the feature off so that SQL*Plus doesn't recognize any character as the terminator.

Syntax

SET CON[CAT] {OFF | ON | concat_char}

Parameters

SET CON[CAT]

Is the command, which may be abbreviated SET CON.

OFF

Turns off this feature completely. SQL*Plus won't recognize any character as the termination character for substitution variable names.

ON

Turns this feature back on and resets the character back to the default value of a period.

concat_char

Is the new termination character. The default value is a period.

Examples

This setting is important only when you immediately follow a substitution variable name with characters that SQL*Plus might interpret as part of the name. Consider the following example:

DEFINE table="PROJECT"
SELECT &&table._name FROM &&table;

The period (or concatenation character) in the SELECT statement is used to terminate the reference to &&table. Without the period, SQL*Plus would see &&table_name as the substitution variable.

Tip

The concatenation character is never left in the line. When SQL*Plus substitutes a value for the variable, the concatenation character goes away along with the variable name.