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

Name

SET ESCAPE

Synopsis

The ESCAPE setting specifies the character used to escape the substitution variable prefix.

Syntax

SET ESC[APE] {OFF | ON | escape_char}

Parameters

SET ESC[APE]

Is the command, which may be abbreviated SET ESC.

OFF

Turns the escape feature off completely. SQL*Plus will not recognize any character as an escape character. This is the default setting.

ON

Enables the escape feature and resets the escape character back to the default value, a backslash (\).

escape_char

Is the new escape character. By default, this is a backslash.

Examples

You use the escape character when you want to place an ampersand in a command and you don't want that ampersand interpreted as a substitution variable prefix character. The following example shows a case where this can be a problem:

SQL> SELECT 'Matt & Joe Williams' FROM dual;
Enter value for joe:

The ampersand in front of the word "Joe" causes SQL*Plus to interpret it as a substitution variable name. To work around this behavior, you can turn the escape feature on and precede the ampersand with a backslash. Here's an example:

SQL> SET ESCAPE ON
SQL> SELECT 'Matt \& Joe Williams' FROM dual;
'MATT&JOEWILLIAMS'
-------------------
Matt & Joe Williams

You can use the SET ESCAPE command to change the escape character to something other than a backslash.