Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide

The SET Command

SQL*Plus contains a large number of internal variables that control various aspects of the way the product operates. The SET command is used to change these settings to suit your preferences. The number of settings is quite large, so for convenience I’ve divided them into the following categories:

• Report output and format settings

• Feedback settings

• Input settings

• Operational settings

• Substitution variable settings

• Large object settings

• Tuning and timing settings

• Database administration settings

• Miscellaneous settings

The following sections describe the settings available in each of these categories.

Report Output and Format Settings

The largest group of SQL*Plus settings exists to control the way data is formatted, displayed, and output for a report. These settings control such things as the number of lines on a page, the line length, whether or not tab characters are used to format the output, and so forth. The following list briefly describes each of these settings:

COLSEP

Controls the text used to separate columns of data.

EMBEDDED

Turns the embedded report feature on or off.

HEADSEP

Controls the character used to mark a line break in a column heading.

HEADING

Controls whether or not column headings are displayed when selecting data.

LINESIZE

Specifies the maximum line width.

MAXDATA

The maximum row length SQL*Plus can handle.

NEWPAGE

Controls what SQL*Plus prints when advancing to a new page.

NULL

Contains the text SQL*Plus displays for any null values returned by a query. ...