Storing and Printing Query Results

Send your query results to a file when you want to edit them with a word processor before printing or include them in a letter, memo, or other document.

To store the results of a query in a file--and still display them on the screen--enter the SPOOL command in the following form:

SPOOL file_name

If you do not follow the filename with a period and an extension, SPOOL adds a default file extension to the filename to identify it as an output file. The default varies with the host operating system; on most hosts it is LST or LIS. See the Oracle installation and user's manual(s) provided for your operating system for more information.

SQL*Plus continues to spool information to the file until you turn spooling off, using the following form of SPOOL:

SPOOL OFF

Creating a Flat File

When moving data between different software products, it is sometimes necessary to use a "flat" file (an operating system file with no escape characters, headings, or extra characters embedded). For example, if you do not have Oracle Net, you need to create a flat file for use with SQL*Loader when moving data from Oracle8 to Oracle9i.

To create a flat file with SQL*Plus, you first must enter the following SET commands:

SET NEWPAGE 0
SET SPACE 0
SET LINESIZE 80
SET PAGESIZE 0
SET ECHO OFF
SET FEEDBACK OFF
SET HEADING OFF
SET MARKUP HTML OFF SPOOL OFF

After entering these commands, you use the SPOOL command as shown in the previous section to create the flat file.

The SET COLSEP command may be useful to delineate the columns. For more information, see the SET command in Chapter 8.

Sending Results to a File

To store the results of a query in a file--and still display them on the screen--enter the SPOOL command in the following form:

SPOOL file_name

SQL*Plus stores all information displayed on the screen after you enter the SPOOL command in the file you specify.

Sending Results to a Printer

To print query results, spool them to a file as described in the previous section. Then, instead of using SPOOL OFF, enter the command in the following form:

SPOOL OUT

SQL*Plus stops spooling and copies the contents of the spooled file to your host computer's standard (default) printer. SPOOL OUT does not delete the spool file after printing.

Example 4-25 Sending Query Results to a Printer

To generate a final report and spool and print the results, create a command file named EMPRPT containing the following commands.

First, use EDIT to create the command file with your host operating system text editor. (Do not use INPUT and SAVE, or SQL*Plus will add a slash to the end of the file and will run the command file twice--once as a result of the semicolon and once due to the slash.)

EDIT EMPRPT

Next, enter the following commands into the file, using your text editor:

SPOOL TEMP
CLEAR COLUMNS
CLEAR BREAKS
CLEAR COMPUTES

COLUMN DEPARTMENT_ID HEADING DEPARTMENT
COLUMN LAST_NAME HEADING 'LAST NAME'
COLUMN SALARY HEADING 'MONTHLY SALARY' FORMAT $99,999

BREAK ON DEPARTMENT_ID SKIP 1 ON REPORT
COMPUTE SUM OF SALARY ON DEPARTMENT_ID
COMPUTE SUM OF SALARY ON REPORT

SET PAGESIZE 24
SET NEWPAGE 0
SET LINESIZE 70

TTITLE CENTER 'A C M E  W I D G E T' SKIP 2 -
LEFT 'EMPLOYEE REPORT' RIGHT 'PAGE:' -
FORMAT 999 SQL.PNO SKIP 2
BTITLE CENTER 'COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL'

SELECT DEPARTMENT_ID, LAST_NAME, SALARY
FROM EMP_DETAILS_VIEW
WHERE SALARY>12000
ORDER BY DEPARTMENT_ID;

SPOOL OFF

If you do not want to see the output on your screen, you can also add SET TERMOUT OFF to the beginning of the file and SET TERMOUT ON to the end of the file. Save and close the file in your text editor (you will automatically return to SQL*Plus). Now, run the command file EMPRPT:

@EMPRPT

SQL*Plus displays the output on your screen (unless you set TERMOUT to OFF), and spools it to the file TEMP:

                         A C M E  W I D G E T

EMPLOYEE REPORT                                              PAGE: 1

DEPARTMENT LAST NAME                 MONTHLY SALARY
---------- ------------------------- --------------
        20 Hartstein                        $13,000
**********                           --------------
sum                                         $13,000

        80 Russell                          $14,000
           Partners                         $13,500
**********                           --------------
sum                                         $27,500

        90 King                             $24,000
           Kochhar                          $17,000
           De Haan                          $17,000
**********                           --------------
sum                                         $58,000

                                     --------------
sum                                         $98,500
                         COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL

6 rows selected.