Basic Concepts

The following definitions explain concepts central to SQL*Plus:

Concept	Definition
command	An instruction you give to an operating system, or software such as SQL*Plus or Oracle, to perform a particular task.
SQL command	A command to execute SQL statements.
SQL*Plus command	A command to execute SQL*Plus statements.
block	In PL/SQL, a group of SQL and PL/SQL commands related to each other through procedural logic.
table	The basic unit of storage in Oracle.
query	A read only SQL SELECT command that retrieves information from one or more tables.
query results	The data retrieved by a query.
report	Query results formatted by you through SQL*Plus commands.
SQL buffer	A buffer which stores the last SQL command or PL/SQL block that you entered in SQL*Plus.
screen buffer	A buffer to store the data in the SQL*Plus application window.

For definitions of other concepts that are relevant to SQL*Plus, see the glossary in SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference.