Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference

Jonathan Gennick is an O'Reilly & Associates editor specializing in database and programming titles. Prior to joining O'Reilly, Jonathan amassed some 17 years of programming and database management experience. During the latter part of his career he specialized in relational database programming, and more recently in database management. Jonathan got his start with relational database systems in 1990, first working with Ingres, and later with Digital's Rdb software. During that period he developed a fondness for SQL, and for the challenge of applying SQL creatively in ways that leveraged it's set-oriented capabilities. In 1994 Jonathan made the leap to Oracle, and is now often found writing about it. Recent projects include Oracle SQL*Loader (O'Reilly & Associates, 2001); Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference (O'Reilly & Associates, 2000); Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly & Associates, 1999); More recently, Jonathan has made forays into other database products, coauthoring Transact-SQL Cookbook (O'Reilly & Associates, 2002) and editing Practical PostgreSQL (O'Reilly & Associates, 2002). Jonathan is certified as an Oracle DBA and is a member of MENSA and the Oracle Technology Network. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Information and Computer Science, with a Business Administration minor, from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Jonathan currently resides in Munising, Michigan with his wife Donna and their two children: Jenny and Jeff.

Introduction Interacting with SQL*Plus Starting SQL*Plus Entering Commands Strings in SQL*Plus Commands Specifying Filenames Naming Variables Selecting Data The SELECT Statement Null Values CASE Expressions Table Joins (Oracle8i) Table Joins (Oracle9i) Summary Queries Unions Partition Operations Inserting Data Inserting One Row Inserting the Results of a Query Multitable Inserts (Oracle9i) Updating Data Simple Updates Noncorrelated Subqueries in the SET Clause Correlated Subqueries in the SET Clause Deleting Data Simple Deletes Deleting All Rows (TRUNCATE) Deleting Duplicate Rows Merging Data (Oracle9i) Transaction Management SET TRANSACTION SAVEPOINT COMMIT ROLLBACK Text Reports Column Headings Column Formats Page Width and Length Page Headers and Footers Page Breaks Report Breaks Tuning SQL Creating the Plan Table Explaining a Query Querying the Plan Table Using Optimizer Hints SQL*Plus Format Elements Formatting Numbers Formatting Character Strings Formatting Dates SQL*Plus Command Reference Index