Re: SQL*Plus and spool command

"Mikael Horseman" <newgroup_at_newgroup.com> wrote in message news:a445vb$vft$1_at_news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
> With apologies in advance if this is a repeat question (I haven't been
able
> to track down the solution elsewhere).
> Environment: Windows 2000 SP2, Oracle 8i.
>
> If I log in to SQL*Plus and write:
>
> SQL> SPOOL myfile.txt;
>
> ...then any subsequent operations are mirrored out to 'myfile.txt'.
> If I invoke the Editor (I'm using Notepad) and write:
>
> SPOOL myfile.txt;
> SELECT *
> FROM mytable;
> SPOOL OFF;
>
> ...and then use '/' when returned to the command line I get a message:
>
> "ERROR at line 1:
> ORA-00900: invalid SQL statement"
>
> I've browsed various newsgroup messages that mention Spooling issues (with
> different people suggesting the removal or a different orientation of
> semi-colons), and I've tried several variations on that basis - but I get
> the same error message every time. I suspect that the problem might be a
> product of some fundamental misunderstanding I'm having about SQL*Plus
here,
> but I can't work out what it might be. Any help appreciated
>
> Kind regards
>
> Mikael Horseman
>
>

Invoking the editor without a filename edits the *sql* buffer. So any statement in that buffer when you return to the command prompt is considered a *sql* statement. SPOOL is not a sql statement it is a *sqlplus* statement.
You need to save your combination of sql*plus and sql commands to an O/S file and run that O/S file by using
@<filename>
or
start <filename>

Of course this behavior is described in the sql*plus reference manual.

Regards

--
Sybrand Bakker
Senior Oracle DBA

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