Re: How to print column heading only in SQL plus

On Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:52:04 +0100, Eric wrote:

> SQL*Plus does groups and totals!

SQL*Plus is interactive. That's its greatest strength. And weakness.

>
> . Perl's "format" is, surprise, surprise, pretty handy for formatting,
> and rolling your own groups and totals is easy in Perl (if you know it
> well enough).

SQL*Plus has pagination and per-page totals? That's news to me. Are you sure? I know that there is "set pagesize" command, but per page totals?

>
> . Someone else has already doubted "neat, clean and understandable" in
> this thread.

That depends on the programming style. As any language, Perl makes it possible to write horribly obfuscated spaghetti code. On the other hand, the English language makes it possible to write perfectly legitimate nonsensical statements. You can catch a lot of those on TV. That doesn't mean that the English language is inadequate, it means that people sometimes use it the wrong way.
For the record, Perl also makes it possible to write a very neat, clean and easy to read code. If you're trying to put a nail in the wall and hit your fingernail instead, it's not because the hammer is badly designed.

> I agree with them (except about Ruby, which I haven't
> tried).

I haven't tried either, but being a gypsy consultant who travels frequently, I need something that works anywhere I go. And that's not Ruby.

>
> . "Fun" is personal and subjective.

Nope. The meaning of the noun "fun" is "programming in Perl". That's the definition.

-- 
Mladen Gogala
The Oracle Whisperer
http://mgogala.byethost5.com