Re: Configuring properties for SQL plus

"Simon Harvey" <ReplyToGroup_at_thanks.com> writes:

> Hi guys,
>
> Can anyone tell me what you need to do to make the changes that you might
> make to SQL plus permenant.
>
> For example, I always fing the linesize to small and always need to at least
> double it. Is there anyway that I can configure it to do this all the time
> as I'm sick of doing it each and every time.
>
> The other more basic thing is, does anyone have any recomendations for
> something that does the same sort of job as SQL plus but is better. I really
> hate SQL+. I dont get why oracle are still shipping that thing. It looks

Simon,

There are a number of tools you can get which are open source or only cost a small registration fee. However, I would strongly recommend against learning Oracle without also learning SQL*PLUS. For one thing, SQL*PLUS is to oracle what vi is to unix - if you learn it you will always be able to work with oracle because it is always there. If you get use to some nice gui tool, but find the new site you need to work at does not have that tool installed, you will be forced to either download and install the tool you know or struggle trying to remember how to do the job under SQL*PLUS.

The other danger with some of the super-friendly gui tools is that they often hide/abstract some of the important things you should know about Oracle - such as the data dictionaries etc. I have come across a number of oracle "professionals" who were not even able to determine what tables were in a schema or what columns of a table had constraints and/or indexes etc without a gui tool which had menu items such as "browse schema" or "list constraints" - these are often the same people who post questions such as "How can I find out what columns are in a table from within SQL or PL/SQL". Also, many of the tools are not as up-to-date as SQL*PLUS in their ability to handle more recent Oracle features - for example I saw one DBA getting very frustrated because he could not get some java stored procedures to work under TOAD (a popular gui SQL*PLUS type replacement). It turned out the version of TOAD he had did not support the java stuff - once he opened up SQL*P)LUS he was able to do what was required and later he had to look at upgrading his version of TOAD.

I'm not saying you should never use some of the gui tools out there - just that you should learn Oracle with SQL*P)LUS first and then later select a gui tool which meets your needs - the bottom line is your unlikely to find a gui tool which will meet all your needs all of the time and from time to time you will need to revert to SQL*PLUS - what better time to learn it than when your a poor poverty stricken student!

From your post, its obvious you have not read the SQL*PLUS reference manual as all the questions/problems you mentioned have solutions e.g. login.sql to set default SQL(PLUS settings and the various sqlplus commands for listing, editing commands etc - you can even configure sqlplus to use your favorite editor!

I have not suggested tools or more specific solutions to your questions as you have neglected to indicate what platform you are working on. However, as you are a student, I would strongly suggest reading the sqlplus manual and re-evaluating before spending ages downloading various gui tools which will not be as functional as SQLPLUS and which will limit your exposure and eventual understanding/grasp of Oracle.

Tim Received on Sun Dec 01 2002 - 16:31:42 CST