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sqloracle-databaselanguage-designwhitespacesqlplus

Why doesn't ORACLE allow consecutive newline characters in commands?

I write:

CREATE TABLE Person ( 
name CHAR(10),

ssn INTEGER);

and save it to a file "a.sql".

If I then run it by typing "@a" in the SQL*Plus command prompt, it will tell me that the line starting with "ssn" is not recognized as a command, and is ignored.

From what I gather, it seems that sqlplus terminates a command if it encounters multiple newline characters in a row. Is this an accurate statement? If so, does anyone know if this is necessary/ why it chooses to do this?

Solution

  • I don't know about the why, but a completely blank line terminates a command in SQL*Plus.

    Quote from the SQL*Plus docs :

    Ending a SQL Command: You can end a SQL command in one of three ways:

    • with a semicolon (;)
    • with a slash (/) on a line by itself
    • with a blank line

    You can also change how blank lines are treated with SET SQLBLANKLINES

    SQLBL[ANKLINES] {ON|OFF}

    Controls whether SQL*Plus allows blank lines within a SQL command or script. ON interprets blank lines and new lines as part of a SQL command or script. OFF, the default value, does not allow blank lines or new lines in a SQL command or script or script.

    Enter the BLOCKTERMINATOR to stop SQL command entry without running the SQL command. Enter the SQLTERMINATOR character to stop SQL command entry and run the SQL statement.