Despite its wide availability and usage, few developers and DBAs have mastered the true power of Oracle SQL*Plus. This bestselling book--now updated for Oracle 10g--is the only in-depth guide to this interactive query tool for writing SQL scripts. It's an essential resource for any Oracle user. The new second edition of Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide clearly describes how to perform, step-by-step, all of the tasks that Oracle developers and DBAs want to perform with SQL*Plus--and maybe some you didn't realize you could perform. With Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide, you'll expertly:

• write and execute script files

• generate ad hoc reports

• extract data from the database

• query the data dictionary tables

• customize an SQL*Plus environment

• and much more

It also includes a handy quick reference to all of its syntax options and an often-requested chapter on SQL itself, along with a clear, concise, and complete introduction. This book is truly the definitive guide to SQL*Plus. It's an indispensable resource for those who are new to SQL*Plus, a task-oriented learning tool for those who are already using it, and an immediately useful quick reference for every user. If you want to leverage the full power and flexibility of this popular Oracle tool, you'll need this book.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

the glories of the command line - 2005-01-19
Reviewer Rating:
The glories of the command line. SQLPlus [I am not going to write that irritating asterix] is an acknowledgment of the reality that for many large computer programs and operating systems, a command line utility is vital. The book explains this for the specific instance of hooking to Oracle's database. It is meant as a definitive reference. Showing every command, often accompanied by example code.

For an Oracle DBA, a good acquaintance with SQLPlus is probably mandatory. From the book, you can see how to quickly interrogate the database and get results in various useful paginated formats. Plus, and vitally, you can see how to build script files that can be run, where these files encode your experience in amassing customised sequences of commands specific to your needs. Exactly analogous to batch files in most operating systems, and just as useful.

Along those lines, SQLPlus is conceptually not that hard. When using Oracle, it is often far more important, and harder, to design optimal tables for a given problem.

Great book ofr those using the SQL Plus command line or GUI tool - 2006-09-20
Reviewer Rating:
Oracle SQL Plus: The Defnitive Guide
Jonthan Gennick
1-56592-578-5

This book is great for those using the SQL Plus tool. I use SQL Plus for Oracle 8 and 9. This book covers up to 8i but I have not had any trouble using the commands in 9i. I have not tried the commands listed on 10g yet. The book is easy to use since the topics are split into reasonable chapters and the font is large enough to read with the book beside the keyboard. I also like the chapters that list commonly used items in tables. One example would be the chapter listing the user_ and all_ views. The chapter covering the SET command is one I use frequently. This book is fairly specific to the usage of SQL Plus itself and does not delve too deeply into the inner workings of the Oracle database, but it does have examples in SQL query language and PL/SQL stored procedures. If one is looking for a book on SQL itself, I recommend another title. If one needs a book on SQL Plus, get this one.

Oracle SQL*Plus - 2008-11-22
Reviewer Rating:
Well written and easy to follow. Lots of examples. Maybe the author could have spent a little more time on Oracle SQL, but then again, the book was written for SQL*Plus. Overall, a good reference.

SQL* Plus should not be confused with SQL - 2008-10-09
Reviewer Rating:
I had bought this text a few years ago to learn SQL. Little did I know then that SQL Plus is a "sand box" that contains SQL. Needless to say that I was disappointed and had to shelf this book.

However, after reading an introductory book on SQL and writing lots of code, I revisited this text and found it to be quite useful.

In summary, this should not be used by SQL novices. This book teaches "SQL Plus" and not SQL per se. Once, you have learnt the language, this book will come handy to

1, execute sql queries (by scripting)
2, format the report
3, set up the development environment
4, to discover the database
5, and much much more

One reason for not assigning five stars is the lack of ease when it comes to downloading the sample code and installing it on my machine.

An excellent reference for SQL*Plus - 2007-08-29
Reviewer Rating:
This book covers the basics of using SQL*Plus for adhoc querying through using it for batch processing. An excellent, extremely readable reference.

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