Command summary v41

Use these commands with EDB*Plus.

ACCEPT

The ACCEPT command displays a prompt and waits for keyboard input. The value from the input is placed in the specified variable.

ACC[EPT ] variable

The following example creates a new variable named my_name, accepts a value of John Smith, and then displays the value using the DEFINE command.

SQL> ACCEPT my_name
Enter value for my_name: John Smith
SQL> DEFINE my_name
DEFINE MY_NAME = "John Smith"

APPEND

APPEND appends the given text to the end of the current line in the SQL buffer.

A[PPEND ] text

In the following example, a SELECT command is built in the SQL buffer using the APPEND command. Two spaces are placed between the APPEND command and the WHERE clause to separate dept and WHERE by one space in the SQL buffer.

SQL> APPEND SELECT * FROM dept
SQL> LIST
  1 SELECT * FROM dept
SQL> APPEND WHERE deptno = 10
SQL> LIST
  1 SELECT * FROM dept WHERE deptno = 10

CHANGE

CHANGE performs a search-and-replace on the current line in the SQL buffer.

C[HANGE ] FROM [ TO ]

If TO/ is specified, the first occurrence of text FROM in the current line is changed to text TO. If TO/ is omitted, the first occurrence of text FROM in the current line is deleted.

The following sequence of commands makes line 3 the current line and then changes the department number in the WHERE clause from 20 to 30.

SQL> LIST
  1  SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm
  2  FROM emp
  3  WHERE deptno = 20
  4* ORDER BY empno
SQL> 3
  3* WHERE deptno = 20
SQL> CHANGE /20/30/
  3* WHERE deptno = 30
SQL> LIST
  1  SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm
  2  FROM emp
  3  WHERE deptno = 30
  4* ORDER BY empno

CLEAR

The CLEAR command removes the contents of the SQL buffer, deletes all column definitions set with the COLUMN command, or clears the screen.

CL[EAR ] [ BUFF[ER ] | SQL | COL[UMNS ] | SCR[EEN ] ]

BUFFER | SQL

Clears the SQL buffer.

COLUMNS

Removes column definitions.

SCREEN

Clears the screen. This is the default.

COLUMN

The COLUMN command controls output formatting. The formatting attributes set by using the COLUMN command remain in effect only for the current session.

COL[UMN] [column_name [CLE[AR] |
                       FOR[MAT] format_spec |
                       HEA[DING] heading_text |
                       NEW_V[ALUE] variable |
                       ON |
                       OFF...]]

If the COLUMN command is specified with no other options, formatting options for current columns in effect for the session are displayed.

If the COLUMN command is followed by a column name, then the column name can be followed by one of the following:

No other options
CLEAR
Any combination of FORMAT, HEADING, NEW_VALUE and either OFF or ON

column_name

Name of a column in a table to which column formatting options apply. If no other options follow column_name, then the current column formatting option of column_name, if any, are displayed.

CLEAR

The CLEAR option reverts all formatting options back to their defaults for column_name. If you specify the CLEAR option, it must be the only option specified.

format_spec

Format specification to apply to column_name. For character columns, format_spec takes the following format:

n

n is a positive integer that specifies the column width in characters within which to display the data. Data in excess of n wraps around with the specified column width.

For numeric columns, format_spec is comprised of the following elements.

Element	Description
`$`	Display a leading dollar sign.
`,`	Display a comma in the indicated position.
`.`	Marks the location of the decimal point.
`0`	Display leading zeros.
`9`	Number of significant digits to display.

If loss of significant digits occurs due to overflow of the format, then all #s are displayed.

heading_text

Text to use for the column heading of column_name.

NEW_V[ALUE]

This variable option is valid if specified alone or with other already supported options. A variable specified in the COLUMN command option is associated with the given column. The variable can contain the data value of a column or expression of a variable in the SQL SELECT list and can be used in the SQL script for the remainder of the session.

To contain the departmentnumber value for the deptno column, a variable can be defined using the NEW_VALUE option:

SQL> column deptno new_value departmentnumber
SQL> select deptno,dname from dept;

DEPTNO DNAME         
------ --------------
    10 ACCOUNTING    
    20 RESEARCH      
    30 SALES         
    40 OPERATIONS    

SQL> prompt departmentnumber: '&departmentnumber'
departmentnumber: '40'
SQL> INSERT INTO emp VALUES (1,'micheal','tester',7902,'17-DEC-80',800,NULL,'&departmentnumber');

1 row INSERTED.

The NEW_V[ALUE] variable has the following limitations:

Column values differ when they are seeded using the NEW_VALUE parameter for the "time with time zone" data type.
The NEW_VALUE variable prompts for the value if the corresponding column value is NULL. Oracle treats NULL and an empty string the same while EDB Postgres Advanced Server has a different behavior. Therefore, in EDB*Plus it prompts for the value.
The variable value doesn't show in the COLUMN header if the user references the NEW_VALUE variable in a SELECT query without an alias.

OFF | ON

If OFF is specified, formatting options revert to their defaults but are still available in the session. If ON is specified, the formatting options specified by previous COLUMN commands for column_name in the session are reactivated.

The following example shows the effect of changing the display width of the job column.

SQL> SET PAGESIZE 9999
SQL> COLUMN job FORMAT A5
SQL> COLUMN job
COLUMN   JOB  ON
FORMAT   A5
wrapped
SQL> SELECT empno, ename, job FROM emp;

Output

EMPNO ENAME      JOB
----- ---------- -----
 7369 SMITH      CLERK
 7499 ALLEN      SALES
                 MAN

 7521 WARD       SALES
                 MAN

 7566 JONES      MANAG
                 ER

 7654 MARTIN     SALES
                 MAN

 7698 BLAKE      MANAG
                 ER

 7782 CLARK      MANAG
                 ER

 7788 SCOTT      ANALY
                 ST

 7839 KING       PRESI
                 DENT

 7844 TURNER     SALES
                 MAN

 7876 ADAMS      CLERK
 7900 JAMES      CLERK
 7902 FORD       ANALY
                 ST

 7934 MILLER     CLERK

14 rows retrieved.

The following example applies a format to the sal column.

SQL> COLUMN sal FORMAT $99,999.00
SQL> COLUMN
COLUMN   JOB  ON
FORMAT   A5
wrapped

COLUMN   SAL  ON
FORMAT   $99,999.00
wrapped
SQL> SELECT empno, ename, job, sal FROM emp;

Output

EMPNO ENAME      JOB           SAL
----- ---------- ----- -----------
 7369 SMITH      CLERK     $800.00
 7499 ALLEN      SALES   $1,600.00
                 MAN

 7521 WARD       SALES   $1,250.00
                 MAN

 7566 JONES      MANAG   $2,975.00
                 ER

 7654 MARTIN     SALES   $1,250.00
                 MAN

 7698 BLAKE      MANAG   $2,850.00
                 ER

 7782 CLARK      MANAG   $2,450.00
                 ER

 7788 SCOTT      ANALY   $3,000.00
                 ST

 7839 KING       PRESI   $5,000.00
                 DENT

 7844 TURNER     SALES   $1,500.00
                 MAN

 7876 ADAMS      CLERK   $1,100.00
 7900 JAMES      CLERK     $950.00
 7902 FORD       ANALY   $3,000.00
                 ST

 7934 MILLER     CLERK   $1,300.00

14 rows retrieved.

CONNECT

Change the database connection to a different user or connect to a different database. There must be no white space between any of the parameters following the CONNECT command.

CON[NECT] <username>[/<password>][@{<connectstring> | <variable> } ]

Where:

username is a database user name with which to connect to the database.

password is the password associated with the specified user name. If a password isn't provided but a password is required for authentication, a search is made for a password file, first in the home directory of the Linux operating system account invoking EDB*Plus (or in the %APPDATA%\postgresql\ directory for Windows) and then at the location specified by the PGPASSFILE environment variable. The password file is .pgpass on Linux hosts and pgpass.conf on Windows hosts. The following is an example on a Windows host:

C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\postgresql\pgpass.conf

If a password file can't be located or it doesn't have an entry matching the EDB*Plus connection parameters, then EDB*Plus prompts for the password. For more information about password files, see the PostgreSQL core documentation.

!!! Note When a password isn't required, EDB*Plus doesn't prompt for a password, such as when the trust authentication method is specified in the pg_hba.conf file. For more information about the pg_hba.conf file and authentication methods, see the PostgreSQL core documentation.

connectstring is the database connection string. See Using EDB*Plus for more information on the database connection string.

variable is a variable defined in the login.sql file that contains a database connection string. The login.sql file can be found in the edbplus subdirectory of the EDB Postgres Advanced Server home directory.

In the following example, the database connection is changed to database edb on the localhost at port 5445 with username smith.

SQL> CONNECT smith/mypassword@localhost:5445/edb
Disconnected from EnterpriseDB Database.
Connected to EnterpriseDB 14.0.0 (localhost:5445/edb) AS smith

In this session, the connection is changed to user name enterprisedb. The host defaults to the localhost, the port defaults to 5444 (which isn't the same as the port previously used), and the database defaults to edb.

SQL> CONNECT enterprisedb/password
Disconnected from EnterpriseDB Database.
Connected to EnterpriseDB 14.0.0 (localhost:5444/edb) AS enterprisedb

DEFINE

The DEFINE command creates or replaces the value of a user variable (also called a substitution variable).

DEF[INE ] [ variable [ = text ] ]

If the DEFINE command is given without any parameters, all current variables and their values are displayed.

If DEFINE variable is given, only variable is displayed with its value.

DEFINE variable = text assigns text to variable.text, which can be optionally enclosed in single or double quotation marks. Quotation marks must be used if text contains space characters.

The following example defines two variables, dept and name.

SQL> DEFINE dept = 20
SQL> DEFINE name = 'John Smith'
SQL> DEFINE
DEFINE EDB = "localhost:5445/edb"
DEFINE DEPT = "20"
DEFINE NAME = "John Smith"

Note

The variable EDB is read from the login.sql file located in the edbplus subdirectory of the EDB Postgres Advanced Server home directory.

DEL

DEL deletes one or more lines from the SQL buffer.

DEL [ n | n m | n * | n L[AST ] | * | * n | * L[AST ] | L[AST ] ]

The parameters specify the lines to delete from the SQL buffer. Two parameters specify the start and end of a range of lines to delete. Giving the DEL command without parameters deletes the current line.

n

n is an integer representing the nth line.

n m

n and m are integers, where m is greater than n representing the nth through the mth lines.

*

Current line

LAST

Last line

In the following example, the fifth and sixth lines containing columns sal and comm, respectively, are deleted from the SELECT command in the SQL buffer.

SQL> LIST
  1  SELECT
  2    empno
  3   ,ename
  4   ,job
  5   ,sal
  6   ,comm
  7   ,deptno
  8* FROM emp
SQL> DEL 5 6
SQL> LIST
  1  SELECT
  2    empno
  3   ,ename
  4   ,job
  5   ,deptno
  6* FROM emp

DESCRIBE

The DESCRIBE command displays:

A list of columns, column data types, and column lengths for a table or view
A list of parameters for a procedure or function
A list of procedures and functions and their respective parameters for a package

The DESCRIBE command also displays the structure of the database object referred to by a synonym. The syntax is:

DESC[RIBE] [ schema.]object

schema

Name of the schema containing the object to be described.

object

Name of the table, view, procedure, function, or package to display or the synonym of an object.

DISCONNECT

The DISCONNECT command closes the current database connection but doesn't end the EDB*Plus session.

DISC[ONNECT ]

EDIT

The EDIT command invokes an external editor to edit the contents of an operating system file or the SQL buffer.

ED[IT ] [ filename[.ext ] ]

filename[.ext ]

filename is the name of the file to open with an external editor. ext is the file name extension. If the file name extension is sql, then you can omit the .sql. EDIT always assumes a .sql extension on file names that are specified with no extension. If the filename parameter is omitted from the EDIT command, the contents of the SQL buffer are brought into the editor.

EXECUTE

The EXECUTE command executes an SPL procedure from EDB*Plus.

EXEC[UTE ] spl_procedure [ ([ parameters ]) ]

spl_procedure

The name of the SPL procedure to execute.

parameters

Comma-delimited list of parameters. If there are no parameters, then you can optionally specify a pair of empty parentheses.

EXIT

The EXIT command ends the EDB*Plus session and returns control to the operating system. QUIT is a synonym for EXIT. Specifying no parameters is equivalent to EXIT SUCCESS COMMIT.

{ EXIT | QUIT }
[ SUCCESS | FAILURE | WARNING | value | variable ]
[ COMMIT | ROLLBACK ]SUCCESS | FAILURE |WARNING]

Returns an operating system dependent return code indicating successful operation, failure, or warning for SUCCESS, FAILURE, and WARNING, respectively. The default is SUCCESS.

value

An integer value returned as the return code.

variable

A variable created with the DEFINE command whose value is returned as the return code.

COMMIT | ROLLBACK

If COMMIT is specified, uncommitted updates are committed upon exit. If ROLLBACK is specified, uncommitted updates are rolled back upon exit. The default is COMMIT.

GET

The GET command loads the contents of the given file to the SQL buffer.

GET filename[.ext ] [ LIS[T ] | NOL[IST ] ]

filename[.ext ]

filename is the name of the file to load into the SQL buffer. ext is the file name extension. If the file name extension is sql, then you can omit the .sql extension. GET always assumes a .sql extension on file names that are specified with no extension.

LIST | NOLIST

If LIST is specified, the content of the SQL buffer is displayed after the file is loaded. If NOLIST is specified, no listing is displayed. The default is LIST.

HELP

The HELP command obtains an index of topics or help on a specific topic. The question mark (?) is synonymous with specifying HELP.

{ HELP | ? } { INDEX | topic }

INDEX

Displays an index of available topics.

topic

The name of a specific topic, such as an EDB*Plus command, for which you want help.

HOST

The HOST command executes an operating system command from EDB*Plus.

HO[ST ] [os_command]

os_command

The operating system command to execute. If you don't provide an operating system command, EDB*Plus pauses and opens a new shell prompt. When the shell exits, EDB*Plus resumes execution.

INPUT

The INPUT command adds a line of text to the SQL buffer after the current line.

I[NPUT ] text

The following sequence of INPUT commands constructs a SELECT command.

SQL> INPUT SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm
SQL> INPUT FROM emp
SQL> INPUT WHERE deptno = 20
SQL> INPUT ORDER BY empno
SQL> LIST
  1 SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm
  2 FROM emp
  3 WHERE deptno = 20
  4* ORDER BY empno

LIST

LIST displays the contents of the SQL buffer.

L[IST] [ n | n m | n * | n L[AST] | * | * n | * L[AST] | L[AST] ]

The buffer doesn't include a history of the EDB*Plus commands.

n

n represents the buffer line number.

n m

n m displays a list of lines between n and m.

n *

n * displays a list of lines that range between line n and the current line.

n L[AST]

n L[AST] displays a list of lines that range from line n through the last line in the buffer.

*

* displays the current line.

* n

* n displays a list of lines that range from the current line through line n.

* L[AST]

* L[AST] displays a list of lines that range from the current line through the last line.

L[AST]

L[AST] displays the last line.

PASSWORD

Use the PASSWORD command to change your database password.

PASSW[ORD] [user_name]

You must have privileges to use the PASSWORD command to change another user's password. The following example uses the PASSWORD command to change the password for a user named acctg:

SQL> PASSWORD acctg
Changing password for acctg
    New password:
    New password again:
Password successfully changed.

PAUSE

The PAUSE command displays a message and waits for the user to press ENTER.

PAU[SE]  [optional_text]

optional_text specifies the text to display to the user. If optional_text is omitted, EDB Postgres Advanced Server displays two blank lines. If you double quote the optional_text string, the quotes are included in the output.

PROMPT

The PROMPT command displays a message to the user before continuing.

PRO[MPT] [message_text]

message_text specifies the text displayed to the user. Double quote the string to include quotes in the output.

QUIT

The QUIT command ends the session and returns control to the operating system. QUIT is a synonym for EXIT.

QUIT

[SUCCESS | FAILURE | WARNING | value | sub_variable]

[COMMIT | ROLLBACK]

The default value is QUIT SUCCESS COMMIT.

REMARK

Use REMARK to include comments in a script.

REM[ARK] [optional_text]

You can also use the following convention to include a comment:

/*
 *  This is an example of a three line comment.
 */

SAVE

Use the SAVE command to write the SQL buffer to an operating system file.

SAV[E] file_name
[CRE[ATE] | REP[LACE] | APP[END]]

file_name

file_name specifies the name of the file (including the path) where the buffer contents are written. If you don't provide a file extension, .sql is appended to the end of the file name.

CREATE

Include the CREATE keyword to create a file. A file is created only if a file with the specified name doesn't already exist. This is the default.

REPLACE

Include the REPLACE keyword to overwrite an existing file.

APPEND

Include the APPEND keyword to append the contents of the SQL buffer to the end of the specified file.

The following example saves the contents of the SQL buffer to a file named example.sql, located in the temp directory:

SQL> SAVE C:\example.sql CREATE
File "example.sql" written.

SET

Use the SET command to specify a value for a session-level variable that controls EDB*Plus behavior. The following forms of the SET command are valid:

SET AUTOCOMMIT`

Use the SET AUTOCOMMIT command to specify commit behavior for EDB Postgres Advanced Server transactions.

SET AUTO[COMMIT]

{ON | OFF | IMMEDIATE | statement_count}

EDB*Plus always automatically commits DDL statements.

ON

Specify ON to turn on AUTOCOMMIT behavior.

OFF

Specify OFF to turn off AUTOCOMMIT behavior.

IMMEDIATE

IMMEDIATE has the same effect as ON.

statement_count

Include a value for statement_count to issue a commit after the specified count of successful SQL statements.

SET COLUMN SEPARATOR

Use the SET COLUMN SEPARATOR command to specify the text to display between columns.

SET COLSEP column_separator

The default value of column_separator is a single space.

SET ECHO

Use the SET ECHO command to specify to display SQL and EDB*Plus script statements onscreen as they execute.

SET ECHO {ON | OFF}

The default value is OFF.

SET FEEDBACK

The SET FEEDBACK command controls the display of interactive information after a SQL statement executes.

SET FEED[BACK] {ON | OFF | row_threshold}

row_threshold

Specify an integer value for row_threshold. Setting row_threshold to 0 is same as setting FEEDBACK to OFF. Setting row_threshold equal 1 effectively sets FEEDBACK to ON.

SET FLUSH

Use the SET FLUSH command to control display buffering.

SET FLU[SH] {ON | OFF}

Set FLUSH to OFF to enable display buffering. If you enable buffering, messages bound for the screen might not appear until the script completes. Setting FLUSH to OFF offers better performance.

Set FLUSH to ON to disable display buffering. If you disable buffering, messages bound for the screen appear immediately.

SET HEADING

Use the SET HEADING variable to specify whether to display column headings for SELECT statements.

SET HEA[DING] {ON | OFF}

SET HEADSEP

The SET HEADSEP command sets the new heading separator character used by the COLUMN HEADING command. The default is '|'.

SET HEADS[EP]

SET LINESIZE

Use the SET LINESIZE command to specify the width of a line in characters.

SET LIN[ESIZE] width_of_line

width_of_line

The default value of width_of_line is 132.

SET NEWPAGE

Use the SET NEWPAGE command to specify how many blank lines are printed after a page break.

SET NEWP[AGE] lines_per_page

lines_per_page

The default value of lines_per_page is 1.

SET NULL

Use the SET NULL command to specify a string to display when a NULL column value is displayed in the output buffer.

SET NULL null_string

SET PAGESIZE

Use the SET PAGESIZE command to specify the number of printed lines that fit on a page.

SET PAGES[IZE] line_count

Use the line_count parameter to specify the number of lines per page.

SET SQLCASE

The SET SQLCASE command specifies whether to convert SQL statements transmitted to the server to upper or lower case.

SET SQLC[ASE] {MIX[ED] | UP[PER] | LO[WER]}

UPPER

Specify UPPER to convert the command text to upper case.

LOWER

Specify LOWER to convert the command text to lower case.

MIXED

Specify MIXED to leave the case of SQL commands unchanged. The default is MIXED.

SET PAUSE

The SET PAUSE command is most useful when included in a script. The command displays a prompt and waits for the user to press Return.

SET PAU[SE] {ON | OFF}

If SET PAUSE is ON, the message Hit ENTER to continue… appears before each command is executed.

SET SPACE

Use the SET SPACE command to specify the number of spaces to display between columns:

SET SPACE number_of_spaces

SET SQLPROMPT

Use SET SQLPROMPT to set a value for a user-interactive prompt:

SET SQLP[ROMPT] "prompt"

By default, SQLPROMPT is set to "SQL> "

SET TERMOUT

Use the SET TERMOUT command to specify to display command output.

SET TERM[OUT] {ON | OFF}

SET TIMING`

The SET TIMING command specifies whether to display the execution time for each SQL statement after it executes.

SET TIMI[NG] {ON | OFF}

SET TRIMSPOOL`

Use the SET TRIMSPOOL command to remove trailing spaces from each line in the output file specified by the SPOOL command.

SET TRIMS[POOL] {ON | OFF}

The default value is OFF.

SET VERIFY

Specifies whether to display both the old and new values of a SQL statement when a substitution variable is encountered.

SET VER[IFY] { ON | OFF }

SHOW

Use the SHOW command to display current parameter values.

SHO[W] {ALL | parameter_name}

Display the current parameter settings by including the ALL keyword:

SQL> SHOW ALL
autocommit      OFF
colsep          " "
define          "&"
echo            OFF
FEEDBACK ON for 6 row(s).
flush           ON
heading         ON
headsep         "|"
linesize        78
newpage         1
null            " "
pagesize        14
pause           OFF
serveroutput    OFF
spool           OFF
sqlcase         MIXED
sqlprompt       "SQL> "
sqlterminator   ";"
suffix          ".sql"
termout         ON
timing          OFF
verify          ON
USER is         "enterprisedb"
HOST is         "localhost"
PORT is         "5444"
DATABASE is     "edb"
VERSION is      "14.0.0"

Or display a specific parameter setting by including the parameter_name in the SHOW command:

SQL> SHOW VERSION
VERSION is "14.0.0"

SPOOL

The SPOOL command sends output from the display to a file.

SP[OOL] output_file | OFF

Use the output_file parameter to specify a path name for the output file.

START

Use the START command to run an EDB*Plus script file. START is an alias for @ command.

STA[RT] script_file

Specify the name of a script file in the script_file parameter.

UNDEFINE

The UNDEFINE command erases a user variable created by the DEFINE command.

UNDEF[INE] variable_name [ variable_name...]

Use the variable_name parameter to specify the name of a variable or variables.

WHENEVER SQLERROR

The WHENEVER SQLERROR command provides error handling for SQL errors or PL/SQL block errors. The syntax is:

WHENEVER SQLERROR
  {CONTINUE[COMMIT|ROLLBACK|NONE]
  |EXIT[SUCCESS|FAILURE|WARNING|n|sub_variable]
  [COMMIT|ROLLBACK]}

If EDB Postgres Advanced Server encounters an error while executing a SQL command or PL/SQL block, EDB*Plus performs the action specified in the WHENEVER SQLERROR command:

Include the CONTINUE clause to perform the specified action before continuing.

Include the COMMIT clause to commit the current transaction before exiting or continuing.

Include the ROLLBACK clause to roll back the current transaction before exiting or continuing.

Include the NONE clause to continue without committing or rolling back the transaction.

Include the EXIT clause to perform the specified action and exit in case of an error.

Use the following options to specify a status code that EDB*Plus returns before exiting:

[SUCCESS|FAILURE|WARNING|n|sub_variable]

EDB*Plus supports substitution variables but doesn't support bind variables.