CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sqloracle-databasevariablesdeclare
Nathan
Nathan

Reputation: 1411

How do I use variables in Oracle SQL Developer?

Below is an example of using variables in SQL Server 2000.

DECLARE @EmpIDVar INT

SET @EmpIDVar = 1234

SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE EmployeeID = @EmpIDVar

I want to do the exact same thing in Oracle using SQL Developer without additional complexity. It seems like a very simple thing to do, but I can't find a simple solution. How can I do it?

Upvotes: 141

Views: 511686

Answers (10)

gavenkoa
gavenkoa

Reputation: 48713

There are two types of variable in SQL-plus: substitution and bind.

This is substitution (substitution variables can replace SQL*Plus command options or other hard-coded text):

define a = 1;
select &a from dual;
undefine a;

This is bind (bind variables store data values for SQL and PL/SQL statements executed in the RDBMS; they can hold single values or complete result sets):

var x number;
exec :x := 10;
select :x from dual;
exec select count(*) into :x from dual;
exec print x;

SQL Developer supports substitution variables, but when you execute a query with bind :var syntax you are prompted for the binding (in a dialog box).

Reference:

UPDATE substitution variables are a bit tricky to use, look:

define phone = '+38097666666';
select &phone from dual; -- plus is stripped as it is a number
select '&phone' from dual; -- plus is preserved as it is a string

Upvotes: 96

Developer
Developer

Reputation: 190

I think that the Easiest way in your case is :

DEFINE EmpIDVar = 1234;

SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE EmployeeID = &EmpIDVar

For the string values it will be like :

DEFINE EmpIDVar = '1234';

SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE EmployeeID = '&EmpIDVar'

Upvotes: 11

zpontikas
zpontikas

Reputation: 5662

Ok I know this a bit of a hack but this is a way to use a variable in a simple query, not a script:

WITH
    emplVar AS
    (SELECT 1234 AS id FROM dual)
SELECT
    *
FROM
    employees,
    emplVar
WHERE
    EmployId=emplVar.id;

You get to run it everywhere.

Upvotes: 20

Md. Kamruzzaman
Md. Kamruzzaman

Reputation: 1905

In sql developer define properties by default "ON". If it is "OFF" any case, use below steps.

set define on; define batchNo='123'; update TABLE_NAME SET IND1 = 'Y', IND2 = 'Y' WHERE BATCH_NO = '&batchNo';

Upvotes: 2

Jeen Jose Akkanath
Jeen Jose Akkanath

Reputation: 11

Try this it will work, it's better create a procedure, if procedure is not possible you can use this script.

with param AS(
SELECT 1234 empid
FROM dual)
 SELECT *
  FROM Employees, param
  WHERE EmployeeID = param.empid;
END;

Upvotes: 1

Ivan Gerasimenko
Ivan Gerasimenko

Reputation: 2428

Use the next query:

DECLARE 
  EmpIDVar INT;

BEGIN
  EmpIDVar := 1234;

  SELECT *
  FROM Employees
  WHERE EmployeeID = EmpIDVar;
END;

Upvotes: 1

Baodad
Baodad

Reputation: 2491

You can read up elsewhere on substitution variables; they're quite handy in SQL Developer. But I have fits trying to use bind variables in SQL Developer. This is what I do:

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
declare
  v_testnum number;
  v_teststring varchar2(1000);

begin
   v_testnum := 2;
   DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line('v_testnum is now ' || v_testnum);

   SELECT 36,'hello world'
   INTO v_testnum, v_teststring
   from dual;

   DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line('v_testnum is now ' || v_testnum);
   DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line('v_teststring is ' || v_teststring);
end;

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON makes it so text can be printed to the script output console.

I believe what we're doing here is officially called PL/SQL. We have left the pure SQL land and are using a different engine in Oracle. You see the SELECT above? In PL/SQL you always have to SELECT ... INTO either variable or a refcursor. You can't just SELECT and return a result set in PL/SQL.

Upvotes: 7

Omphaloskopie
Omphaloskopie

Reputation: 2012

I am using the SQL-Developer in Version 3.2. The other stuff didn't work for me, but this did:

define value1 = 'sysdate'

SELECT &&value1 from dual;

Also it's the slickest way presented here, yet.

(If you omit the "define"-part you'll be prompted for that value)

Upvotes: 115

Justin Cave
Justin Cave

Reputation: 231651

In SQL*Plus, you can do something very similar

SQL> variable v_emp_id number;
SQL> select 1234 into :v_emp_id from dual;

      1234
----------
      1234

SQL> select *
  2    from emp
  3   where empno = :v_emp_id;

no rows selected

In SQL Developer, if you run a statement that has any number of bind variables (prefixed with a colon), you'll be prompted to enter values. As Alex points out, you can also do something similar using the "Run Script" function (F5) with the alternate EXEC syntax Alex suggests does.

variable v_count number;
variable v_emp_id number;
exec :v_emp_id := 1234;
exec select count(1) into :v_count from emp;
select *
  from emp
 where empno = :v_emp_id
exec print :v_count;

Upvotes: 53

Chandu
Chandu

Reputation: 82893

Simple answer NO.

However you can achieve something similar by running the following version using bind variables:

SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE EmployeeID = :EmpIDVar

Once you run the query above in SQL Developer you will be prompted to enter value for the bind variable EmployeeID.

Upvotes: 14

Related Questions