I'm losing my mind !!!

[softdrink]

I'm NEW to Oralce. I love it, but... lots of mistakes
I'm using SqlPlus for Oracle 8i

here's what I'm typing

accept col_name prompt 'Enter column name :'
select &col_name
from users

the error is this:
accept col_name prompt 'Enter column name :'
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00900: invalid SQL statement

WHY WHY WHY ??? When I go to the editor I enter the accept command there, righ before select statement. Should I be doing this there or does the accept command only work before issuing select statement. I mean, enter accept command and then run the select statement. Please HELP !!!

softdrink

 

[ThomVF]

This works fine for me, command line or in a script.
I am on Solaris8.

Are you using a script or the command-line ?
Thomas V. Flaherty Jr.
Birch Hill Technology Group, Inc.

http://www.birchhillgroup.com

 

[Reesy]

Instead of using the accept command you can use

select &colname
from users

and you will be prompted for the value.

If you do want to use accept then it has to be entered before the select statement - the value of the variable will then remain defined until you clear it with undefine or by exiting sqlplus Blood, Sweat But No Tears!

 

[karluk]

I don't think you are allowed to enter multiple commands in your SQL*Plus buffer. Perhaps that's the reason for your error.

The right way to execute a file containing multiple commands is to use the "@" command followed by a file name.

@full_path_name_of_file

It's likely your script would have worked if you had typed at the SQL*Plus prompt

@afiedt.buf

 

[softdrink]

Karluk, thanks you were right. The buffer does not let me do it, but executing the command @my_file_name works fine. Thanks all you guys for help and suggestions.

softdrink