Need a command to format display column width

[swaroop]

Please help me, I am typing a Sql command on a database table

Select * form SoSo..

The display come up zigzag on my sqlplus screen because of uneven size of columns in the table(there are 5 columns). I wanted to display all columns with certain width. I want a sql command for that.

Thanks in advance.

Swaroop Kunduru.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Swaroop,

If you want a SQL command to format the columns, then the best ones are probably a SUBSTR function (for VARCHAR data) and TO_CHAR function (for NUMBER data):

select substr(last_name,1,10)"Last Name"
      ,substr(first_name,1,10)"First Name"
      ,TO_CHAR(salary,'999,999.99')"Salary"
from s_emp;

Last Name  First Name Salary
---------- ---------- -----------
Velasquez  Carmen        3,327.50
Ngao       LaDoris       1,450.00
Nagayama   Midori        1,400.00
Quick-To-S Mark          1,450.00
Ropeburn   Audry         1,550.00

If you are using SQL*Plus, then you can use its native display-formatting capabilities:

col a heading "Last Name" format a10 trunc
col b like a heading "First Name" 
col c heading "Salary" format 999,999.99
select last_name a, first_name b, salary c
from s_emp;

Last Name  First Name      Salary
---------- ---------- -----------
Velasquez  Carmen        3,327.50
Ngao       LaDoris       1,450.00
Nagayama   Midori        1,400.00
Quick-To-S Mark          1,450.00
Ropeburn   Audry         1,550.00

Let us know if this information is what you wanted.


Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]