This script is useful for ad-hoc queries with numerous select list items within SQL*Plus. It formats the output as one column_name = column_value per line. Normally, the display would show many heading lines and then some data, making it difficult to line up columns with their values. It is most useful for displaying data from a small number of rows of a table/view that has numerous columns where the SQL*Plus output is difficult to read. It's handy for debugging data problems and for ad-hoc queries.
Limitations: Works only with Oracle built-in datatypes (varchar,number,date etc) and returns at most 4000 bytes of column value. Since it returns clob type, is not appropriate for querying large number of rows as it may not be able to allocate enough temp space.
Usage: From SQL*Plus, 'set long' and 'longchunksize' large enough for the estimated size of data returned. Example:
SQL> select pageview('select * from user_tables where
table_name=''MYTABLE''') from dual;
Example output:
/* --Row 1 TABLE_NAME = MYTABLE TABLESPACE_NAME = MYTABLESPACE CLUSTER_NAME = IOT_NAME = PCT_FREE = 10 PCT_USED = 40 INI_TRANS = 1 MAX_TRANS = 255 INITIAL_EXTENT = 13127680 NEXT_EXTENT = 9818112 MIN_EXTENTS = 1 MAX_EXTENTS = 249 PCT_INCREASE = 50 FREELISTS
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= 1 FREELIST_GROUPS = 1 LOGGING = YES BACKED_UP = N NUM_ROWS = BLOCKS = EMPTY_BLOCKS = AVG_SPACE = CHAIN_CNT = AVG_ROW_LEN = AVG_SPACE_FREELIST_BLOCKS = NUM_FREELIST_BLOCKS = DEGREE = 1 INSTANCES = 1 CACHE = N TABLE_LOCK = ENABLED SAMPLE_SIZE = LAST_ANALYZED = PARTITIONED = NO IOT_TYPE = TEMPORARY = N SECONDARY = N NESTED = NO BUFFER_POOL = DEFAULT ROW_MOVEMENT = DISABLED GLOBAL_STATS = NO USER_STATS = NO DURATION = SKIP_CORRUPT = DISABLED MONITORING = NO CLUSTER_OWNER = DEPENDENCIES = DISABLED /*
Here's the script. It was developed on 9i, but will work on versions supporting CLOB datatype and dynamic PL/SQL (dbms_sql package).
chndl integer;
descTab dbms_sql.desc_tab2;
colCnt integer;
outVal varchar2(4000);
numrows number;
rowCnt integer := 0;
-- newline character
nl varchar2(1) := '
';
maxColNameLen pls_integer := 0;
retval clob ;
begin
-- First we validate that this is a select statement
if upper(ltrim(sqlstmt)) not like 'SELECT%' then
raise_application_error(-20001,'Not a SELECT statement');
end if;
-- open a cursor
chndl := dbms_sql.open_cursor;
-- parse the select statement
dbms_sql.parse(chndl,sqlstmt,dbms_sql.NATIVE);
-- now describe columns
dbms_sql.describe_columns2(chndl,colCnt,descTab);
-- set length for each column
for i in 1..colCnt loop
-- get the max length of column name in query for display format purposes
if descTab(i).col_name_len > maxColNameLen then
maxColNameLen := descTab(i).col_name_len;
end if;
-- Dates are set to size 7, we'll use 12 but may need changed based on
default date output format
if descTab(i).col_type=12 then -- date datatype
dbms_sql.define_column(chndl,i,descTab(i).col_name,12);
else -- all others use max len of column
dbms_sql.define_column(chndl,i,descTab(i).col_name,descTab(i).col_max_len);
end if;
end loop;
-- Now execute the sql
numrows := dbms_sql.execute(chndl);
-- fetch each row and format column_name = column_value, one per line
loop
if dbms_sql.fetch_rows(chndl) > 0 then
rowCnt := rowCnt+1;
-- Use the row number as a separator between row displays
retVal := retVal||nl||' --Row '||rowCnt||nl;
-- get column values
for i in 1..colCnt loop
dbms_sql.column_value(chndl,i,outVal);
-- concat <column_name> = <column_value>
retval := retval||rpad(descTab(i).col_Name,maxColNameLen)||' =
'||outVal||nl;
end loop;
else
exit;
end if;
end loop;
dbms_sql.close_cursor(chndl);
return(retval);
exception when others then
if dbms_sql.is_open(chndl) then dbms_sql.close_cursor(chndl); end if;
return(sqlerrm);
end;
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This was first published in October 2002
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