Spooling result set into file without the newline character

I am spooling the result set of an SQL query into a file using Oracle 8 SQL*Plus. It prints each record on a separate...

line, i.e. it inserts a newline character after each record. Is there a way to get all the records written into the file without the newline character?

If you want to simply spool the results of a query, you can't avoid the newline. In order to get a single, long character string of results, you'd have to write a PL/SQL routine to do so. That routine could use one of several ways but basically you'd have to use a cursor to loop through the result set and create a concatenated string of values.

For More Information

• Dozens more answers to tough Oracle questions from Karen Morton are available.
• The Best Oracle Web Links: tips, tutorials, scripts, and more.
• Have an Oracle or SQL tip to offer your fellow DBAs and developers? The best tips submitted will receive a cool prize. Submit your tip today!
• Ask your technical Oracle and SQL questions -- or help out your peers by answering them -- in our live discussion forums.
• Ask the Experts yourself: Our SQL, database design, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, metadata, object-oriented and data warehousing gurus are waiting to answer your toughest questions.