Product Description

The Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference is a must-have for anyone working with Oracle databases, especially those looking to maximize the effectiveness of SQL*Plus. As Oracle's long-standing interactive query tool, SQL*Plus is available at every Oracle site, from the largest data warehouse to the smallest single-user system. Despite its wide use, however, SQL*Plus is still often not completely understood or fully utilized. Database administrators and developers alike will therefore find the Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference to be extremely beneficial. In addition to summarizing all of the SQL*Plus syntax and format options, including new Oracle Database 10g features, this handy, on-the-job guide specifically shows readers how to:

• Differentiate between SQL and SQL*Plus
• Interact with SQL*Plus from both the command line and the web browser
• Select, insert, update, and delete data
• Format both text and HTML reports with SQL*Plus
• Specify SQL*Plus commands and format elements
• Tune SQL queries

The new third edition of this book has been updated for Oracle Database 10g to include information on both SQL*Plus and SQL. New SQL information includes the SELECT statement's new MODEL clause, flashback queries, partition outer joins, and DBMS_XPLAN. With its quick-reference format and compact size, the Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference follows in the long line of successful "pocket references" offered by O'Reilly. It also serves as the ideal companion to O'Reilly's larger, more comprehensive book on SQL*Plus, the bestselling Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide. Author Jonathan Gennick is an editor for O'Reilly specializing in database and programming titles, having amassed some 17 years of programming and database management experience.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249701 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 146 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This small slim volume is a concise guide to using Oracle's SQL*Plus tool which acts as a front-end to the SQL querying language. Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference does not attempt to teach you how to use the language but provides a quick reference to the commands available and the ways in which they can be pressed into service.

It's terse but informative, as befits a pocket guide, and so small that the usually entertaining O'Reilly colophon is omitted--which is a shame. The first half covers basic interactions such as string handling and naming variables, moving on to deal with selecting data, formatting reports and tuning SQL statements plus a section on formatting elements that let you do almost anything with number and date displays, including showing dates with a BC or AD indicator. In the tuning section there is brief coverage of execution plans for SQL statements and of how to tune the Oracle optimiser that puts those plans into operation. The second half forms the SQL command reference section, everything from ACCEPT to WHENEVER.

This eminently pocketable reference book would be invaluable for jogging the memory in those odd moments of blankness-- and it's almost palmable if you're shy about admitting fallibility. --Mark Whitehorn

hanksdc, Provo Linux Users Group, May 2002
".....In summary, if you're planning on regular use of SQL*Plus, this book is essential.....My rating: 9.5/10"

From the Publisher
This portable, quick-reference guide is a must-have for developers and DBAs looking to maximize use of SQL*Plus. The new third edition of the Oracle SQL*Plus Pocket Reference updates the SQL*Plus syntax and format options for Oracle Database 10g, Oracle's latest database release. It also describes both command-line and browser-based SQL*Plus, and provides information on new SQL features.

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Customer Reviews

Good quick reference book
If you're looking for a compact quick reference book on SQL*Plus then this'll do the job. The second half the text is purely given over to listing the commands in alpha order, with short examples, but if you want more on SQL query statements (other than "select"), then look elsewhere. On the whole, it does what it sets out to do.

Taught me a thing or two
I've been in Oracle development for quite a while, and find that as the toolset develops, it becomes more difficult to remember everything that Oracle introduces on each new release. This book is an excellent, concise reference book, excellent for jogging the memory. Additionally, it had a couple of topics which I wasn't aware of and I've since used them on a live problem, so for me the book has already paid for itself. One critisism though, was I couldn't find information on the CUBE and ROLLUP functions. It covers 'GROUP BY' so I thought that it would have these too. This is a minor point, but is reflected in the four star rating. Highly recommended as a dip-in reference.