is sqlcl the next generation of sql*plus?

Zohar Elkayam www.realdbamagic.com

Twitter: @realmgic

Is SQLcl the Next Generation of

SQL*Plus?

http://brillix.co.il2

Who am I?• Zohar Elkayam, CTO at Brillix

• DBA, team leader, database trainer, public speaker, and a senior consultant for over 18 years• Oracle ACE Associate • Involved with Big Data projects since 2011

• Blogger – www.realdbamagic.com and www.ilDBA.co.il

http://www.realdbamagic.com/

http://www.ildba.co.il/

About Brillix• Brillix is a leading company that specialized in Data

Management

• We provide professional services and consulting for Databases, Security, NoSQL, and Big Data solutions

• Providing the Brillix Big Data Experience Center

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Agenda• SQL*Plus and what is it good for• Introducing SQLcl• Installing and Using SQLcl• SQLcl cool features and a demo• Q&A


SQL*Plus• Introduced in Oracle 5 (1985)• Looks very simple but has tight integration with other

Oracle infrastructure and tools• Very good for reporting, scripting, and automation• Replaced old CLI tool called …

UFI (“User Friendly Interface”)


What’s Wrong With SQL*Plus?• Nothing really wrong with SQL*Plus – it is being updated

constantly but it is missing a lot of trivial functionality• SQL*Plus forces us to use GUI tools to complete some basic

tasks• Easy to understand, a bit hard to use• Not easy for new users or developers


Introducing: SQLcl• SQLcl is a new command line interface (CLI) for SQL

developers, report users, and DBAs• It is part of the SQL Developer suite – developed by the

same team: Oracle Database Development Tools Team• Does (or will do) most of what SQL*Plus can do, and much

more• Main focus: making life easier for CLI users• Minimal installation, minimal requirements


Current Status (May 2016)• Still in Early Adopter version• current version: 4.2.0.16.131.1023 RC, May 13, 2016

• QA is still logging bugs from SQL*Plus regression tests• Version comes out every couple of months• Adding support for existing SQL*Plus commands/syntax• Adding new commands and functionality

• The team is accepting bug reports and enhancement requestsfrom the public


Prerequisites• Very small footprint: 12MB• Tool is Java based so it can run on Windows, Linux, and

OS/X• Java 7/8 JRE (runtime environment - no need for JDK)• No need for installer or setup• No need for any other additional software or special

license• No need for Oracle Client


Installing• Download from: SQLcl Developer tool OTN Page• Unzip the file• Verify has +x if in Linux/OSX• Run it

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sqlcl/overview/index.html

Running SQLcl



Connecting to the Database• When no Oracle Client: Using thin connection:

EZConnect connect style out of the boxconnect host:port/service

• Support TNS, Thick and LDAP connection when Oracle home detected• Auto-complete connection strings from last connections

AND tnsnames.ora


Object Completion and Easy Edit• Use the tab key to complete commands• Can be used to list tables, views or other queriable

objects• Can be used to replace the * with actual column names• Use the arrow keys to move around the command• Use CTRL+W and CTRL+S to jump to the beginning/end

of commands


Command History• 100 command history buffer• Commands are persistent between sessions (watch out for security!)• User SET NOHISTORY to blacklist commands to not go into history• Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to access the old commands• Usage:

historyhistory usagehistory timehistory scripthistory fullhistory clear [session?]

• Load from history into command buffer:history <number>


Describe, Information and Info+• Describe lists the column of the tables just like SQL*Plus• Information shows column names, default values,

indexes and constraints.• In 12c database information shows table statistics and

In memory status• Works for table, views, sequences, and code objects• Info+ shows additional information regarding column

statistics and column histograms

SHOW ALL and SHOW ALL+• The show all command is familiar from SQL*Plus – it will

show all the parameters for the SQL*Plus settings• The show all+ command will show the show all

command and some perks: available tns entries, list of pdbs, connection settings, instance settings, nls settings, and more!



Repeat• Repeats the current SQL or PL/SQL in the buffer the

specified number of times with specified sleep intervals• Looks like the “watch” command in Linux

• Usage:repeat <iterations> <sleep>


Repeat as “tail -f alert.log”• Jeff Smith (@thatjeffsmith) had a cool implementation

for the repeat command on Oracle 12c:• tail –f on the alert log

SELECT To_Char(Originating_Timestamp, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SSxFF') Time_Entry, substr(trim(message_text), 0, 75) || '...' ABBR_MESSAGE_TEXT

FROM X$dbgalertextORDER BY Originating_Timestamp DESC, indx descfetch FIRST 15 ROWS ONLY;

http://www.thatjeffsmith.com/archive/2015/04/tailing-the-alert-log-with-sqlcl/


DDL and DBMS_METADATA• Extract DDL of objects using a single command

DDL <object name>• Uses DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL to extract the object• We can modify the output using SET DDL:

SET DDL SET DDL [[ PRETTY | SQLTERMINATOR | CONSTRAINTS | REF_CONSTRAINTS | CONSTRAINTS_AS_ALTER|OID | SIZE_BYTE_KEYWORD | PARTITIONING | SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES | STORAGE | TABLESPACE | SPECIFICATION | BODY | FORCE | INSERT | |INHERIT | RESET] {on|off} ]| OFF ]

OERR• OERR shows an error message just like the oerr in the

command line (in *nix systems)


SQL> oerr ora-0

00000. 00000 - "normal, successful completion"*Cause: Normal exit.*Action: None.SQL> oerr ora-1

00001. 00000 - "unique constraint (%s.%s) violated"*Cause: An UPDATE or INSERT statement attempted to insert a duplicate

key. For Trusted Oracle configured in DBMS MAC mode, you may see this message if a duplicate entry exists at a different level.*Action: Either remove the unique restriction or do not insert the key.


Alias• Alias is a command which allows us to save a SQL, PL/SQL or

SQL*Plus scripts, and assign it a shortcut command.

• Command can receive parameters using bind variables• Aliases are session persistent and being saved• Usage:

• alias - for list of aliases• alias list <aliasName> - for definition• Setting an alias:

• alias my_command=sql; (terminate with ;)• alias my_code=begin command; end; (terminate with /)


Alias Example• We’re tired of running the dbms_xplan after we explain

a query• So we set this alias:alias plan=select * from table(dbms_xplan.display);

SQL> explain plan for select * From dual;

Explained.

SQL> plan

PLAN_TABLE_OUTPUT---------------------------------------------------------------

Plan hash value: 272002086


CTAS• Extract DDL for a table and use it to recreate another

table using select * from• Useful when we want to copy a table with partitions or a

primary key• Might not stay in the final version – have a lot of small

and annoying issues

• Usage: ctas table new_table


SQLPATH• SQLPATH is the order in which the CLI is looking for sql scripts

(both in SQL*Plus and SQLcl)• Running a script not from the path requires full path location• Default search order is:

1. Current cd directory2. Current running directory3. The rest of the sqlpath

• Show SQLPATH will show that current search path


CD command• When we want to change the path in SQL*Plus, we

usually can’t. • SQLcl comes with CD command to change that path and

make it easier to run scripts:

• Usage:cd /u01/app/oracle/scriptsShow SQLPATH


Bridge• Used mainly to script data move between two

connections from the client (no server direct server connections)

• The following functionality is available:1. Query tables in other connections2. Query tables in multiple connections in the same statement3. Insert data from one connection into another4. Create a table and insert data into it from another

connection


Bridge (cont.)• Uses JDBC connection string to connect our client to the remote

connection.• Creates a table with the results in the database

• Usage:BRIDGE <targetTableName> as "<jdbcURL>"(<sqlQuery>);

• Example:BRIDGE dept_remote as “jdbc:oracle:thin:scott/tiger@localhost:1521/orcl"(select * from dept);

Pretty Input• Using the SQL Developer formatting rules, it will change our input

into well formatted commands.• Use the SQLFORMATPATH to point to the SQL Developer rule file

(XML)


SQL> select * from dual;

D-X

SQL> format buffer; 1 SELECT 2 * 3 FROM 4* dual


SQL*Plus Output• SQL*Plus output is generated as text tables• We can output the data as HTML but the will take over

everything we do in SQL*Plus (i.e. describe command)• We can’t use colors in our output• We can’t generate other types of useful outputs (CSV is

really hard for example)


Generating Pretty Output• Outputting query results becomes easier with the “set

sqlformat” command (also available in SQL Developer)

• We can create a query in the “regular” way and then switch between the different output styles:• ANSIConsole• Fixed column size output• XML or JSON output

• HTML output generates a built in search field and a responsive html output for the result only


Generating Other Useful Outputs• We can generate loader ready output (with “|” as a

delimiter)• We can generate insert commands• We can easily generate CSV output

• Usage:set sqlformat { csv,html,xml,json,ansiconsole,insert,loader,fixed,default}


Load Data From CSV File• Loads a comma separated value (csv) file into a table• The first row of the file must be a header row and the

file must be encoded UTF8• The load is processed with 50 rows per batch

• Usage:LOAD [schema.]table_name[@db_link] file_name

SCRIPT• SQLcl exposes javascript scripting with nashorn to make

things very scriptable• This means we can create our own commands inside

SQLcl using JavaScript• For more information (and DEMO), check out Kris Rice’s

blog (product manger for SQLcl): http://krisrice.blogspot.com/


http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/java/jf14-nashorn-2126515.html

http://krisrice.blogspot.com/

http://krisrice.blogspot.com/


Q&A


Conclusion• We talked about SQL*Plus and SQLcl differences• We saw how to start working with SQLcl• We tried some of its new features• There are more new features coming and since it's and

EA version, more bug fixes to come• I’ve been using this tool for over a year now – it’s just

getting better all the time!

What Did We Not Talk About?• Official release date (but rumer says it will be shipped

out with 12cR2• The SQLcl is very open to ideas – check them out• Bug reporting can be done on the community page:

https://community.oracle.com/community/database/developer-tools/sql_developer/sqlcl






Useful Resources• SQLcl OTN page:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sqlcl/overview/index.html• SQLcl Community page:

https://community.oracle.com/community/database/developer-tools/sql_developer/sqlcl• Kris Rice (@krisrice) manage Oracle SQL Developer team

Blog: http://krisrice.blogspot.com/• Jeff Smith (@thatjeffsmith) Oracle SQL Developer Product Manager at

OracleBlog: http://www.thatjeffsmith.com/






https://twitter.com/krisrice

https://twitter.com/krisrice

http://krisrice.blogspot.co.uk/

http://krisrice.blogspot.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/thatjeffsmith

https://twitter.com/thatjeffsmith

http://www.thatjeffsmith.com/

http://www.thatjeffsmith.com/


Thank YouZohar Elkayam

twitter: @[email protected]

www.realdbamagic.com

mailto:[email protected]

is sqlcl the next generation of sql*plus?

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