Can I make SQL*Plus output more readable like this ?

Question

Version : 11.2
Can I make sql results more readbale like below using SqlPlus ? ie. enclosing result columns neatly in a table like structure.
+------------+------------+
| department | Avg Salary |
+------------+------------+
| Finance    | 63863.2479 |
| Hardware   | 66308.3700 |
| HR         | 66402.6549 |
| QA         | 66012.7119 |
| Software   | 61928.2700 |
| Switch     | 66413.2231 |
+------------+------------+I think this is from MySQL or Postgress (the below doesn't anything about that)
http://guylichtman.com/db-spring06/hw1_solution_sql.txt
If not possible using SQL*Plus , can this be done using some other tools like PL/SQL developer (which we have) ?
Not a business case . I just want to send some SQL training stuff to my friend.
Moreover , during posting in OTN, it would be better to post some sample data , so that volunteer gurus can quickly understand what they are looking at.

Answer 1

Hi,
GarryB wrote:
Version : 11.2
Can I make sql results more readbale like below using SqlPlus ? ie. enclosing result columns neatly in a table like structure.The default output is in a table-like structure, with rows and columns, and with the columns aligned. It looks like you want extra lines around those rows and columns.
+------------+------------+
| department | Avg Salary |
+------------+------------+
| Finance    | 63863.2479 |
| Hardware   | 66308.3700 |
| HR         | 66402.6549 |
| QA         | 66012.7119 |
| Software   | 61928.2700 |
| Switch     | 66413.2231 |
+------------+------------+COLSEP is an easy way to get some of what you want:
SQL> SET  COLSEP  "  |  "
SQL> SELECT * FROM scott.dept;
    DEPTNO  |  DNAME           |  LOC
----------  |  --------------  |  -------------
        10  |  ACCOUNTING      |  NEW YORK
        20  |  RESEARCH        |  DALLAS
        30  |  SALES           |  CHICAGO
        40  |  OPERATIONS      |  BOSTONSQL*Plus can also generate HTML output, but you have to use a browser, not the SQL*Plus interface, to get see the output formatted.
I think this is from MySQL or Postgress (the below doesn't anything about that)
http://guylichtman.com/db-spring06/hw1_solution_sql.txt
If not possible using SQL*Plus , can this be done using some other tools like PL/SQL developer (which we have) ?
Not a business case . I just want to send some SQL training stuff to my friend.
Moreover , during posting in OTN, it would be better to post some sample data , so that volunteer gurus can quickly understand what they are looking at.If we could get everyone on this forum to post any kind of formatted output, that would be wonderful! Personally, the extra lines wouldn't help me any, however.