How to Use SPOOL Command with Bind Variables

Question

For the Following SPOOL I want the GEN_DATE to be entered by the User at the time of execution of the SQL Script. Is it possible in SPOOL Command.
set colsep , -- separate columns with a comma
set pagesize 1000 -- get rid of disturbing ---- between pages
set heading on -- Print column heading
set trimspool on -- remove trailing blanks. eliminating the spaces up to eol
set linesize 700 -- line size should be the sum of the column widths
spool spool_results.csv
SELECT *
FROM GUI_SITE_JOURNAL
WHERE GENDATE_ BETWEEN '2012-11-01 00:00:00:00000' AND '2012-11-02 00:00:00:00000'* ORDER BY GEN_DATE;
spool off;
The reason is to give the ability to user so that he can enter any range without modifying the code of the script.
Can Any one help me please.
Edited by: user10903866 on Feb 18, 2013 7:44 PM

Answer 1

Hi,
user10903866 wrote:
For the Following SPOOL I want the GEN_DATE to be entered by the User at the time of execution of the SQL Script. Is it possible in SPOOL Command.Do you want the user input in the SPOOL command, or do you want it in the query?
set colsep , -- separate columns with a comma
set pagesize 1000 -- get rid of disturbing ---- between pages
set heading on -- Print column heading
set trimspool on -- remove trailing blanks. eliminating the spaces up to eol
set linesize 700 -- line size should be the sum of the column widths
spool spool_results.csv
SELECT *
FROM GUI_SITE_JOURNAL
WHERE GENDATE_ BETWEEN '2012-11-01 00:00:00:00000' AND '2012-11-02 00:00:00:00000'* ORDER BY GEN_DATE;What is the data type oif gen_date?
If it's a string, that's a big mistake. Information about dates belongs in DATE columns.
If it's a DATE, then don't try to compare it to strings, such as '2012-11-01 00:00:00:00000' .
spool off;
The reason is to give the ability to user so that he can enter any range without modifying the code of the script.
Can Any one help me please.One way to do that is with substitution variables:
SET     VERIFY  OFF
ACCEPT  start_gen_date     PROMPT "Starting date (e.g., 2013-02-18 23:00:00.00000): "
ACCEPT  end_gen_date     PROMPT "Ending date   (e.g., 2013-02-18 23:59:59.99999): "
SPOOL  spool_results.csv
SELECT    *
FROM        gui_site_journal
WHERE        gen_date  BETWEEN '&start_gen_date'
                AND     '&end_gen_date'
ORDER BY  gen_date;
SPOOL  OFFThere are security considerations. Substitution variables give devious users the power to issue any SQL command, such as DROP TABLE. Users that have SQL*Plus access already have that power, anyway.