Misaligned SQLPlus output

Question

Hi,
Yes, I know this should go in the SQLPlus (tumbleweed) forum, but somebody there asked exactly the same question over a month ago and it still hasn't received even one attempted reply!
So, simple question; why is the following output misaligned? Specifically, the value 14 for SAMPLE_SIZE is placed in the middle of its column, and consequently LAST_ANALYZED (21-feb-13) is shoved into the SAMPLE_SIZE column:
  1  select column_name, data_type, avg_col_len, density, num_distinct NDV, histogram, num_buckets buckets, sample_
size, last_analyzed,data_type
  2  from dba_tab_cols
  3  where owner  = 'SCOTT'
  4  and table_name = 'EMP'
  5  and column_name = 'EMPNO'
  6* order by internal_column_id
SYS@ORCL> /
COLUMN_NAME               DATA_TYPE  AVG_COL_LEN     DENSITY          NDV HISTOGRAM       BUCKETS SAMPLE_SIZE LAST_
ANAL DATA_TYPE
EMPNO                     NUMBER               4  .071428571           14 NONE                  1       14 21-FEB-1
3 NUMBER
SYS@ORCL>Btw, the **** above should read A N A L (without the spaces) as in LAST_ANALYZED but a rather enthusiastic filter seems to be at work.
Second question - I was wondering if I had entered a COLUMN ... FORMAT command that had screwed things up..but as far as I can tell, there is no way to retrieve the list of column formats that SQLPlus is currently using - or is there?
*****Edit - ignore the second question - I just found that you can simply type
COLUMNto get a listing of all column formatting instructions currently in use. I checked to see if SAMPLE_SIZE has any formatting applied to it and it does not.
Many thanks,
Jason
Edited by: Jason_942375 on Mar 25, 2013 9:53 PM
Edited by: Jason_942375 on Mar 25, 2013 9:55 PM

Answer 1

Jason_942375 wrote:
Hi guys
Sorry, forgot to "watch" the thread.
Well, thanks for your advice, which all seems to boil down to setting linesize. I should have said, I had already looked at this and discounted it as responsible for the issue. I've been able to refine the problem with the following use case:
SCOTT@ORCL> SHOW LINESIZE
linesize 120
SCOTT@ORCL> DROP TABLE T;
Table dropped.
SCOTT@ORCL> create table T (X number);
Table created.
SCOTT@ORCL> insert into t values (14);
1 row created.
SCOTT@ORCL> commit;
Commit complete.
SCOTT@ORCL> select * from t;
X
14
SCOTT@ORCL> select lpad('Z',100,'Z') dummy , X from T;
DUMMY                                                                                                      X
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ      14
SCOTT@ORCL>What you can see is that the formatting of the column X changes. When just that column is selected, all is fine. When it is output next to other column output, it gets misaligned.
I think it may have something to do with the Window width, which I currently have set to 115.
If I set the linesize to a few less (not one less) than 115, it seems to wrap the next column okay. But more testing is needed (though it's not exactly the kind of thing you want to waste hours on...although it's bloody annoying!!).Probably a combination of your window width, AND the font. If it is a 'proportional' font, a space will not be as wide as a "Z" or a "W" ... a string of spaces will tend to pull everything following it to the left. Oracle and SQLPlus have no control over how your windows client renders things.