Oracle SQLPlus: How to display the output of a sqlplus command without having to first issue the spool off command?

Question

Is there a way to display the output of a sqlplus command without having to first issue the spool off command?

I am spooling the results of a sqlplus session to a file while at the same time tailing the file. The reason for this is that for table with very long rows the format is easier to look at from a file. The problem is to see the output i have to issue the spool off command everytime i run a command in sqlplus.

Can i configure sqlplus so that after i have issued the spool command all the output is viewable straight away on the file.

(Formating the way the rows are displayed on the screen is not an option. )

THanks

Answer 1

SPOOL is really intended for creating a file of SQL*Plus output, for whatever purpose: logging, input to another process, etc. There is no facility for inflight viewing of its output.

There are a number of ways of solving this particular problem, but the easiest is surely to use an IDE which includes a data browser, thus obviating the need to tail a file. There are a number on the market, including Quest's TOAD and Allround Automation's PL/SQL Developer, but if you don't want to spring for a license fee then you should have a look at Oracle's own (free) SQL Developer.

Answer 2

If your problem is that you can't open the output file (as the spool process has a lock on it) then try copying the file output to another file and opening that file instead.

Answer 3

I tried to add a comment but for some reason it doesnt save it so ill try the "Answer your question" option :)

I do use SQLDeveloper but there are situations where i have to use sqlplus where SQLDeveloper is not available then i am stuck with plain old sqlplus.

There are other situations where i would use sqlplus over sqldeveloper purely for the fact that it would take me 1/2 minute to find out what i am looking for in sqlplus rather than several minutes with SQLDeveloper as it would take ages to load.

I have checked the time it takes before the output is flushed out and it looks like it does flush it out after a certain number of rows. Isnt there a way to reduce the buffer so that they are flushed out quicker?

There is no problem opening the file the problem is even with the file opened i cant see the output unless i issue the "spool off" command or the output has several hundred rows. I am using a free program called baretail (http://www.baretail.com) to tail the spool file on windows.

Thanks

Answer 4

Since it sounds like your real problem is formatting of output in SQLPlus -- can you make your SQLPlus window wider and SET LINESIZE so the output looks better in SQLPlus to start with? Then you might not need to spool at all.

Answer 5

If you are spooling the results of multiple statements you could turn spooling off and then turn it back on between each statement. When you turn spooling back on add the append keyword so that it will continue in the same file rather than overwriting it.

If you want to see the results of one query in your spool file you could break the query up into multiple queries that returned specific ranges of the data. This would be slower, but you could cycle spooling to get faster feedback.