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annotate docs/source/capabilities.rst @ 387:e3dd9e4467d1
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author | catherine@DellZilla |
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date | Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:09:46 -0400 |
parents | 2fd766784ff2 |
children | e89db2eaa0b4 |
rev | line source |
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281 | 1 ============================== |
247 | 2 SQLPython's extra capabilities |
3 ============================== | |
4 | |
5 For the most part, SQLPython simply duplicates SQL\*Plus's capabilites. | |
6 | |
279 | 7 Neatened output |
8 =============== | |
9 | |
10 When printing query results, sqlpython economizes on screen space by allocating | |
11 only the width each column actually needs. | |
12 | |
13 Smart prompt | |
14 ============ | |
15 | |
16 sqlpython automatically uses `username`@`instance`> as its prompt, helping | |
17 avoid wrong-instance and wrong-user errors. | |
18 | |
19 Tab completion | |
20 ============== | |
21 | |
22 When typing SQL commands, hitting `<TAB>` after entering part of an object | |
23 or column name brings up a list of appropriate possibilities or, if there | |
24 is only one possibility, fills in the rest of the name. This feature is | |
25 not yet very reliable, but can save typing. | |
26 | |
27 Scripting | |
28 ========= | |
29 | |
30 Like SQL\*Plus, sqlpython can run scripts (text files with series of SQL and | |
31 sqlpython commands) with `@/path/to/script.sql` or (for online scripts) | |
32 `@http://scripthost/scriptlibrary/script.sql`. | |
33 | |
34 History | |
35 ======= | |
36 | |
37 The up- and down-arrow keys allow you to scroll through the lines entered so far | |
38 in your sqlpython session. | |
39 | |
40 Commands are also entered into a command history. | |
41 | |
286 | 42 history *or* hi |
43 List entire command history | |
279 | 44 |
286 | 45 list *or* li |
46 List only last command | |
279 | 47 |
286 | 48 hi `<N>` |
49 List command number <N> from history. | |
279 | 50 |
286 | 51 hi `<N>-`, hi `-<N>` |
52 List commands from <N> onward, or up to <N> | |
279 | 53 |
286 | 54 hi `<str>` |
55 Lists commands that include the string <str> | |
279 | 56 |
286 | 57 hi `/<regex>/` |
58 Lists commands that match the regular expression <regex> | |
279 | 59 |
286 | 60 run, r, *or* `\\g` |
61 Run the most recent command again | |
279 | 62 |
286 | 63 run `<N>` |
64 Run command <N> | |
279 | 65 |
286 | 66 run `<str>`, run `/<regex>/` |
67 Run command matching <str> or <regex> (as for `history`) - | |
68 if multiple items would match, run most recent | |
279 | 69 |
281 | 70 Special I/O destinations |
71 ======================== | |
72 | |
73 Much as in a UNIX shell, you can follow a command with a special output destination. | |
74 | |
75 `> {filename}` sends the output to a file. This is more convenient than SQL\*Plus's | |
76 SPOOL {filename}... SPOOL OFF (though you can use those as well). | |
77 | |
78 `>` alone (no filename) sends the output to the paste buffer. | |
79 | |
80 `|` pipes the output to an operating-system command. | |
81 | |
82 When `< {filename}` is included in your command, it is replaced with the contents of | |
83 {filename} before the command is run. | |
84 | |
85 Examples:: | |
86 | |
283 | 87 Need examples!!!! |
88 | |
281 | 89 Special output formats |
90 ====================== | |
91 | |
92 By replacing the `;` that terminates a SELECT statement with a backslash-character | |
93 sequence, you can get output in a number of useful formats. The `terminators` | |
283 | 94 command lists them, for your convenience. |
281 | 95 |
283 | 96 ========== ======================== ================================ |
97 terminator format Useful for | |
98 ========== ======================== ================================ | |
99 ; standard Oracle format | |
100 \\c CSV (with headings) sending to spreadsheets | |
101 \\C CSV (no headings) | |
102 \\g list wide output with linewraps | |
103 \\G aligned list | |
104 \\h HTML table web reports | |
105 \\i INSERT statements copying to other instances | |
106 \\j JSON | |
329
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107 \\r ReStructured Text inclusion in documentation |
283 | 108 \\s CSV (with headings) |
109 \\S CSV (no headings) | |
329
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110 \\t transposed "wide" tables like v$database |
283 | 111 \\x XML |
112 \\l line plot, with markers | |
113 \\L scatter plot (no lines) | |
114 \\b bar graph | |
115 \\p pie chart | |
116 ========== ======================== ================================ | |
281 | 117 |
118 Most of these output formats are even more useful when combined with special output | |
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119 destinations. For example, `SELECT * FROM party\\h > /var/www/party_report.html` |
281 | 120 could create an HTML report in the webserver's documents directory, ready to serve. |
121 | |
247 | 122 UNIX-like commands |
123 ================== | |
124 | |
279 | 125 Many sqlpython commands allow you to act as though the database objects |
126 were files in a UNIX filesystem. Many of the commands also accept flags | |
127 to modify their behavior. | |
128 | |
286 | 129 ls `{object type/object name, with wildcards}` |
281 | 130 Lists objects from the data dictionaries, as though they were in a |
131 *object_type*/*object_name* directory structure. Thus, `ls view/\*` | |
132 lists all the user's views. Calling with no argument is equivalent | |
133 to `ls *`. | |
134 | |
135 Options:: | |
136 | |
137 -l, --long long descriptions | |
138 -a, --all all schemas' objects (otherwise, you only get your own) | |
139 -t, --timesort Sort by last_ddl_time | |
140 -r, --reverse Reverse order while sorting | |
247 | 141 |
281 | 142 `ls -lt *;10` lists the ten items with the most recent last_ddl_time; |
143 this can be a good way to answer the question, "What was I working on?" | |
144 | |
286 | 145 cat `{remainder of query}` |
146 Shorthand for "SELECT * FROM". Can be combined with anything else | |
147 that fits into a SELECT statement (WHERE, ORDER BY, etc.) | |
281 | 148 |
286 | 149 grep `{target}` `{table}` `[{table2,...}]` |
150 Equivalent to SELECT * FROM {table} WHERE *any column* LIKE '%{target}%'. | |
151 Useful when you don't know, don't remember, or don't care which column | |
152 a value may be found in. | |
281 | 153 |
154 Options:: | |
155 | |
156 -i, --ignore-case Case-insensitive search | |
247 | 157 |
281 | 158 find -c {target}, find -t {column} |
159 Lists all tables or columns whose names contain {target}. More convenient than | |
160 querying user_tab_columns/all_tab_columns or user_tables/all_tables. | |
161 Options:: | |
283 | 162 |
281 | 163 -a Find all objects (not just my own) |
164 | |
286 | 165 Data dictionary exploration |
166 =========================== | |
167 | |
168 refs `{table_name}` | |
169 Lists all foreign key constraints on the table or referring to the table. | |
170 | |
171 deps `{object_name}` | |
172 Lists all objects dependent upon the named object. | |
173 | |
174 comments `{table_name}` | |
175 Prints comments on a table and its columns. | |
176 | |
177 PL/SQL source code | |
178 ================== | |
179 | |
180 pull {object_name} | |
181 Displays the PL/SQL source code for {object_name}. | |
182 | |
183 Options: | |
184 -d, --dump dump results to files (object_type/object_name.sql) | |
185 -f, --full get dependent objects as well | |
186 -a, --all all schemas' objects | |
187 | |
188 bzr, git, hg `{object_name}` | |
189 Dump source code to files, as `pull -f`, but also creates or commits to a | |
190 repository of the appropriate distributed version control system | |
191 (Bazaar, Git, or Mercurial, respectively). | |
192 | |
193 find `{target}` | |
194 Lists all PL/SQL objects whose source code contains the {target} string. | |
195 Always case-insensitive. | |
196 Options:: | |
197 | |
198 -a Search all PL/SQL objects (not just my own) | |
199 | |
247 | 200 PostgreSQL-like shortcuts |
201 ========================= | |
202 | |
283 | 203 psql, the command-line client for the open-source database `PostgreSQL <http://www.postgresql.org/>`_ uses a number |
204 of backslash-character sequences as convenient shortcuts. sqlpython steals many of | |
205 them. | |
206 | |
207 ===== =================== | |
247 | 208 \\c connect |
209 \\d desc | |
210 \\e edit | |
211 \\g run | |
212 \\h help | |
213 \\i load | |
214 \\o spool | |
215 \\p list | |
216 \\q quit | |
217 \\w save | |
218 \\db _dir_tablespaces | |
219 \\dd comments | |
220 \\dn _dir_schemas | |
221 \\dt _dir_tables | |
222 \\dv _dir_views | |
223 \\di _dir_indexes | |
224 \\? help psql | |
283 | 225 ===== =================== |
281 | 226 |
227 Bind variables | |
228 ============== | |
229 | |
230 Bind variables work in sqlpython as they do in SQL\*Plus, but they are set dynamically; there | |
231 is no need to declare them before use. The syntax for setting them is more permissive than | |
232 in SQL\*Plus; all these are recognized:: | |
233 | |
234 exec :mybind := 'value' | |
235 exec :mybind = 'value' | |
236 :mybind := 'value' | |
237 :mybind = 'value' | |
238 | |
239 The current values of all bind variables can be viewed with the `print` command. | |
240 | |
241 The `bind` command creates and populates bind variables for the final row of the most recent | |
242 SELECT statement executed; each column name is used as a bind variable, which is filled with | |
243 the value. `bind -r {rownumber}` does the same, but fills from row {rownumber} instead of | |
244 from the final row (row numbers begin at 0 for this command). | |
245 | |
246 When the `autobind` sqlpython parameter is True, a `bind` statement is issued automatically | |
247 after every query that returns exactly one row. | |
248 | |
249 Bind variables are available from within Python as a dictionary named `binds` (see Python). | |
250 | |
251 Substitution variables | |
252 ====================== | |
253 | |
254 Substitution variables ("&" variables) work much as they do in SQL\*Plus. As in SQL\*Plus, | |
255 the `scan` parameter determines whether queries are scanned to replace substitution | |
256 variables. Unlike SQL\*Plus, sqlpython knows how annoying it is to hit a substitution | |
257 variable you didn't expect, so entering "SET SCAN OFF" when prompted for a substitution | |
258 variable actually aborts the substitution process. | |
259 | |
247 | 260 Wild SQL |
261 ======== | |
262 | |
263 Wild SQL is a nonstandard SQL feature that must be enabled with `set wildsql on`. When it is | |
282 | 264 enabled, column names in a SELECT statement do not need to be explicitly typed; they can be |
265 specified with special Wild SQL symbols: wildcards (`*`, `%`, `_`); column numbers (`#{N}`); | |
266 and NOT-style exclusion (`!`). The symbols can even be combined. | |
247 | 267 |
282 | 268 :: |
247 | 269 |
282 | 270 jrrt@orcl> cat party |
271 | |
272 NAME STR INT WIS DEX CON CHA | |
273 ------- --- --- --- --- --- --- | |
274 Frodo 8 14 16 15 14 16 | |
275 Gimli 17 12 10 11 17 11 | |
276 Legolas 13 15 14 18 15 17 | |
277 Sam 11 9 14 11 16 13 | |
278 | |
279 4 rows selected. | |
280 | |
281 jrrt@orcl> set wild on | |
282 wildsql - was: False | |
283 now: True | |
284 jrrt@orcl> select *i* from party; | |
285 | |
286 INT WIS | |
287 --- --- | |
288 14 16 | |
289 12 10 | |
290 15 14 | |
291 9 14 | |
292 | |
293 4 rows selected. | |
294 | |
295 jrrt@orcl> select #1, #5 from party; | |
296 | |
297 NAME DEX | |
298 ------- --- | |
299 Frodo 15 | |
300 Gimli 11 | |
301 Legolas 18 | |
302 Sam 11 | |
303 | |
304 4 rows selected. | |
305 | |
306 jrrt@orcl> select !str from party; | |
307 | |
308 NAME INT WIS DEX CON CHA | |
309 ------- --- --- --- --- --- | |
310 Frodo 14 16 15 14 16 | |
311 Gimli 12 10 11 17 11 | |
312 Legolas 15 14 18 15 17 | |
313 Sam 9 14 11 16 13 | |
314 | |
315 4 rows selected. | |
316 | |
317 jrrt@orcl> select n*, !#3, !c* from party; | |
318 | |
319 NAME STR WIS DEX | |
320 ------- --- --- --- | |
321 Frodo 8 16 15 | |
322 Gimli 17 10 11 | |
323 Legolas 13 14 18 | |
324 Sam 11 14 11 | |
325 | |
326 4 rows selected. | |
247 | 327 |
282 | 328 Wild SQL symbols only work in the first SELECT statement in a query; they do not work in |
329 subqueries, subsequent UNIONed queries, etc. | |
330 | |
331 Python | |
332 ====== | |
333 | |
334 The `py` command allows the user to execute Python commands, either one-at-a-time (with | |
335 `py {command}`) or in an interactive environment (beginning with a bare `py` statement, | |
294 | 336 and continuing until Ctrl-D, `quit()`, or `exit()` is entered). |
282 | 337 |
338 A history of result sets from each query is exposed to the python session as the list `r`; | |
294 | 339 the most recent result set is `r[-1]`. Each row can be references as a tuple, or as an |
340 object with an attribute for each column. | |
341 | |
342 Bind variables are exposed as the dictionary `binds`. Each row from each result set has | |
343 a .bind() method that fills a bind varible for each column with that row's value. | |
282 | 344 |
345 Resultsets in `r` are read-only, but `binds` can be written as well as read, and will | |
346 be working bind variables in the SQL environment. | |
347 | |
294 | 348 SQL and sqlpython commands can be issued from the Python environment with `sql("{your SQL}")`. |
349 | |
350 All variables are retained each time the python environment is entered (whether interactively, | |
351 or with one-line `py` statements). | |
282 | 352 :: |
247 | 353 |
294 | 354 0:testschema@orcl> select title, author from play; |
282 | 355 |
356 TITLE AUTHOR | |
357 --------------- ----------- | |
358 Timon of Athens Shakespeare | |
359 Twelfth Night Shakespeare | |
360 The Tempest Shakespeare | |
361 Agamemnon Aeschylus | |
362 | |
363 4 rows selected. | |
364 | |
294 | 365 0:testschema@orcl> py import urllib |
366 0:testschema@orcl> py current_season = urllib.urlopen('http://cincyshakes.com/').read() | |
367 0:testschema@orcl> py | |
368 Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Jul 31 2008, 17:28:52) | |
369 [GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2 | |
370 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. | |
371 (mysqlpy) | |
372 | |
373 py <command>: Executes a Python command. | |
374 py: Enters interactive Python mode; end with `Ctrl-D`, `quit()`, or 'exit`. | |
375 Past SELECT results are exposed as list `r`; | |
376 most recent resultset is `r[-1]`. | |
377 SQL bind, substitution variables are exposed as `binds`, `substs`. | |
378 SQL and sqlpython commands can be issued with sql("your non-python command here"). | |
379 | |
282 | 380 >>> r[-1] |
381 [('Timon of Athens', 'Shakespeare'), ('Twelfth Night', 'Shakespeare'), ('The Tempest', 'Shakespeare'), ('Agamemnon', 'Aeschylus')] | |
294 | 382 >>> r[-1][0][0] |
383 'Timon of Athens' | |
282 | 384 >>> for row in r[-1]: |
294 | 385 ... print "%s, by %s" % (row.title, row.author) |
386 ... | |
387 Timon of Athens, by Shakespeare | |
388 Twelfth Night, by Shakespeare | |
389 The Tempest, by Shakespeare | |
390 Agamemnon, by Aeschylus | |
282 | 391 >>> [row.title for row in r[-1] if row.title in current_season] |
392 ['Timon of Athens', 'Twelfth Night'] | |
294 | 393 >>> binds['author'] = 'Shakespeare' |
394 >>> query = "SELECT title FROM play WHERE author = :author" | |
395 >>> sql(query) | |
396 | |
397 TITLE | |
398 --------------- | |
399 Timon of Athens | |
400 Twelfth Night | |
401 The Tempest | |
402 | |
403 3 rows selected. | |
404 | |
405 >>> r[-1] | |
406 [('Timon of Athens',), ('Twelfth Night',), ('The Tempest',)] | |
407 >>> r[-1][0] | |
408 ('Timon of Athens',) | |
409 >>> r[-1][0].bind() | |
410 >>> binds['title'] | |
411 'Timon of Athens' | |
412 >>> quit() | |
413 0:testschema@orcl> select title, author from play where title = :title; | |
282 | 414 |
415 TITLE AUTHOR | |
416 --------------- ----------- | |
417 Timon of Athens Shakespeare | |
418 | |
419 1 row selected. | |
294 | 420 |
281 | 421 Parameters |
422 ========== | |
423 | |
424 Several parameters control the behavior of sqlpython itself. | |
425 | |
283 | 426 ===================== =================================================== =============== |
427 parameter effect default | |
428 ===================== =================================================== =============== | |
429 autobind When True, single-row queries automatically `bind` False | |
430 commit_on_exit Automatically commits work at end of session True | |
431 continuation_prompt Prompt for second line and onward of long statement > | |
432 default_file_name The file opened by `edit`, if not specified afiedt.buf | |
433 echo Echo command entered before executing False | |
434 editor Text editor invoked by `edit`. varies | |
294 | 435 heading Print column names along with results True |
283 | 436 maxfetch Maximum number of rows to return from any query 1000 |
437 maxtselctrows Maximum # of rows from a tselect or \\n query 10 | |
438 prompt Probably unwise to change user@instance> | |
439 scan Interpret & as indicating substitution variables True | |
440 serveroutput Print DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE results True | |
441 sql_echo Print text of "behind-the-scenes" queries False | |
442 timeout In seconds 30 | |
443 timing Print time for each command to execute False | |
444 wildsql Accept *, %, #, and ! in column names False | |
445 ===================== =================================================== =============== | |
281 | 446 |
447 The user can change these with the `set {paramname} {new-value}` statement. | |
283 | 448 The True/False parameters accept new values permissively, recognizing "True", "False", |
449 "T", "F", "yes", "no", "on", "off", etc. | |
281 | 450 |
283 | 451 `set` and `show` both list the current values of the sqlpython parameters. They |
452 also recognize any abbreviated parameter name, so long as it is long enough to be | |
453 unique. That is, `show maxf` is recognized as `show maxfetch`, but `show max` is | |
454 too short to distinguish between `maxfetch` and `maxtselctrows`. | |
455 | |
281 | 456 `show parameter {param}` shows current Oracle parameters (from v$parameter), as it does |
457 in SQL\*Plus. | |
458 | |
459 Tuning | |
460 ====== | |
461 | |
462 In sqlpython, `explain {SQL ID}` shows the execution plan for the SQL statement with the | |
463 given ID. If SQL ID is omitted, it defaults to the most recent SQL executed. | |
464 (This is not necessarily the last statement `EXPLAIN PLAN` was issued against.) | |
465 | |
466 Other specialized sqlpython tuning commands include: | |
467 | |
468 load | |
469 Displays OS load on cluster nodes (10gRAC) | |
470 | |
471 longops | |
472 Displays long-running operations | |
473 | |
474 sessinfo | |
475 Reports session info for the given sid, extended to RAC with gv$ | |
476 | |
477 top, top9i | |
478 Displays active sessions | |
479 | |
373 | 480 BLOB display |
481 ============ | |
482 | |
483 (Oracle only, for now) | |
484 | |
485 When a SELECT query returns BLOB columns, most SQL tools simply cannot | |
486 display the results. Sqlpython, however, will create | |
487 a local file for each BLOB returned (up to the parameter `bloblimit`), | |
488 and return the filepaths of the new files in the query results. In a | |
489 tool like the GNOME terminal, these filepaths work as right-clickable | |
490 links that can open the files. | |
491 | |
492 When the \\h terminator is used to generate HTML table output, if the | |
493 BLOBs are images, they will be embedded as images in the generated | |
494 table. | |
281 | 495 |
496 | |
497 | |
498 |