Render query tool output in HTML

By Bob Watkins, TechRepublic
SQL*Plus has traditionally been thought of as a plain text SQL query tool. But since Oracle 8i, it has also had the capability to render its output using HTML.


One of SQL*Plus's environment settings, MARKUP, controls what kind of markup language (if any) to use for its output. By default, MARKUP defines HTML as the markup language, but markup itself is turned off. A set of HTML tags is predefined; all you have to do is turn markup on by typing:

SET MARKUP HTML ON
and the tags will be added to each output produced by SQL*Plus. For example, after activating the feature as above, you could type the following:

SPOOL deptlist.html
SELECT * FROM departments;
SPOOL OFF
and the result would be formatted as an HTML table ready to add to an intranet or other Web page. To create a complete HTML document, including the HTML and /HTML tags and a CSS style sheet, type:

SET MARKUP HTML ON SPOOL ON
To turn the feature off again or exit the session, type:

SET MARKUP HTML OFF
or

SET MARKUP HTML OFF SPOOL OFF
If you don't like the way that SQL*Plus formats the output, no problem. You can also use the SET MARKUP command to replace the built-in formatting codes with your own. The HEAD, BODY, TABLE, and other options let you specify the HTML to generate.

For more information, consult the SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference, Chapter 7, Generating HTML Reports from SQL*Plus.