Accept input and pass into a query
SQL> set termout on SQL> SQL> ACCEPT continue_flag CHAR PROMPT 'Do you wish to DROP the tables first (Y/N)?' Do you wish to DROP the tables first (Y/N)? SQL> define flag1 = 'n' SQL> SET TERMOUT OFF SQL> COLUMN continue_flag NEW_VALUE continue_flag SQL> SELECT LOWER('&continue_flag') continue_flag FROM dual; old 1: SELECT LOWER('&continue_flag') continue_flag FROM dual new 1: SELECT LOWER('') continue_flag FROM dual C - 1 row selected. SQL> SET TERMOUT ON SQL> SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON SQL> PROMPT SQL> BEGIN 2 IF '&flag1' = 'n' THEN 3 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('You must answer either Y or N.'); 4 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Please rerun the command file and answer correctly.'); 5 END IF; 6 END; 7 / old 2: IF '&flag1' = 'n' THEN new 2: IF 'n' = 'n' THEN You must answer either Y or N. Please rerun the command file and answer correctly. PL/SQL procedure successfully completed. SQL> SQL> --Let the calling script know that we were successful. SQL> define flag2 = 'Y' SQL> SQL>