The following table displays an overview of the SQL*Plus system variables, listing only the most commonly used SQL*Plus system variables.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| COLSEP | String to display between result columns | " " (space) |
| CON[CAT] | Character to mark the end of a variable name | . (period) |
| DEF[INE] | Character to refer to variable values | & (ampersand) |
| ECHO | Display or suppress commands (relevant only for scripts) | OFF |
| FEED[BACK] | Display ". . . rows selected" from a certain minimum result size | 6 |
| HEA[DING] | Display column names above results | ON |
| HEADS[EP] | Divide column headers over multiple lines | | (vertical bar) |
| LIN[ESIZE] | Line or screen width, in characters | 80 |
| LONG | Default width for LONG columns | 80 |
| NEWP[AGE] | Number of empty lines after every page break | 1 |
| NULL | Display of null values in the results | N/A |
| NUMF[ORMAT] | Default format to display numbers | N/A |
| NUM[WIDTH] | Default width for numeric columns, in digits | 10 |
| PAGE[SIZE] | Number of lines per page | 14 |
| PAU[SE] | Display results page by page, with pauses | OFF |
| RELEASE | Release or version of the RDBMS (cannot be set) | N/A |
| SQLP[ROMPT] | SQL*Plus prompt string | SQL> |
| SQLT[ERMINATOR] | SQL command delimiter (execute the command) | ; (semicolon) |
| TAB | Show tab characters, else display as spaces | ON |
| TIMI[NG] | Show elapsed time after each command | OFF |
| TRIMS[POOL] | Suppress trailing spaces in spool files | OFF |
| USER | Username for the current SQL*Plus session (cannot be set) | N/A |
| VER[IFY] | Show command lines before/after variable substitution | ON |