Preface

Welcome to SQL*Plus for Windows NT and Windows 95 Getting Started, Release 8.0. This guide incorporates information for two separate Oracle products - SQL*Plus for Windows NT (Version 4.0) and SQL*Plus for Windows 95 - into one book. Its title is not intended to suggest a single SQL*Plus product that will run on both platforms.

Audience

This guide is for all users who wish to install and use SQL*Plus, Oracle Corporation's SQL extension, in the Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 95 graphical environments.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with your computer and its operating system. For example, you should know the commands for deleting and copying files and understand the concepts of the search path, subdirectories, and path names.

You should also understand the fundamentals of the Microsoft Windows platform that you are using, such as Program Manager and File Manager in Windows NT or Taskbar and Windows Explorer in Windows 95, and the elements of an application window.

Structure

This manual contains the following sections:

Chapter 1: Introduction	Introduction to SQLPlus for Windows NT or SQLPlus for Windows 95.
Chapter 2: SQLPlus Menus*	Describes how to use SQL*Plus menu items from the command line and from the graphical user interface.
Chapter 3: SQLPlus in the Windows NT/95 Environment*	Operating system-specific information for Windows NT and Windows 95 environments.
Appendix A: Customizing Operating System Parameters	Describes parameters used by SQL*Plus in the Windows NT and Windows 95 environment and describes how to customize your Oracle configuration by changing parameter values.

Conventions Used in this Guide

Oracle Installer creates top-level directories on your hard disk. The default Oracle home directory for Windows NT is ORANT and for Windows 95 is ORAWIN95.

In examples, an implied carriage return occurs at the end of each line, unless otherwise noted. You must press the Return key at the end of a line of input.

The following conventions are used in this manual:

Convention	Meaning
Monospace text	Indicates text that must be typed exactly as shown. `set echo off`
All uppercase plain	Indicate command names, SQL reserved words and keywords as in ALTER DATABASE. All uppercase plain is also used for directory names and file names. ORANT\DATABASE\INITORCL.ORA
Italics	Indicate a value that you must provide. For example, if a command asks you to type filename, you must type the actual name of the file. Italics are also used for emphasis in the text and to indicate the titles of other manuals.
Horizontal ellipsis . .	Indicate that parts of the statement or command not directly related to the example have been omitted. CHKVAL fieldname value 1 value 2... valueN
Vertical bar \|	Represents an `or' option between several options. You must enter only one of the options. Do not enter the vertical bar. The set of alternative choices is enclosed by curly braces if one of the items is required, or by square brackets if the item is an optional alternative.
Curly braces {}	Enclose required items. You must choose one of the alternatives. ..DEFINE { macro1 \| macro2 }
Square brackets [ ]	Enclose optional items. You can choose one or none of the alternatives. cvtcrt termname [outfile] Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].
C:\>	Represents the Windows NT command prompt of the current hard disk drive. Your prompt may differ and may, at times, reflect the subdirectory in which you are working.
Backslash (\) before a directory name	Indicates that the directory is a subdirectory. For example, \DATABASE.
Symbols	Symbols other than brackets and vertical bars must be entered in commands exactly as shown.

Related Publications

This guide references the following Oracle documentation:

SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference
SQL*Plus Quick Reference
Oracle8 Server Messages
Oracle8 Server SQL Reference
PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference

These documents, this guide, and other reference materials are available in HTML format. To view these documents, you must install the Oracle Documentation. Oracle Information Navigator is automatically installed on your system when you install Oracle Documentation. To view documentation, start Oracle Information Navigator (by double-clicking the Oracle Documentation icon in your Oracle program group [Windows NT], or by choosing Oracle Documentation in the Oracle program group [on your Windows 95 taskbar]).