How to get input from user at runtime

Question

I want to take runtime input from user in Oracle 10g PL/SQL blocks (i.e. interactive communication with user). Is it possible?

declare
x number;
begin
x=&x;
end

this code gives error as

& can't be used in oracle 10g

Answer 1

    a number;
    b number;
    begin
    a:= :a;-- instead of "&" use ":" here 
    b:= :b;
    if a>b then
    dbms_output.put_line('Large number is '||a);
    else
    dbms_output.put_line('Large number is '||b);
    end if;

end;

Actually when I tried this it worked perfectly and actually "&" is giving error so you can use ":".

hope it you got answer :)

Answer 2

you can try this too And it will work:

DECLARE
  a NUMBER;
  b NUMBER;
BEGIN
  a := &aa; --this will take input from user
  b := &bb;
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('a = '|| a);
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('b = '|| b);
END;