Oracle sqlplus comments

Question

Why does the following insert statement not work when executed like sqlplus <connect> @file

INSERT INTO abc ( a
                 ,b
                 ,c)
         VALUES ( '1' --a
                 ,'2' --b
                 ,'3'); --c

but it works without the comments i.e

INSERT INTO abc ( a
                 ,b
                 ,c)
         VALUES ( '1'
                 ,'2'
                 ,'3');

Does sqlplus flatten the file i.e execute the whole thing on a single line? which might result in rest of the line getting commented out?

Answer 1

The fist insert statement didn't work only because of the last comment --c you've placed after the statement terminator. SQL*Plus doesn't allow any text after a statement terminator (';' semicolon in this case). So this version of your first insert statement will be executed successfully:

INSERT INTO abc ( a
                 ,b
                 ,c)
         VALUES ( '1' --a
                 ,'2' --b
                 ,'3'); 

So will this one:

INSERT INTO abc ( a
                 ,b
                 ,c)
         VALUES ( '1' --a
                 ,'2' --b
                 ,'3') --c;