When or Why to use a “SET DEFINE OFF” in Oracle Database

Question

I\'m watching a Script in Oracle and I see something I don\'t recognize

REM INSERTING into database1.\"Users\"
 SET DEFINE OFF;
Insert into database1.\"Users         


        

Answer 1

Here is the example:

SQL> set define off;
SQL> select * from dual where dummy='&var';

no rows selected

SQL> set define on
SQL> /
Enter value for var: X
old   1: select * from dual where dummy='&var'
new   1: select * from dual where dummy='X'

D
-
X

With set define off, it took a row with &var value, prompted a user to enter a value for it and replaced &var with the entered value (in this case, X).