What is the technical name for the variables shown by the SHOW ALL command in SQL*Plus? I want to know because the term “variable” is quite overloaded and I’d like to be specific.
Typing “help show” says :
SHOW
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Shows the value of a SQL*Plus system variable, or the current
SQL*Plus environment. SHOW SGA requires a DBA privileged login.
...
Are ALL of the variables listed considered “SQL*Plus system variables”? I’ve seen some sources which refer to them as “SQL*Plus environment variables”, others which call them “parameters”.
Are some of them “system variables” while others are “environment variables”/”parameters”, or are these terms interchangeable, or what?
According to Oracle:
Looking at the list, they are, in fact, all variables that are available only within SQL*Plus. It’s not terribly surprising that you see them referred to in various forms, as most people will use the term that makes the most sense to them, rather than looking up the canonical term.
If you specify
SHOW PARAMETERSinstead, you get a list of initialization parameters, which are something else altogether.