Question

When i ran the below queries it’s failing in the second query becuase prev_test_ref1 variable is not defined. If i remove the insert statement in the first query ,run again then it’s working and using the prev_test_ref1 value from the first sql query in second query. Is it because of variable scope? How can i resolve this with the insert statement.

QUERY1

column prev_test_ref1 new_value prev_test_ref1  ;

insert into testing.test_ref_details(TEST_TYPE,TEST_REF_NO)
select  '1',max(test_ref_no) as prev_test_ref1
from    testing.test_runs_status
where   test_type = 1
and run_status = 1
and test_end_dt = (select last_day(add_months(trunc(sysdate),-6))+2 from dual)
group by test_end_dt
;

QUERY2

column last_test_end_dt new_value last_test_end_dt;

select to_char(test_completion_dt,'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS') as last_test_end_dt
from testing.test_runs_status
where test_ref_no = '&prev_test_ref1';

Answer 1

In SQLPlus substitution variables will only be defined with SELECT statements. Your first insert doesn’t return rows so it won’t work (think about it: it only returns 1 row inserted., SQLPlus has no way to know the value inserted.)

I suggest you add a step to save the value into the variable (or use a PL/SQL block):

column prev_test_ref1 new_value prev_test_ref1  ;

SELECT MAX(test_ref_no) AS prev_test_ref1
  FROM testing.test_runs_status
 WHERE test_type = 1
   AND run_status = 1
   AND test_end_dt = (SELECT last_day(add_months(trunc(SYSDATE), -6)) + 2 
                        FROM dual)
 GROUP BY test_end_dt;

 INSERT INTO testing.test_ref_details(TEST_TYPE,TEST_REF_NO) 
    VALUES ('1', &prev_test_ref1);

 SELECT ...