How to Escape Ampersands (&) in Oracle SQL INSERT Statements?

Avoiding Substitution Variable Prompts with Ampersands in Oracle SQL

Oracle SQL Developer's substitution variable feature can cause issues when inserting data containing ampersands (&). This often results in the prompt "Enter substitution value." The ampersand is interpreted as a variable indicator, not a literal character.

Consider this example, where an ampersand appears within a URL:

<code class="language-sql">http://www.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?type=rss&url=</code>

To correctly insert this URL, you must escape the ampersand. One method is using the CHR(38) function, which represents the ASCII code for the ampersand:

<code class="language-sql">INSERT INTO agregadores_agregadores (idagregador, nombre, url) 
VALUES (2, 'Netvibes', 'http://www.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?type=rss' || CHR(38) || 'url=');</code>

This replaces the literal ampersand with its ASCII equivalent, preventing the substitution variable conflict.

Alternatively, you can globally disable the substitution variable behavior using:

<code class="language-sql">SET DEFINE OFF;</code>

After executing this command, ampersands will be treated as literal characters in all subsequent SQL statements. Remember that SET DEFINE OFF affects all future queries within the current session. Therefore, if you need substitution variables later, you'll have to use SET DEFINE ON; to re-enable them.

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