How do I ignore ampersands in a SQL script running from SQL Plus?

If you sometimes use substitution variables you might not want to turn define off. In these cases you could convert the ampersand from its numeric equivalent as in || Chr(38) || or append it as a single character as in || '&' ||.

I resolved with the code below:

set escape on

and put a \ beside & in the left 'value_\&_intert'

Att

This may work for you:

set define off

Otherwise the ampersand needs to be at the end of a string,

'StackOverflow &' || ' you'

EDIT: I was click-happy when saving... This was referenced from a blog.

You can set the special character, which is looked for upon execution of a script, to another value by means of using the SET DEFINE <1_CHARACTER>

By default, the DEFINE function itself is on, and it is set to &

It can be turned off - as mentioned already - but it can be avoided as well by means of setting it to a different value. Be very aware of what sign you set it to. In the below example, I've chose the # character, but that choice is just an example.

SQL> select '&var_ampersand #var_hash' from dual;
Enter value for var_ampersand: a value

'AVALUE#VAR_HASH'
-----------------
a value #var_hash

SQL> set define #
SQL> r
  1* select '&var_ampersand #var_hash' from dual
Enter value for var_hash: another value

'&VAR_AMPERSANDANOTHERVALUE'
----------------------------
&var_ampersand another value

SQL>