OUTFILE

The OUTFILE command lets you redirect the text output of statements to a file.

Syntax

OUTFILE {EOF | TRACEFILE | [APPEND] file-name [NOCACHE] [NLS_CHARSET charset-exp]}

Arguments

EOF: The current outfile is closed and output is redirected to the default outfile.
TRACEFILE: Specifies that the output should be directed the Oracle trace file, which is identified by the TRACEFILEUNIT option.
APPEND: Specifies that the output should be added to the end of an existing disk file. When you omit this argument, the new output replaces the current contents of the file.
file-name: A text expression that is the name of the file to which output should be written. Unless the file is in the current directory, you must include the name of the directory object in the name of the file.

Note:
Directory objects are defined in the database, and they control access to directories and file in those directories. You can use a CDA statement to identify and specify a current directory object. Contact your Oracle DBA for access rights to a directory object where your database user name can read and write files.
NOCACHE: Specifies that Oracle OLAP should write lines to the outfile as they are generated. Without this keyword, Oracle OLAP reduces file I/O activity by saving text and writing it periodically to the file. The NOCACHE keyword slows performance significantly, but it ensures that every line is immediately recorded in the outfile. This argument must be specified after file-name
NLS_CHARSET charset-exp: Specifies the character set that Oracle OLAP will use when writing data to the file specified by file-name. This allows Oracle OLAP to convert the data accurately into that character set. This argument must be specified after file-name. When this argument is omitted, then Oracle OLAP writes the data to the file in the database character set, which is recorded in the NLS_LANG option.

Notes

Outfiling a PERMIT_READ or PERMIT_WRITE Program

The contents of a PERMIT_READ or a PERMIT_WRITE program is emptied when outfiled. To successfully copy the contents of these programs to and from analytic workspaces, rename them before using OUTFILE; and then, after using INFILE to copy them into an analytic workspace, name them back to PERMIT_READ or PERMIT_WRITE.

Current Outfile Identifier

As a first step, every OUTFILE statement closes the current outfile. When OUTFILE opens a new outfile on disk, it automatically assigns to it an arbitrary INTEGER as its file unit number. The current file unit number is held in the OUTFILEUNIT option.

Appending to an Outfile

When you send output to a file and then send output to a second file, the first file does not remain open. To resume sending output to the first file, you must execute another OUTFILE statement and include the APPEND file-name phrase.

Automatic Closing of Outfile

When you use OUTFILE file-name to direct output to a disk file, OUTFILE closes any outfile currently open. This happens even when the new file is not actually opened (as when you specify an invalid file-name in an OUTFILE statement).

Paging Options and Redirected Output

The paging options control the organization of text output in pages. Examples are: BMARGIN, LINENUM, LINESLEFT, PAGESIZE, PAGENUM, PAGEPRG, PAGING, TMARGIN, and LSIZE. The paging options have a separate value for each separate outfile. When you set one of the paging options to control output to a disk file, the new value remains in effect until you use an OUTFILE statement again to redirect output. At this point, the paging option returns to its default value. Therefore, when you want a paging option to have a particular value for a disk file, you generally have set it after you execute an OUTFILE statement.

Maximum Line Length

The maximum line length in Oracle OLAP is 4000 characters.

Current and Default Outfiles

The current outfile is the destination for the output of statements, such as REPORT and DESCRIBE, that produce text. When you have not used an OUTFILE statement to send output to a file, Oracle OLAP uses your default outfile.

Examples

Example 21-16 Sending a Report to an Output File

In this example, you want to send the output of a REPORT statement to an output file.

OUTFILE 'budget.rpt'
REPORT budget
OUTFILE EOF

Example 21-17 Directing Output to a File

Suppose you have a program called year.end.sales, and you want to save the report it creates in a file. Type the following commands to write a file of the report. In this example, userfiles is a directory object and yearend.txt is the name of the file.

OUTFILE 'userfiles/yearend.txt'
year.end.sales
OUTFILE EOF

Now the file contains the year.end.sales report. You can add more reports to the same file with the APPEND keyword for OUTFILE. Suppose you have another program called year.end.expenses. Add its report to the file with the following commands. Remember that without APPEND, an OUTFILE statement overwrites the expense report.

OUTFILE APPEND 'userfiles/yearend.txt'
year.end.expenses
OUTFILE EOF