Escape quotes
Use two quotes for every one displayed. Examples:
SQL> SELECT 'Frank''s Oracle site' AS text FROM DUAL;
TEXT
--------------------
Franks's Oracle site
SQL> SELECT 'A ''quoted'' word.' AS text FROM DUAL;
TEXT
----------------
A 'quoted' word.
SQL> SELECT 'A ''''double quoted'''' word.' AS text FROM DUAL;
TEXT
-------------------------
A ''double quoted'' word.
Escape wildcard characters
The LIKE keyword allows for string searches. The '_' wild card character is used to match exactly one character, while '%' is used to match zero or more occurrences of any characters. These characters can be escaped in SQL. Examples:
SELECT name FROM emp
WHERE id LIKE '%/_%' ESCAPE '/';
SELECT name FROM emp
WHERE id LIKE '%\%%' ESCAPE '\';
Escape ampersand (&) characters in SQL*Plus
When using SQL*Plus, the DEFINE setting can be changed to allow &'s (ampersands) to be used in text:
SET DEFINE ~
SELECT 'Lorel & Hardy' FROM dual;
Other methods:
Define an escape character:
SET ESCAPE '\'
SELECT '\&abc' FROM dual;
Don't scan for substitution variables:
SET SCAN OFF
SELECT '&ABC' x FROM dual;
Use the 10g Quoting mechanism:
Syntax
q'[QUOTE_CHAR]Text[QUOTE_CHAR]'
Make sure that the QUOTE_CHAR doesnt exist in the text.
SELECT q'{This is Orafaq's 'quoted' text field}' FROM DUAL;