Inserting string with special characters into a column

Question

How can I successfully run such a query in SqlDeveloper?

execute immediate q'#
                    insert into results(SrcProcedure) 
                                values('d/&'s*73;.f45')
                    #';

Answer 1

You need to learn the escaping rules for your language. In SQL, ' is a special character. The escape for it is '' :

execute immediate q'#
                insert into results(SrcProcedure) 
                            values(''d/&''''s*73;.f45'')
                #';

Rule: For each level of nesting, you need to duplicate all single quotes.

d/&'s*73;.f45
'd/&''s*73;.f45'
...values(''d/&''''s*73;.f45'')...

You can get away with less quotes if you use q'{...}' :

execute immediate q'{
                insert into results(SrcProcedure) 
                            values('d/&''s*73;.f45')
                }';

Related:

• How do I escape a single quote in SQL Server?
• http://www.orafaq.com/faq/how_does_one_escape_special_characters_when_writing_sql_queries
• http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_oracle_execute_immediate.htm

Answer 2

The problem is that you are trying to insert the value d/&'s*73;.f45 and the ' character is interpreted as the end of the value.

You need to escape the ' character:

execute immediate q'#
                insert into results(SrcProcedure) 
                            values('d/&''s*73;.f45')
                #';

Or you can nest the alternative quoting mechanism to avoid any string escaping:

execute immediate q'#
                insert into results(SrcProcedure) 
                            values(q'!d/&'s*73;.f45!')
                #';