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@, @@ and start [SQL*Plus]

SQL> @ url
SQL> @ filename
SQL> @ filename.extension

SQL> @@ url
SQL> @@ filename
SQL> @@ filename.extension

SQL> start url
SQL> start filename
SQL> start filename.extension
If extension is omitted, SQL*Plus will asume the extension set with set suffix.
@@ is similar to @, but it is usefull when used within a script: it will then search for the called script in the same directory in which the calling script is located.
@, @@ and start can be disabled in the Product user profile.

?

If @, @@ or start is used, the question mark (?) will be expanded to the value of ORACLE_HOME.
However, if ? is used as the first character in the prompt, it is a shortcut to help.

Restriction level

The start command won't work if the restriction level is set to at least 3: 
C:>sqlplus -r 3 rene/rene

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.1.0 - Production on Thu Aug 17 21:10:39 2006

Copyright (c) 1982, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.1.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP and Data Mining options

RENE> start foo
SP2-0738: Restricted command "start" not available
RENE>

Searching for scripts

If the scripts are not stored in the same directory than from which SQL*PLus was started, SQL*Plus tries to find them via $SQLPATH. On Windows, these directories can also be specified in the registry.