How to write SQL statement with quotes?

Question

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In Java, is there a way to write a string literal without having to escape quotes?

I want to get Oracle starttime with sql query. I use this SQL statement

SQL_Statement = "select to_char(startup_time, 'HH24:MI DD-MON-YY') "Startup time" from  v$instance";

There is a problem with the quotes when I try to write a code with this SQL statement. What is the proper way to write this SQL statement?

Best wishes

P.S I use Java. When I try to run this SQL query:

select  to_char(startup_time, 'HH24:MI DD-MON-YY') 'Startup time' from  v$instance

I get this error:

Error starting at line 1 in command:
select  to_char(startup_time, 'HH24:MI DD-MON-YY') 'Startup time' from  v$instance 
Error at Command Line:1 Column:50
Error report:
SQL Error: ORA-00923: FROM keyword not found where expected
00923. 00000 -  "FROM keyword not found where expected"
*Cause:    
*Action:

try replacing the double quotes inside the string with single quotes. you're unintentionally closing your SQL query string. — Eliran Malka, Mar 12 '12 at 19:24
plus, please show more research effort next time.. a simple search on google or stackoverflow would've flooded your browser with this same answer. — Eliran Malka, Mar 12 '12 at 19:26
@user1103606 - What language are you using to interact with the database? That language will have some way to escape double quotes inside a string. My guess is that using a single `\` before the embedded double quotes will work but that's a guess without knowing the language you're using. — Justin Cave, Mar 12 '12 at 19:27

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

5

In Java, you need to escape the double quotes inside the string using a single '\' character

SQL_Statement = "select to_char(startup_time, 'HH24:MI DD-MON-YY') \"Startup time\" from  v$instance";

See escaping double quotes in a string in Java

edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

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answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:35

Justin Cave

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:23

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Use single quotes (') when inside double quotes (") for all strings.

answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:23

Joel

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:31

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How about:

select q'{This string's got some extra "quotes" in it}' from dual;

Can use {} or [] or whatever floats your boat (thats not in your string of course).

answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:31

tbone

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

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I believe this will help you distinguish between the differences of the single and double quotations within SQL statements

What is the difference between single and double quotes in SQL?

edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

Community

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answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:28

mW00t

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How to write SQL statement with quotes?

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