How To Enable dbms_output in PL/SQL Developer

Question

I know it's a simple thing but I can't seem to find a solution, how do I enable dbms_output in PL/SQL Developer. From googling all I got was how to enable it in sql developer but thats not what I'm looking for... I thought it should be automatically enabled in PL/SQL Developer but for example this block outputs nothing for me.

declare
  v_sample employees.first_name%type;
begin
  select first_name 
  into v_sample
  from employees
  where employee_id = 100;

  dbms_output.put_line(v_sample);
end;

just issue `SET SERVEROUTPUT ON` at the beginning of your code(*from the command line*). Alternatively `DBMS_OUTPUT.ENABLE()` might be used also. (Have a look at the `Output` tab) — Barbaros Özhan, Dec 14 '20 at 19:20
thanks for answer but I'm getting ORA-00922 missing or invalid option error on SERVEROUTPUT. Do you have idea why is it so? — Working Pickle, Dec 14 '20 at 19:30
that case is not used within **SQL Window**, but from the command line. Get rid of that and look at the **Output** tab please( or **DBMS Output** of **Test window** ). Do you see the result of the select statement ? — Barbaros Özhan, Dec 14 '20 at 19:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 14 '20 at 20:45

By default, PL/SQL Developer automatically retrieves DBMS_OUTPUT and you don't have to do anything extra to retrieve it. You do not need to use a Command Window to see output. (And you should generally avoid the Command Window - it's a terrible way to program.)

Go to Configure --> Preferences --> Oracle --> Output, and ensure that the "Enabled" button is checked:

Another possibility is that the FIRST_NAME value is null and there is nothing to output. To avoid that confusion, I typically add a hard-coded value before outputting variables:

dbms_output.put_line('Name: ' || v_sample);

How To Enable dbms_output in PL/SQL Developer

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