How do I get the return code (or exit code) from SQL*Plus to a UNIX variable ?

The Oracle (tm) Users' Co-Operative FAQ

How do I get the return code (or exit code) from SQL*Plus to a UNIX variable ?

Yes and No.

In sh variants, the exit code is available through $?

While SQL*Plus ATTEMPTs to put the Oracle error number into this value, this usually gets mod-ded by 256 or some such power of two, depending on your Unix dialect. A return of zero therefore means:....

	a) It was really zero, and everything OK
	b) ORA-256, ORA-512, .... or something like that was the problem.
复制

The real solution is to trap the textual output of the error through stderr, slurp and mangle it and then backtick the results into a variable.  This may even be better, as you get the facility, which MIGHT be ORA, but might be something else entirely such as NET.

Further reading: N/A