You say "without using set define off". Why can't you use set define off? You could include set define off in the SQL*Plus login.sql or glogin.sql file. Otherwise, try this: select * from tab1 where col1 = 'A ' || chr (38) || ' B' ; assuming the database has the ASCII character set - if you had a database with an EBCDIC character set I don't think this would work - or would it? -----Message d'origine----- De : oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] De la part de Harvinder Singh Envoyé : lundi, 5. février 2007 13:03 À : oracle-l Objet : How to suppress special characters in query Hi, We have a query like following that includes the & symbol and since this is a special character so Oracle prompts for the input. Is there any way to suppress this special character in a query without using the set define off option at sqlplus session? Select * from tab1 where col1 like = 'A & B' Thanks --Harvinder -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l