There is a possibility that the directory you are in is a symbolic link. To test this execute this command and let us know what is returned
SQLPLUS> !ls -l ../ Mike David Barbour wrote:
SQL> !ksh orapr1@r3prdci1> orapr1@r3prdci1>exit SQL> host ls SQL> exitDisconnected from Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing optionsorapr1@r3prdci1>ls102_64 mirrlogA saparch sapdata4 saptemp sqlnet.log 920_64 mirrlogB sapbackup sapdata5 saptrace tdpoerror.log Mail oraInventory sapcheck sapdata6 sapundo dbvchk.sh oraarch sapdata1 sapdata7 scripts dead.letter origlogA sapdata10 sapdata8 smit.log em1 origlogB sapdata2 sapdata9 smit.script jre oui sapdata3 sapreorg smit.transactionorapr1@r3prdci1>sqlplus / as sysdba SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 - Production on Mon Nov 3 11:39:21 2008 Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved. Connected to:Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing optionsSQL> host ksh orapr1@r3prdci1>I've filed a Service Request and I'll do some more checking. Thanks. On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 11:27 AM, Bobak, Mark <Mark.Bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Mark.Bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:Hmm…so, escaping to a shell prompt actually works….but othercommands don't? very weird.What if you use 'host' instead of '!'?SQL> host ls??If this is a bug, you may want to search on the SQL*Plus 'host' command. '!' is a synonym for 'host'.Hope that helps,-Mark*-- Mark J. Bobak* *Senior Database Administrator, System & Product Technologies* ProQuest 789 E. Eisenhower, Parkway, P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 +1.734.997.4059 or +1.800.521.0600 x 4059 mark.bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:mark.bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> www.proquest.com <http://www.proquest.com> www.csa.com <http://www.csa.com> *ProQuest...*Start here.*From:* David Barbour [mailto:david.barbour1@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:david.barbour1@xxxxxxxxx>] *Sent:* Monday, November 03, 2008 11:22 AM *To:* Bobak, Mark *Cc:* alever@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:alever@xxxxxxxxx>; oracle-l *Subject:* Re: Somewhat Perplexed - Very Sheepish - Totally Ignorant:SQPLUS after 10.2.0.4 <http://10.2.0.4> UpgradeSQL> !ksh orapr1@r3prdci1> On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 11:06 AM, Bobak, Mark <Mark.Bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Mark.Bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote: David,What happens if you do: SQL> !sh(or bash, or ksh, or whatever your preferred shell is?)-Mark*-- Mark J. Bobak* *Senior Database Administrator, System & Product Technologies* ProQuest 789 E. Eisenhower, Parkway, P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 +1.734.997.4059 or +1.800.521.0600 x 4059 mark.bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:mark.bobak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> www.proquest.com <http://www.proquest.com> www.csa.com <http://www.csa.com> *ProQuest...*Start here.*From:* oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of *David Barbour *Sent:* Monday, November 03, 2008 11:00 AM *To:* alever@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:alever@xxxxxxxxx> *Cc:* oracle-l *Subject:* Re: Somewhat Perplexed - Very Sheepish - Totally Ignorant:SQPLUS after 10.2.0.4 <http://10.2.0.4> UpgradeThanks, but the directory has both files and directories. But I just don't get a list. So I decided to see if other commandswhich should return output might work. I tried the cat command. SQL> !cat arch.txt Guess what, no output. Simply came back to a prompt.On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 10:34 AM, Alessandro Vercelli <alever@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:alever@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote: Sorry, I was wrong: the directory in which you run the command needs to be empty (no files and no directories). Alessandro >The "ls" command can give also a null response, if you are placed in a directory which has non files (i.e. an empty directory or containing only directories). > >If the returned prompt is SQL>, that colud be the right behaviour. > >Alessandro > > >>Morning, >> <cut> >>session and type (for instance) SQL>!ls - it returns to a prompt without >>listing the files in the directory. Anybody had this happen to them >>before? I tried searching on Metalink, but I don't even know how to phrase <cut> -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l