No problem with that sql on my 10.2 database:
20:21:32 orcl.scott> var patt varchar2(100) 20:24:37 orcl.scott> exec :patt := 'TEST%';
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CREATE TABLESPACE "TEST_8K_ASSM" DATAFILE '/u01/oracle/product/10.2.0/oradata/orcl/test_8k_assm.dbf' SIZE 10485760 AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 10485760 MAXSIZE 419430400 LOGGING ONLINE PERMANENT BLOCKSIZE 8192 EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL UNIFORM SIZE 65536 SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE '/u01/oracle/product/10.2.0/oradata/orcl/test_8k_assm.dbf' RESIZE 419430400
No peep or trace in the alert log. Are you sure you are running it on a supported platform ;-)
select dbms_metadata.get_ddl('TABLESPACE',tablespace_name) SQL from dba_tablespaces where tablespace_name !='SYSTEM' and tablespace_name like upper(:PATT) order by contents,tablespace_name
Regards
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