One way to obtain the desired result is to issue a file rename command from the SQLPlus script spool my_file .... some work spool off host mv my_file.lst my_file Naturally when the spool file is created from sqlplus scripts executed from OS shell scripts the file name can be changed in the shell script. ________________________________ From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Daniel Fink Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 4:23 PM To: joe_dba@xxxxxxxxxxx Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: spool file Ignore the previous email. I misread it. To create a spool file without any extension you have to use the method you describe or redirect the output from sql*plus. The problem with redirecting the output is you can have only one spool file per session. oracle@daniel-desktop:~$ sqlplus -s / as sysdba <<EOF >>test > select 'x' from dual; > EOF oracle@daniel-desktop:~$ ls -lart test -rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 8 2009-12-20 14:21 test oracle@daniel-desktop:~$ more test ' - x oracle@daniel-desktop:~$ -- Daniel Fink OptimalDBA http://www.optimaldba.com Oracle Blog http://optimaldba.blogspot.com Lost Data? http://www.ora600.be/ Joe Smith wrote: Is there a way to create a spool file without the .lst extension? I have seen examples of hosting out of the session and renaming the file , but is there a way to create the spool file from the beginning with no extension? thanks. ________________________________ Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. Sign up now.<http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222985/direct/01/>