Dynamically set name of spool file in SQL*Plus

Small tip for today. Often there is a need to set name of spool file based on current time and might by also database you are connected to. It's often needed when script is run as scheduled task and there is a need to generate files with different names. So here is an solution for using date:

define logname=date
column clogname new_value logname
select 'prefix_'||to_char(sysdate, 'yyyymmdd') clogname from dual;
spool '&logname'

If there is a need to have also name of database included into filename then it can be read from global_name view:

define logname=date
column clogname new_value logname
select 'prefix_'||substr(global_name,1,
 decode(dot,0,length(global_name),dot-1))||
 to_char(sysdate, 'yyyymmdd') clogname
from (select global_name, instr(global_name, '.') dot from global_name);
spool '&logname'

Hope you find it useful.
I would also like to share an photo I made in Rome in February this year

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Cheers, Paweł