BREAK

BREAK is a command in SQL used to exit a loop before the loop has looped through all its conditions or rows. It abruptly stops the execution of the loop, providing control to the statement that directly follows the loop.

Example

BREAK ON DEPARTMENT_ID;
SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEES
ORDER BY DEPARTMENT_ID;

Output

DEPARTMENT_ID EMPLOYEE_ID FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME
------------- ----------- ---------- ----------
10            200         Jennifer   Whalen
20            201         Michael    Hartstein
               202         Pat        Fowler
30            114         Den        Raphaely
               115         Alexander  Khoo
               116         Shelli     Baida
               117         Sigal      Tobias
               118         Guy        Himuro
               119         Karen      Colmenares

Explanation

BREAK command in Oracle SQL is used to suppress the duplicate values of a certain column in the output. It is usually used together with the ORDER BY clause. In the example provided, BREAK ON DEPARTMENT_ID suppresses subsequent display of the DEPARTMENT_ID when the value is the same as the DEPARTMENT_ID value of the previous row.

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