How to check the oracle db version?

The oracle db version that you are using can be know by using the below simple SQL query:

                                                         select * from v$version;

Sample output is as below:

Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.3.0 - 64bit Production
PL/SQL Release 11.2.0.3.0 - Production
.
.
.
.
.

Oracle Special Characters in LIKE clause

There are 3 Special Characters that should be taken care of while using LIKE clause in Oracle DB. They are % (percentage), _ (underscore) and ' (single quote).

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/712580/list-of-special-characters-for-sql-like-clause

The above link contains special characters of various db's like oracle, sql server.

http://www.orafaq.com/faq/how_does_one_escape_special_characters_when_writing_sql_queries

-- how to escape those special chars

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/03/24/how-to-escape-characters-in-oracle-plsql-queries/

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/itss/docs/oracle/10g/server.101/b10759/conditions016.htm