## Syntax
```mermaid
%%{init: {
'theme': 'base',
'flowchart': { 'padding': '7', 'nodeSpacing': '20', 'rankSpacing': '20' },
'themeVariables': {
'fontSize': '11px',
'fontFamily': 'Arial'
}
}}%%
flowchart LR
Start((START)) --> QUOTE_LITERAL[QUOTE_LITERAL]
QUOTE_LITERAL --> End((END))
```
## Purpose
The `QUOTE_LITERAL` SQL function quotes a text for use as a literal within an SQL query. The text is surrounded by double quotes and special characters are escaped.
See also [[QUOTE_IDENT]] and [[QUOTE_NULLABLE]].
Parameters:
- Literal (`varchar2`): the text to quote.
Returns: the quoted literal as `varchar2`.
## Examples
The following example quotes `abc`:
```sql
select quote_literal('abc')
-------------------
"abc"
```
The following example quotes a text containing double quotes; the double quotes are escaped:
```sql
select quote_literal('"t e s t"')
-------------------
"\"t e s t\""
```