Classic MetaLink vs. My Oracle Support

If you are in any way involved with supporting Oracle products, then you know that the death knell for Classic MetaLink has sounded. MetaLink will be unplugged at the end of July 2009.

The new support site, My Oracle Support, seems to be causing some pain for quite a few people in the Oracle user community.

Some of the complaints regard limited platform support due to the Adobe Flash 9 requirements, navigation and response times.

On the other hand there are some cool new features such as Power View, Configuration Manager and the new Advanced Search options.

How do you feel about it?

Here's a chance to let your opinion be know as a poll has been created where you can vote on it.

Poll: MetaLink vs My Oracle Support

After votes have come in for a week or so, I will make the results available.

Querying v$lock

There have been a number of scripts made available for querying v$lock to diagnose locking issues.

One example is one I got long ago from tsawmiller on Oracle-L. The original script showlock.sql, or something close to it is still available at OraFaq.com showlock.sql

showlock.sql has morphed over the years to keep up with changing versions of Oracle.

At one time the showlock.sql resembled the OH/rdbms/admin/utllockt.sql script, in that it created a temporary table to speed up the results, as the join on v$lock, dba_sessions and dba_waiters was so slow.

That was remedied at one point by the use of the ordered hint. That hint may no longer be necessary, but the script is still fast on all versions of Oracle that I need it on, (9i-11g) and I am too lazy to test something that isn't broken.

This script could still be further updated by the use of the v$lock_type view, eliminating the large decode statements in the script. As v$lock_type is not available in 9i though, I leave the decodes in. When the last 9i database is gone from our environment however, the script can be shortened considerably.

The decode statements were mostly lifted from a script provided by Oracle. MetaLink document (or My Oracle Support now I guess) # 1020008.6 has a 'fully decoded' locking script that is current though 11g I believe.

The problem with that script however is that it does not correctly look up the name of the object that is locked.

The reason I have even brought this up is that a bit of my workday yesterday was spent updating the script, and making sure it worked as expected. The COMMAND column was also added. In addition, the outer joins were converted to the much neater ANSI join syntax, and one outer join was eliminated.

Here's the output from a test. It may be easier to read if you cut and paste it into a text editor, as the formatting here doesn't work well for wide output. Better yet, test the script and look at the output for yourself.

Oracle Database Lock Mode Mode OS OS
SID Usernam WATR BLKR Object COMMAND Type Lock Description Held Requested Program Process
------ ------- ----- ----- ------------------------- --------------- ---- ---------------- --------------- ---------- ------------------ -------
148 JS00129 152 JS001292.A LOCK TABLE TM DML enqueue lock None Exclusive sqlplus@ordevdb01. 1699
152 JS00129 148 JS001292.A BACKGROUND TM DML enqueue lock Exclusive None sqlplus@ordevdb01. 1671

2 rows selected.

Though utllockt.sql may work well enough, it does have a couple of drawbacks:

1. it does not provide enough information
2. it creates a temporary table.

That second item means that you better be sure to run the script from a session separate from any holding locks. In production that probably does not matter, as that is what would normally be done anyway. During testing however it can be a bit frustrating until you realize the the DDL in the script is causing your locks to be released.

What I like about this script is that it shows me what I need to know, and it is very fast.
Of course, now that I have stated that someone will run it on a system where it performs poorly...

For showlock.sql to work, the dba_waiters view must be created.
If this has not already been done, it can be created by logging in as SYSDBA and running the OH/rdbms/admin/catblock.sql script.

Here's how you can easily test sh0wlock.sql:

Session A -
create table a (a integer);
lock table a in exclusive mode;

Session B
lock table a in exclusive mode;

Now either from session A or a new session, run the showlock.sql script.

Here's the script.


-- showlock.sql - show all user locks
--
-- see ML Note 1020008.6 for fully decoded locking script
-- parts of the that script to not work correctly, but the
-- lock types are current
-- (script doesn't find object that is locked )
--
-- speeded up greatly by changing order of where clause,
-- jks 04/09/1997 - show lock addresses and lockwait

-- jks 04/09/1997 - outer join on all_objects
-- encountered situation on 7.2
-- where there was a lock with no
-- matching object_id
-- jks 02/24/1999 - join to dba_waiters to show waiters and blockers
-- jkstill 05/22/2006 - revert back to previous version without tmp tables
-- update lock info
-- add lock_description and rearrange output
-- jkstill 04/28/2008 - added command column
-- updated lock types
-- removed one outer join by using inline view on sys.user$
-- jkstill 04/28/2008 - added subquery factoring
-- converted to ANSI joins
-- changed alias for v$lock to l and v$session to s

set trimspool on
ttitle off
set linesize 150
set pagesize 60
column command format a15
column osuser heading 'OS|Username' format a7 truncate
column process heading 'OS|Process' format a7 truncate
column machine heading 'OS|Machine' format a10 truncate
column program heading 'OS|Program' format a18 truncate
column object heading 'Database|Object' format a25 truncate
column lock_type heading 'Lock|Type' format a4 truncate
column lock_description heading 'Lock Description'format a16 truncate
column mode_held heading 'Mode|Held' format a15 truncate
column mode_requested heading 'Mode|Requested' format a10 truncate
column sid heading 'SID' format 999
column username heading 'Oracle|Username' format a7 truncate
column image heading 'Active Image' format a20 truncate
column sid format 99999
col waiting_session head 'WATR' format 9999
col holding_session head 'BLKR' format 9999

with dblocks as (
select /*+ ordered */
l.kaddr,
s.sid,
s.username,
lock_waiter.waiting_session,
lock_blocker.holding_session,
(
select name
from sys.user$
where user# = o.owner#
) ||'.'||o.name
object,
decode(command,
0,'BACKGROUND',
1,'Create Table',
2,'INSERT',
3,'SELECT',
4,'CREATE CLUSTER',
5,'ALTER CLUSTER',
6,'UPDATE',
7,'DELETE',
8,'DROP',
9,'CREATE INDEX',
10,'DROP INDEX',
11,'ALTER INDEX',
12,'DROP TABLE',
13,'CREATE SEQUENCE',
14,'ALTER SEQUENCE',
15,'ALTER TABLE',
16,'DROP SEQUENCE',
17,'GRANT',
18,'REVOKE',
19,'CREATE SYNONYM',
20,'DROP SYNONYM',
21,'CREATE VIEW',
22,'DROP VIEW',
23,'VALIDATE INDEX',
24,'CREATE PROCEDURE',
25,'ALTER PROCEDURE',
26,'LOCK TABLE',
27,'NO OPERATION',
28,'RENAME',
29,'COMMENT',
30,'AUDIT',
31,'NOAUDIT',
32,'CREATE EXTERNAL DATABASE',
33,'DROP EXTERNAL DATABASE',
34,'CREATE DATABASE',
35,'ALTER DATABASE',
36,'CREATE ROLLBACK SEGMENT',
37,'ALTER ROLLBACK SEGMENT',
38,'DROP ROLLBACK SEGMENT',
39,'CREATE TABLESPACE',
40,'ALTER TABLESPACE',
41,'DROP TABLESPACE',
42,'ALTER SESSION',
43,'ALTER USER',
44,'COMMIT',
45,'ROLLBACK',
46,'SAVEPOINT',
47,'PL/SQL EXECUTE',
48,'SET TRANSACTION',
49,'ALTER SYSTEM SWITCH LOG',
50,'EXPLAIN',
51,'CREATE USER',
52,'CREATE ROLE',
53,'DROP USER',
54,'DROP ROLE',
55,'SET ROLE',
56,'CREATE SCHEMA',
57,'CREATE CONTROL FILE',
58,'ALTER TRACING',
59,'CREATE TRIGGER',
60,'ALTER TRIGGER',
61,'DROP TRIGGER',
62,'ANALYZE TABLE',
63,'ANALYZE INDEX',
64,'ANALYZE CLUSTER',
65,'CREATE PROFILE',
66,'DROP PROFILE',
67,'ALTER PROFILE',
68,'DROP PROCEDURE',
69,'DROP PROCEDURE',
70,'ALTER RESOURCE COST',
71,'CREATE SNAPSHOT LOG',
72,'ALTER SNAPSHOT LOG',
73,'DROP SNAPSHOT LOG',
74,'CREATE SNAPSHOT',
75,'ALTER SNAPSHOT',
76,'DROP SNAPSHOT',
79,'ALTER ROLE',
85,'TRUNCATE TABLE',
86,'TRUNCATE CLUSTER',
87,'-',
88,'ALTER VIEW',
89,'-',
90,'-',
91,'CREATE FUNCTION',
92,'ALTER FUNCTION',
93,'DROP FUNCTION',
94,'CREATE PACKAGE',
95,'ALTER PACKAGE',
96,'DROP PACKAGE',
97,'CREATE PACKAGE BODY',
98,'ALTER PACKAGE BODY',
99,'DROP PACKAGE BODY',
command||'-UNKNOWN'
) COMMAND,
l.type lock_type,
decode
(
l.type,
'BL','Buffer hash table instance lock',
'CF',' Control file schema global enqueue lock',
'CI','Cross-instance function invocation instance lock',
'CS','Control file schema global enqueue lock',
'CU','Cursor bind lock',
'DF','Data file instance lock',
'DL','Direct loader parallel index create',
'DM','Mount/startup db primary/secondary instance lock',
'DR','Distributed recovery process lock',
'DX','Distributed transaction entry lock',
'FI','SGA open-file information lock',
'FS','File set lock',
'HW','Space management operations on a specific segment lock',
'IN','Instance number lock',
'IR','Instance recovery serialization global enqueue lock',
'IS','Instance state lock',
'IV','Library cache invalidation instance lock',
'JQ','Job queue lock',
'KK','Thread kick lock',
'LA','Library cache lock instance lock (A=namespace)',
'LB','Library cache lock instance lock (B=namespace)',
'LC','Library cache lock instance lock (C=namespace)',
'LD','Library cache lock instance lock (D=namespace)',
'LE','Library cache lock instance lock (E=namespace)',
'LF','Library cache lock instance lock (F=namespace)',
'LG','Library cache lock instance lock (G=namespace)',
'LH','Library cache lock instance lock (H=namespace)',
'LI','Library cache lock instance lock (I=namespace)',
'LJ','Library cache lock instance lock (J=namespace)',
'LK','Library cache lock instance lock (K=namespace)',
'LL','Library cache lock instance lock (L=namespace)',
'LM','Library cache lock instance lock (M=namespace)',
'LN','Library cache lock instance lock (N=namespace)',
'LO','Library cache lock instance lock (O=namespace)',
'LP','Library cache lock instance lock (P=namespace)',
'LS','Log start/log switch enqueue lock',
'MB','Master buffer hash table instance lock',
'MM','Mount definition gloabal enqueue lock',
'MR','Media recovery lock',
'PA','Library cache pin instance lock (A=namespace)',
'PB','Library cache pin instance lock (B=namespace)',
'PC','Library cache pin instance lock (C=namespace)',
'PD','Library cache pin instance lock (D=namespace)',
'PE','Library cache pin instance lock (E=namespace)',
'PF','Library cache pin instance lock (F=namespace)',
'PF','Password file lock',
'PG','Library cache pin instance lock (G=namespace)',
'PH','Library cache pin instance lock (H=namespace)',
'PI','Library cache pin instance lock (I=namespace)',
'PI','Parallel operation lock',
'PJ','Library cache pin instance lock (J=namespace)',
'PK','Library cache pin instance lock (L=namespace)',
'PL','Library cache pin instance lock (K=namespace)',
'PM','Library cache pin instance lock (M=namespace)',
'PN','Library cache pin instance lock (N=namespace)',
'PO','Library cache pin instance lock (O=namespace)',
'PP','Library cache pin instance lock (P=namespace)',
'PQ','Library cache pin instance lock (Q=namespace)',
'PR','Library cache pin instance lock (R=namespace)',
'PR','Process startup lock',
'PS','Library cache pin instance lock (S=namespace)',
'PS','Parallel operation lock',
'PT','Library cache pin instance lock (T=namespace)',
'PU','Library cache pin instance lock (U=namespace)',
'PV','Library cache pin instance lock (V=namespace)',
'PW','Library cache pin instance lock (W=namespace)',
'PX','Library cache pin instance lock (X=namespace)',
'PY','Library cache pin instance lock (Y=namespace)',
'PZ','Library cache pin instance lock (Z=namespace)',
'QA','Row cache instance lock (A=cache)',
'QB','Row cache instance lock (B=cache)',
'QC','Row cache instance lock (C=cache)',
'QD','Row cache instance lock (D=cache)',
'QE','Row cache instance lock (E=cache)',
'QF','Row cache instance lock (F=cache)',
'QG','Row cache instance lock (G=cache)',
'QH','Row cache instance lock (H=cache)',
'QI','Row cache instance lock (I=cache)',
'QJ','Row cache instance lock (J=cache)',
'QK','Row cache instance lock (L=cache)',
'QL','Row cache instance lock (K=cache)',
'QM','Row cache instance lock (M=cache)',
'QN','Row cache instance lock (N=cache)',
'QO','Row cache instance lock (O=cache)',
'QP','Row cache instance lock (P=cache)',
'QQ','Row cache instance lock (Q=cache)',
'QR','Row cache instance lock (R=cache)',
'QS','Row cache instance lock (S=cache)',
'QT','Row cache instance lock (T=cache)',
'QU','Row cache instance lock (U=cache)',
'QV','Row cache instance lock (V=cache)',
'QW','Row cache instance lock (W=cache)',
'QX','Row cache instance lock (X=cache)',
'QY','Row cache instance lock (Y=cache)',
'QZ','Row cache instance lock (Z=cache)',
'RE','USE_ROW_ENQUEUE enforcement lock',
'RT','Redo thread global enqueue lock',
'RW','Row wait enqueue lock',
'SC','System commit number instance lock',
'SH','System commit number high water mark enqueue lock',
'SM','SMON lock',
'SN','Sequence number instance lock',
'SQ','Sequence number enqueue lock',
'SS','Sort segment lock',
'ST','Space transaction enqueue lock',
'SV','Sequence number value lock',
'TA','Generic enqueue lock',
'TD','DDL enqueue lock',
'TE','Extend-segment enqueue lock',
'TM','DML enqueue lock',
'TO','Temporary Table Object Enqueue',
'TS',decode(l.id2,
0,'Temporary segment enqueue lock (ID2=0)',
1,'New block allocation enqueue lock (ID2=1)',
'UNKNOWN!'
),
'TT','Temporary table enqueue lock',
'TX','Transaction enqueue lock',
'UL','User supplied lock',
'UN','User name lock',
'US','Undo segment DDL lock',
'WL','Being-written redo log instance lock',
'WS','Write-atomic-log-switch global enqueue lock',
'UNKOWN'
) lock_description,
decode
(
l.lmode,
0, 'None', /* Mon Lock equivalent */
1, 'No Lock', /* N */
2, 'Row-S (SS)', /* L */
3, 'Row-X (SX)', /* R */
4, 'Share', /* S */
5, 'S/Row-X (SRX)', /* C */
6, 'Exclusive', /* X */
to_char(l.lmode)
) mode_held,
decode
(
l.request,
0, 'None', /* Mon Lock equivalent */
1, 'No Lock', /* N */
2, 'Row-S (SS)', /* L */
3, 'Row-X (SX)', /* R */
4, 'Share', /* S */
5, 'S/Row-X (SSX)', /* C */
6, 'Exclusive', /* X */
to_char(l.request)
) mode_requested,
s.osuser,
s.machine,
s.program,
s.process
from
v$lock l
join v$session s on s.sid = l.sid
left outer join sys.dba_waiters lock_blocker on lock_blocker.waiting_session = s.sid
left outer join sys.dba_waiters lock_waiter on lock_waiter.holding_session = s.sid
left outer join sys.obj$ o on o.obj# = l.id1
where s.type != 'BACKGROUND'
)
select
--kaddr,
sid,
username,
waiting_session,
holding_session,
object,
command,
lock_type,
lock_description,
mode_held,
mode_requested,
--osuser,
--machine,
program,
process
from dblocks
order by sid, object
/

The Evils of Encoding Meaning Into Data

About a year ago I worked on collating and transforming data from an application so that it could be imported into another app. I've performed this exercise a number of times in the past 20 or so years, and while it is never boring, it is sometimes quite challenging.

Oft times when trying to make the data suitable for inclusion in the new applications, I ask my self "What were they thinking?"

I will leave the answer to that up to your imagination, as my answers to that particular question are not always complimentary.

One of the problems run into is when the data modeler and database designer chose to allow data with encoded special meanings.

In other words, there is key data in the database, the meaning of which can only be ascertained by asking someone that knows, or finding it in the documentation (Is there documentation?)

The example I will use is a real one I ran into.

Given a table containing projects, and revisions of those projects that are indicated as such by a revision "number".

A sensible series of revision numbers might be a numeric range beginning with 1, or even an alpha range beginning with 'A', or even a combination thereof.

Personally, I prefer the unambiguous nature of an ascending numeric range. 2 is always greater than 1. There is no case involved as there would be with an alpha range.

Which is greater, "a1" or "A1"? You know how this will sort in the database, but will it be what the users expect?

While a numeric range would have been preferable, the data I was given to work with used a range of revision "numbers" that was numeric and alpha, with a numeric value being regarding as greater than the "numeric" value. The "numeric" is in quotes, as this obviously must be stored as a string, and in this case with a leading zero.

Given this rule, a project with revisions of A,B,C,D,01,02 would have a most recent revision of "02". This is not the way it works in the standard collating order in the database.

11:34:03 SQL> create table rev (version varchar2(2));

Table created.

11:34:03 SQL>
11:34:03 SQL> insert into rev values('A');
11:34:03 SQL> insert into rev values('B');
11:34:03 SQL> insert into rev values('C');
11:34:03 SQL> insert into rev values('01');
11:34:03 SQL> insert into rev values('02');
11:34:03 SQL>
11:34:03 SQL> select * from rev order by version;

VE
--
01
02
A
B
C

5 rows selected.

In a perfect world, the data modeler or data architect would work with the users to create a reasonable versioning method. In this case however there is no choice but to work with what I was given.

From the data provided, only the most recent version was to be included in the imported data.
With a versioning system that doesn't follow the normal collating order, this requires some code to determine what is really the greatest version.

If you know a method to accomplish this in straight SQL, please feel free to post it. I could not think of a pure SQL solution.

The following generic function was created to determine the greatest revision value given a table name and the key columns.

-- maxrev.sql
-- return the maximum numeric revision
-- returna alpha if no numeric exists
-- maximum rev is numeric
-- revs are alpha - mixed number and character

create or replace function maxrev
(
table_name_in varchar2,
key_column_in varchar2,
value_column_in varchar2,
key_value_in varchar2
)
return varchar2
as
v_max_rev integer := 0;
v_tmp_rev integer;
v_col_rev varchar2(10);
v_return_rev varchar2(30);
type curType is ref cursor;
l_cursor curType;
v_sql varchar2(1000);

function is_number( chk_data_in varchar2 )
return boolean
is
dummy number(38,4);
begin
dummy := to_number(chk_data_in);
return true;
exception
when value_error then
return false;
when others then
raise;
end;

begin
-- get the maximum rev, whether alpha or numeric
-- there may not be any numerics
v_sql := 'select max(' || value_column_in || ') from ' || table_name_in || ' where ' || key_column_in || ' = :1';

execute immediate v_sql into v_return_rev using key_value_in;

--return v_return_rev;

v_sql := 'select ' || value_column_in || ' from ' || table_name_in || ' where ' || key_column_in || ' = :1';

open l_cursor for v_sql using key_value_in;
loop
fetch l_cursor into v_col_rev;
exit when l_cursor%notfound;

if (is_number(v_col_rev)) then
v_tmp_rev := to_number(v_col_rev);
end if;
if (v_tmp_rev > v_max_rev) then
v_max_rev := v_tmp_rev;
v_return_rev := v_col_rev;
end if;
end loop;

return v_return_rev;
end;
/

( Reviewing this function just now, I see what could be considered a programming error.
Let me know if you spot it. )

Here's a test case to prove that the function works as expected.

-- maxrev_test.sql
-- should always return numeric if it exists, otherwise alpha

drop table maxrev_test;

create table maxrev_test ( id varchar2(4), rev varchar2(2));

insert into maxrev_test values('T1', 'A');
insert into maxrev_test values('T1', 'B');
insert into maxrev_test values('T1', '01');
insert into maxrev_test values('T1', '02');
insert into maxrev_test values('T2', '01');
insert into maxrev_test values('T2', '02');
insert into maxrev_test values('T2', '03');
insert into maxrev_test values('T3', 'X');
insert into maxrev_test values('T3', 'Y');
insert into maxrev_test values('T3', 'Z');

commit;

select * from maxrev_test order by id,rev;

col rev format a10

prompt
prompt Incorrect results
prompt

select id, max(rev) rev
from maxrev_test
group by id
order by id
/

prompt
prompt Correct results
prompt

select id, maxrev('maxrev_test','id','rev',id) rev
from maxrev_test
group by id
order by id
/

And the results:

Incorrect results

ID REV
---- ----------
T1 B
T2 03
T3 Z

3 rows selected.

Correct results

ID REV
---- ----------
T1 02
T2 03
T3 Z

3 rows selected.

SQL Developer Data Modeling Update

Oracle has released an 'early adopter' version of the the data modeling enhancements to SQL Developer.

See the OTN article for details.

I haven't tried it yet, it will be interesting to see just how well it works.

Undocumented Oracle Functions

Undocumented functions in Oracle are always fun, and you just may find something useful.

The caveat of course is that they are undocumented. They can change without notice between releases or patch levels, so building apps that depend on them may be unwise.

They are often quite useful from a DBA perspective when used in SQL scripts.

Here are a few that I've played with. These are all found in Oracle 10.2.0.3

These functions have one thing in common - they have a prefix of SYS_OP_

Some of these appear to be identical to documented functions.

I don't know of any official explanation regarding the purpose of undocumented functions that seem to mimic documented functions. It could be that the source for the documented functions are separate from those that are documented, ensuring that functionality will not change for an undocumented function that is used in the Oracle kernel, even though its documented doppelganger may change in future releases.

In any case, undocumented functions are always interesting, and here are a few to play with.

Just keep in mind that these are undocumented, and as such may change or disappear entirely in future releases

sys_op_vacand - Return the binary AND of two raw values. Results are in hex

SELECT sys_op_vecand(hextoraw('FF'),hextoraw('FE')) from dual;
FE

16:13:12 SQL>SELECT sys_op_vecand(hextoraw('C3'),hextoraw('7E')) from dual;
42

sys_op_vecor - Return the binary OR of two raw values. Results are in hex

16:14:39 SQL>SELECT sys_op_vecor(hextoraw('FF'),hextoraw('FE')) from dual;
FF

sys_op_vecxor - Return the binary XOR of two raw values. Results are in hex

16:14:39 SQL>SELECT sys_op_vecor(hextoraw('FF'),hextoraw('FE')) from dual;
FF

sys_op_vecbit - Return the value of the bit at position N in a raw value

The return value is 0 or 1

This is an interesting function as it can be used to determine the value of bits in a number. If for instance some flags are stored in a bit vector and you need to know the value of the 3 bit, this is an easy way to do it.

I believe the upper limit on the number of bits is 127.

prompt
define decnum=10
prompt &&decnum dec = 1010 bin

16:16:27 SQL>select 'Bit 0 is ' || sys_op_vecbit(SYS_OP_NUMTORAW(&&decnum),0) from dual;
Bit 0 is 0

16:16:27 SQL>select 'Bit 1 is ' || sys_op_vecbit(SYS_OP_NUMTORAW(&&decnum),1) from dual;
Bit 1 is 1

16:16:27 SQL>select 'Bit 2 is ' || sys_op_vecbit(SYS_OP_NUMTORAW(&&decnum),2) from dual;
Bit 2 is 0

16:16:27 SQL>select 'Bit 3 is ' || sys_op_vecbit(SYS_OP_NUMTORAW(&&decnum),3) from dual;
Bit 3 is 1

sys_op_bitvec - This appears to be for used to build a bit vector, but I haven't figured out
how to use it. Please let me know if you do.

sys_op_map_nonnull - This has been thouroughly discussed on Eddie Awad's blog:
sys_op_map_nonnull discussion

sys_op_descend - Returns value as it would be used in a descending index. This is essentially
reverse() function with output in hex.

16:32:41 SQL>select sys_op_descend('ABC') from dual;
BEBDBCFF

sys_op_undescend - The inverse of sys_op_descend. Well, almost

17:12:59 SQL>select sys_op_undescend(sys_op_descend('ABC')) from dual
17:12:59 2 /

414243

Notice the output is in the original order, but in decimal rather than hex.


sys_op_dump - dump the data from an ADT/UDT (Abtract/User Data Type)

16:54:13 SQL>CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE my_adt AS OBJECT (
16:54:13 2 last_name varchar2(30),
16:54:13 3 first_name varchar2(30),
16:54:13 4 id number(6)
16:54:13 5 )
16:54:13 6 /
16:54:13 SQL>
16:54:13 SQL>
16:54:13 SQL>select sys_op_dump(my_adt('still','jared',234987)) from dual;

('still','jared',234987)

I don't use objects in the database, but this would likely be useful for someone that does.

sys_op_guid - this appears to be identical to sys_guid

17:00:50 SQL>select sys_guid(), sys_op_guid() from dual;

52BA7CF06BB488ECE040010A7C646200 52BA7CF06BB588ECE040010A7C646200

Data Modeling with SQL Developer

Unlike Open World 2007 there were many database oriented sessions at Oracle Open World 2008. There were many good performance oriented sessions, so many in fact that there were several conflicts in the schedule, and I had to pick one in several time slots that had multiple choices.

One of the more interesting sessions (for me anyway) at OOW 2008 was a session not on database performance, but on data modeling.

The SQL Developer team has been hard at working creating a data modeling plugin for SQL Developer.

This appears to be a very full featured tool, and appears to be the answer to the question "What will replace Oracle Designer?"

While Designer is much more than a data modeling tool, that is one of the core features of the tool, and many folks have used it just for its data modeling capabilities.

The new ERD tool is no lightweight, it is quite full featured from a database modeling and design standpoint.

Some of the features included:

• Domains generated from data
• Real logical and physical modeling, not just one model with 2 different names.
• The ability to reverse engineer several schemas at once and have them appear not only as a master model, but each individually as a sub model.
• Sub model views may be created on sets of objects as well.
• The tool can determine all tables related to a table through FKs and create a sub model based on that set.
• Two forms of notation: Barker and IE
• Many options for displaying sub/super types (D2k fans rejoice!)
• Glossary - a predefined set of names. These can be used to enforce naming conventions for entities, tables and relations.
• Schema comparison with DDL change generation

Also of note, in addition to Oracle schemas can be imported from SQL Server, DB2, or any ODBC connected database.

The repository can be either file based, or database based.
There are two versions of the tool, a plugin to SQL Developer, and a stand alone version. The stand alone version will use only the file based repository.

Now for the bad news.

The release date has not been established. The only release information given was 'sometime in the 2009 calendar year'. As the database repository has not yet been designed, the long time to release is understandable.

And finally, licensing has not been established. It might be free, it might not. If not, at least we can hope for reasonably priced. Personally I thinking having a decent data modeling tool that comes free of charge with SQL Developer would contribute to higher quality databases, as more people would use a real database designer rather than a drawing tool.

There was probably more that didn't make it into my notes.
Suffice it to say this is a great development for data modelers and database designers.

Following a few screen shots taken during the presentation.

AWR Usage Poll

A number of recent threads in the Oracle-L list have made it pretty clear that Automated Workload Repository (AWR) is a tool that you are expected to use when troubleshooting a database problem.

Never mind the fact that AWR is still a product that is licensed separately from the database, and that a large segment of the Oracle DBA population doesn't seem to realize that. Or that Active Session History (ASH) is part of AWR, and falls under the same license restrictions.

So I conducted a poll regarding the use of AWR. AWR Usage Poll. If you haven't in the AWR Poll, please do so.

While the web site does provide a chart of results, those results don't include the extra comments made by poll takers. You may are may not be able to download all the results, I'm not sure if that is restricted to the poll owner.

Nonetheless, I have compiled the results from a 100 or so respondents in to an Excel workbook, along with a few charts. You may find some of the additional comments of interest as well. AWR Usage Results

Draw your own conclusions regarding these results. I think it interesting to that AWR appears to be quite widely used. Personally I fall into the category of not using it because of the expense. I may work on changing that for a couple of key servers, as AWR is not that expensive, but in a small shop, spending $20k on feature that is not often needed is sometimes a hard sell.

One question I purposely left out was "Do you use AWR even though you have not licensed it"? While it might satisfy the curiosity of some (including me) I didn't want to give any Oracle sales people (or Oracle attorneys for that matter) any reasons to contact me regarding the poll.

In retrospect a good question would have been: "Did you realize AWR/ASH is a separately licensed product?". Too late to add that now, but bringing that up quite often leads to lively discussion.

Another interesting bit was that a few people have extended STATSPACK in some way, even using it on Oracle 10g+. One even mentioned the excellent repository of statspack scripts assembled by Tim Gorman. Tim Gorman's Statspack Scripts