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
------ ------- ----- ----- ------------------------- --------------- ---- ---------------- --------------- ---------- ------------------ -------
    73 JKSTILL    83       JKSTILL.A                 SELECT          TM   DML enqueue lock Exclusive       None       sqlplus@poirot (TN 21430
    83 JKSTILL          73 JKSTILL.A                 LOCK TABLE      TM   DML enqueue lock None            Exclusive  sqlplus@poirot (TN 21455

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,
   -- lock type
   -- will always be TM, TX or possible UL (user supplied) for user locks
   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
/