Category: Oracle

Flashback, LogMiner and The Light Fantastic…

I put an article about Flashback and LogMiner new stuff live the other day, but forgot to put a post here. Better late than never. I feel a bit cheap and dirty admitting this, but I’m starting to like the web based Enterprise Manager. 🙂

The new LogMiner interface is really easy to use, and the integration with Flashback Transaction is right on the money. I guess LogMiner isn’t the sexiest of features, and I’ve had very little cause to use it since I first tried it out in 8i, but at least now it’s a no-brainer in terms of ease of use.

On a separate note, I finished The Light Fantastic last night. It seemed marginally more serious than the first book, but was still very funny. The introduction of character Cohen was very cool. Had me in stitches. I adopted a Sean Connery accent (in my head) for most of his dialog. Off to the book shop on the way home to buy the next couple…

Cheers

Tim…

SQL Performance Analyzer…

In addition to my reading exploits, I also had a trot through the SQL Performance Analyzer last night. It all looks pretty neat.

When I was using Database Replay I didn’t feel like the Enterprise Manager screens were easier to use than the PL/SQL APIs. They didn’t exactly feel like they added any value I guess. Part of that may have been because you still had to jump out to the command line to start the replay clients. Perhaps I was just being a bit fussy…

In contrast, I felt the SQL Performance Analyzer was a little bit easier to use through Enterprise Manager. That’s not to say the APIs are difficult, just that the Enterprise Manager screens add a little value. The basic running is the same, but the Enterprise Manager screen includes a couple of quick tests for optimizer version and parameter changes which are quite handy.

To be fare, the biggest difference in terms of ease of use is the creation and manipulation of the SQL tuning sets, which feels much simpler in Enterprise Manager, although some of functionality was present in 10g also, so I guess it’s a bit unfair to throw it into the mix. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Database Replay…

I logged in this morning and noticed I’d released my Database Replay article by accident last night. It wasn’t far off being finished, but it was in need of some “refinement”. Sorry to anyone who had the misfortune of reading the “beta” version. 🙂

At OpenWorld last year there was much talk of both Database Replay and SQL Replay, the latter being the capture and replay of just a specific SQL workload. I was quite surprised when I couldn’t see SQL Replay on the list of new features in 11g. It turns out is is there, but it has the new whiz-bang name of “SQL Performance Analyzer”. I guess this will be my next port of call.

Cheers

Tim…

Oracle 11g RAC on Windows…

I guess you would have to be in a coma to not notice that Oracle 11g is now out for Windows 32-bit.

To celebrate this release I’ve done an 11g RAC on Windows 2003 article, which is an update of my 10g RAC on Windows 2003 article. With both installations, if you get the networking stuff sorted, the installs are a breeze. Miss any steps out and you’re in for a world of hurt. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Articles and stuff…

Articles:

I think I’m finally getting myself back on track. It’s been an unusual few weeks though.

I spent quite some time complaining that I couldn’t think of anything to write about and hoping 11g would inspire me. Since the release of 11g and the inevitable installation articles, I’ve felt rather lethargic again. Getting into a new version of the database is always a bit odd. For me it’s a combination of excitement and denial… 🙂

Well, I’ve finally updated the VMware RAC article for 11g, which was dependent on a RAM upgrade. It works fine, but very slow. Unless you want the ASM experience, I think the NFS RAC method is a lot cleaner and easier.

I’ve also started to plug through the DB new features. The first thing I played around with was Partitioning. I’m hoping I can keep up the momentum for a while. I wanted to sit the 11g beta OCP exam, but I know so little about 11g at the moment it seems really unlikely I’ll get to grips with it before the beta exam closes. It’s a shame really because it’s nice to be involved in the process.

Stuff:

I finished reading Vittorio the Vampire. Of all the Anne Rice books I’ve read I think it’s the weakest. It’s all a bit flowery and “mills and boon”. Not my cup of tea.

On a more serious note, my 5 year old nephew was in A&E last night with pneumonia. I was with him all day yesterday and although he wasn’t well, we didn’t suspect something so serious. A bit of Calpol and he was up attacking a balloon octopus with a plastic sword… Things got worse through the night which resulted in the A&E visit and the diagnosis. The doctor was surprised he was so active and chirpy considering. Tough as old boots! 🙂 He’s back at home now and all looks good, but it’s very unnerving. I suspect within a couple of days he will be back in full effect.

Cheers

Tim…

Oct-2007 DE SIG and PHP…

Yesterday was the Oct-2007 DE SIG. This proved quite an interesting experience for me because I gave a presentation on PHP and Oracle.

Now I like to think I know a bit about Oracle, but I’m not a serious PHP developer, more of a PHP Fanboy. Sure, I’ve been using PHP on ORACLE-BASE.com for a few years now, but there’s a big difference between using it and presenting about it. When Andrew Clarke asked me if I was interested in doing the presentation my initial reaction was to run a mile, but then I thought, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger… 🙂

The whole process has been really interesting, if a bit scary, and I got some useful feedback off Andrew later in the pub. I’d like to say a big thank you to Andrew for organising the event and inviting me to speak, and I hope the attendees found it useful.

I must admit to feeling more than a little relieved now it’s over. For my next few presentations I’ll return to the safe haven of my normal skill set. 🙂

I was late arriving at the event so I only got to see the two presentations that followed mine. The first was a demo of master-detail reports, flash charts and PDF printing in APEX. I really must spend some time looking at APEX. It’s really starting to look like a nice product.

Next, there was a presentation about JDeveloper 11 ADF New Features. There is some seriously cool Web 2.0 eye candy in JDeveloper 11 that is sure to attract some attention. Yet another thing on my list.

So much technology, so little time…

Cheers

Tim…

PL/SQL updates in Oracle 11g

On the surface, the changes to PL/SQL look rather minor, but there is some seriously cool stuff in there. I originally intended to write a single article, but some sections got too big so I thought it was worth sectioning them out into separate articles.

As usual, I’ve tried to keep the explanations brief and include cut & paste examples.

There are a couple more things I might add, but I’m not sure if they are too niche. I’ll see what I think over the next couple of days.

Cheers

Tim…