Concise and practical, this indispensable volume brings the world’s most popular Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), its query language SQL, and its programming language PL/SQL into clear focus for today’s busy database professional or business analyst. Covering the most commonly used Oracle features, is ideal for the developer or business user challenged with implementing, maintaining, and retrieving mission-critical data within the Oracle database environment. Oracle SQL and PL/SQL Handbook Broadly designed as both a basic reference and how-to, this book offers extensive coverage of Oracle’s SQL language and database concepts, providing an excellent review for the Oracle certification exams. The initial chapters offer a complete introduction to the relational database environment, including a discussion of how to use the logical data model to understand the database. Oracle database objects are explored, along with uses of the Data Definition Language (DDL), the Data Control Language (DCL), and the Data Manipulation Language (DML). Later chapters offer complete coverage of the Select command used to retrieve information from the database. Also included are coverage of Oracle’s new analytic functions, a chapter on performance-tuning techniqes needed for complex SQL, and a detailed overview of Oracle’s PL/SQL language. In addition, many chapters provide practice questions designed to reinforce newly introduced concepts, as well as numerous examples of SQL techniques. The broad-based and comprehensive coverage also includes: Understanding the database using entity relationship diagrams and database schema diagrams Applying the Data Definition, Data Control, and Data Manipulation languages to create and maintain the database Using the SQL language to retrieve information from the database Creating special business information using Oracle’s new analytic functions Making your SQL perform better with common troubleshooting techniques Producing business information with business objects Using Java with PL/SQL Authoritative and practical, provides today’s administrator and business analyst alike with the most comprehensive sourcebook of solutions and techniques for improving their use of Oracle. Oracle SQL and PL/SQL Handbook 0201752948B07152002

Tuning your database for optimal performance means more than following a few short steps in a vendor-specific guide. For maximum improvement, you need a broad and deep knowledge of basic tuning principles, the ability to gather data in a systematic way, and the skill to make your system run faster. This is an art as well as a science, and Database Tuning: Principles, Experiments, and Troubleshooting Techniques will help you develop portable skills that will allow you to tune a wide variety of database systems on a multitude of hardware and operating systems. Further, these skills, combined with the scripts provided for validating results, are exactly what you need to evaluate competing database products and to choose the right one. Forward by Jim Gray, with invited chapters by Joe Celko and Alberto Lerner Includes industrial contributions by Bill McKenna (RedBrick/Informix), Hany Saleeb (Oracle), Tim Shetler (TimesTen), Judy Smith (Deutsche Bank), and Ron Yorita (IBM) Covers the entire system environment: hardware, operating system, transactions, indexes, queries, table design, and application analysis Contains experiments (scripts available on the author's site) to help you verify a system's effectiveness in your own environment Presents special topics, including data warehousing, Web support, main memory databases, specialized databases, and financial time series Describes performance-monitoring techniques that will help you recognize and troubleshoot problems

Sams¿ PHP and MySQL Web Development, by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson, showed that there is a strong demand for books that describe how to use PHP together with a specific open-source database to develop Web applications. While MySQL is very popular, PostgreSQL is widely considered to be the more powerful of the two open-source databases. And PostgreSQL is rapidly gaining market share large organizations are beginning to use PostgreSQL instead of Oracle; the demand for PostgreSQL training and support has increased by some accounts 50% in the last six months; and Web hosting services increasingly offer PostgreSQL along with MySQL. PHP and PostgreSQL Advanced Web Programming focuses on the specific needs of a PostgreSQL developer and will detail how to make use of PostgreSQL¿s unique, advanced features to develop high-availability, fail-safe Web applications with PHP and PostgreSQL.

Web services enable the new generation of Internet-based applications. These services support application-to-application Internet communication--that is, applications at different network locations can be integrated to function as if they were part of a single, large software system. Examples of applications made possible by Web services include automated business transactions and direct (nonbrowser) desktop and handheld device access to reservations, stock trading, and order-tracking systems. Several key standards have emerged that together form the foundation for Web services: XML (Extensible Markup Language), WSDL (Web Services Definition Language), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration). In addition, ebXML (Electronic Business XML) has been specified to facilitate automated business process integration among trading partners. This book introduces the main ideas and concepts behind core and extended Web services' technologies and provides developers with a primer for each of the major technologies that have emerged in this space. In addition, summarizes the major architectural approaches to Web services, examines the role of Web services within the .NET and J2EE communities, and provides information about major product offerings from BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, IONA, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and others. Understanding Web Services Key topics include: XML facilities for structuring and serializing data How WSDL maps services onto communication protocols and transports WSDL support for RPC-oriented and document-oriented interactions SOAP's required and optional elements Message processing and the role of intermediaries in SOAP UDDI data formats and APIs How ebXML offers an alternative to Web services that supports reliable messaging, security, and trading-partner negotiations With , you will be well informed and well positioned to participate in this vast, emerging marketplace. Understanding Web Services

If you write programs to run against an Oracle database, you spend a lot of time and mental energy writing queries to return the data your programs need. Knowledge of SQL, and particularly of Oracle's implementation of SQL, is the key to writing good queries in a timely manner. In this book, the authors share their knowledge of Oracle SQL, and show you many creative techniques that you can use to advantage in your own applications. This book shows you how to: Leverage Oracle's vast library of built-in SQL functions Query time-based data, and write joins involving date and time ranges Use Oracle SQL's hierarchical query features to deal with data best represented in a tree format Use DECODE and CASE to implement conditional logic in your queries Use Oracle's new, analytic SQL features to write ranking queries, lag and lead queries, windowing queries, and more Join data from two or more tables using the newly supported SQL92 join syntax In addition, you'll see how SQL can best be integrated with PL/SQL. You'll also learn various best practices to help you write SQL queries that perform efficiently. Precious few books on the market today go beyond discussing syntax and the barest rudiments of using Oracle SQL. This book changes that, showing you how to creatively leverage the full power of SQL to write queries in an Oracle environment.

Arguably the most capable of all the open source databases, PostgreSQL is an object-relational database management system first developed in 1977 by the University of California at Berkeley. In spite of its long history, this robust database suffers from a lack of easy-to-use documentation. Practical PostgreSQL fills that void with a fast-paced guide to installation, configuration, and usage. This comprehensive new volume shows you how to compile PostgreSQL from source, create a database, and configure PostgreSQL to accept client-server connections. It also covers the many advanced features, such as transactions, versioning, replication, and referential integrity that enable developers and DBAs to use PostgreSQL for serious business applications. The thorough introduction to PostgreSQL's PL/pgSQL programming language explains how you can use this very useful but under-documented feature to develop stored procedures and triggers. The book includes a complete command reference, and database administrators will appreciate the chapters on user management, database maintenance, and backup & recovery. With Practical PostgreSQL, you will discover quickly why this open source database is such a great open source alternative to proprietary products from Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft.

One of the most important challenges faced by Oracle database administrators and Oracle developers is the need to tune SQL statements so that they execute efficiently. Poorly tuned SQL statements are one of the leading causes of substandard database performance and poor response time. SQL statements that perform poorly result in frustration for users, and can even prevent a company from serving its customers in a timely manner. In this book, Mark Gurry shares his in-depth knowledge of Oracle's SQL statement optimizers. Mark's knowledge is the result of many hard-fought tuning battles during his many years of providing Oracle tuning services to clients. Mark provides insights into the workings of the rule-based optimizer that go well beyond what the rules tell you. Mark also provides solutions to many common problems that occur with both the rule-based and cost-based optimizers. In addition to the specific problem/solution scenarios for the optimizers, Mark provides a number of handy SQL tuning tips. He discusses the various optimizer hints, telling you when they can be used to good effect. Finally, Mark discusses the use of the DBMS_STATS package to manage database statistics, and the use of outlines to specify execution plans for SQL statements in third-party applications that you can't otherwise modify.

Learn the ins and outs of the Oracle9i development environment from product installation to advanced management configuration. Oracle 9i Development by Example provides coverage of everything from building, monitoring, and tuning an Oracle9i database to building forms and reports using developer 6i to understanding newer tools such as Log Miner in an easy to learn format.

This IBM Redbooks publication will help you to migrate the Siebel 2000 V6.2.1 database from: DB2 for NT V6 to DB2 for OS/390 V6 Oracle for NT V8.1.6 to DB2 for NT V6 Oracle for NT V8.1.6 to DB2 for OS/390 V6 The book describes the migration experiences gained while migrating a Siebel 2000 database at the IBM ITSO Poughkeepsie Center in New York, and at the IBM Hursley Laboratory in the UK. It provides an overview of Siebel architecture, and introduces the migration methodology needed to move the Siebel database from a DB2/Oracle for NT platform to a DB2 for OS/390 platform. It offers a step-by-step description of the database migration process, and discusses in detail the different methods of moving data from one platform to the other. This book will be especially useful for those migrating the Siebel database for the first time.

PL/SQL, Oracle's programming language for stored procedures, delivers a world of possibilities for your database programs. PL/SQL supplements the standard relational database language, SQL, with a wide range of procedural features, including loops, IF-THEN statements, advanced data structures, and rich transactional control--all closely integrated with the Oracle database server. Knowing where to start with Oracle's procedural language is not always obvious to a newcomer, especially considering the language's feature set and the sheer size of the official documentation (not to mention Oracle's ever-increasing number of pre-built PL/SQL programs). But Learning Oracle PL/SQL offers the signposts and guidance you need to come up to speed on the language, delivered in a manageable number of pages while covering all the essentials. Topics include: PL/SQL--what is it, and why use it? Why use PL/SQL instead of Java? Syntax and examples of all core language constructs Creating, using, and reusing stored procedures, functions, and packages Building web-based applications using PL/SQL features available "out of the box" (such as PL/SQL Server Pages) Securing PL/SQL programs against attack Benefits of third-party developer tools and integrated development environments Connecting PL/SQL to email, Java, and the Internet Meticulously crafted with all-new examples downloadable from examples.oreilly.com/learnoracle, the book addresses language features available in all versions of Oracle, from Oracle7 to Oracle8i to Oracle9i. Learning Oracle PL/SQL was written by PL/SQL experts Bill Pribyl and Steven Feuerstein, whose easy-to-read style and attention to detail has made other O'Reilly books (such as the bestselling Oracle PL/SQL Programming) very popular among Oracle developers worldwide. Learning Oracle PL/SQL is meant for a wide range of target audiences, including both beginning programmers and those already experienced with other programming languages. Whether you are a new developer, a crossover programmer from another database system, or a new database administrator who needs to learn PL/SQL, this book will get you well on your way. It is the perfect introduction to Oracle PL/SQL Programming, also by Pribyl and Feuerstein.

Oracle RMAN Pocket Reference is a handy guide for DBAs who intend to use Oracle Recovery Manager for database backup and recovery. Because Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a relatively new tool, many DBAs are just becoming familiar with it. They will welcome a timely book that explains clearly and concisely how to use RMAN for common backup and recovery tasks that are infrequent, yet extremely vital. The first portion of the book is primarily task-oriented. After a short section on RMAN architecture, the book shows (in checklist style) how to perform common backup and recovery tasks such as: Implementing a recovery catalog Creating and running RMAN scripts Configuring input/output channels Taking a full database backup Backing up tablespaces and datafiles Taking incremental backups Recovering lost datafiles The second portion of the book consists of a handy syntax reference to the many RMAN commands. Having a quick reference to RMAN commands is a great convenience to DBAs who otherwise, often under the pressure of a recovery situation, would have to wade through Oracle's online documentation.

This IBM Redbooks publication is designed to assist Oracle Database administrators and system/storage administrators with Oracle backup solutions using Tivoli Storage Manager V4.1. The primary tool we used for backup and recovery is Tivoli Data Protection (TDP) for Oracle V1.1, and the book covers setup and configuration of TDP as well as day-to-day management examples. Operating environments covered by the project are AIX, Sun Solaris, and Microsoft Windows 2000. We provide an overview of relational database management systems and how to plan for protecting them. This book will help you install, tailor, and configure Tivoli Storage Manager and Tivoli Data Protection for Oracle on UNIX and Microsoft Windows 2000 platforms in order to accomplish backup and restore of Oracle8i databases. RMAN commands and setup are covered in detail, and emphasis is placed on practical recovery scenarios. Also featured are new solutions utilizing Tivoli's hardware integration features for IBM's ESS intelligent storage subsystem, as well as an update on using TDP for Oracle V2.2 new features. Note: This book replaces relevant sections of the earlier book, Using ADSM to Back Up Databases, SG24-4335-03, by updating and re-branding the content of that book.

The first part of Special Edition Using Oracle 11i introduces the Oracle ERP applications and R11i concepts. The reader is then educated on proven techniques for implementing these complex and integrated systems. Configuration and usage of each of the financial, distribution, manufacturing, HRMS, and projects applications are covered, followed by a discussion of working with Oracle Support, consulting firms, and compatible software vendors. The appendixes review the employment market, consulting opportunities, and provide the reader with an implementation checklist. All of R11i's new features are covered in-depth and in practical terms. Not only will readers understand Oracle's new capabilities, they will be able to apply them right away.

This latest edition of the best-selling implementation guide to the Structured Query Language teaches SQL fundamentals while providing practical solutions for critical business applications. now includes expanded platform SQL coverage and extensive real-world examples based on feedback from actual SQL users. The Practical SQL Handbook, Fourth Edition begins with a step-by-step introduction to SQL basics and examines the issues involved in designing SQL-based database applications. It fully explores SQL’s most popular implementations from industry leaders, Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, and Informix. The Practical SQL Handbook Highlights include: Detailed coverage of SQL commands for creating databases, tables, and indexes, and for adding, changing, and deleting data Using the SELECT command to retrieve specific data Handling NULL values (missing information) in a relational database Joining tables, including self joins and outer joins (ANSI and WHERE-clause syntax) Working with nested queries (subqueries) to get data from multiple tables Creating views (virtual tables) to provide customized access to data Using SQL functions A bonus CD-ROM contains a time-limited, full-feature version of the Sybase® Adaptive Server Anywhere™ software as well as the sample database, scripts, and examples included in the book. is the most complete reference available for day-to-day SQL implementations. The Practical SQL Handbook 0201703092B05222001

The second edition of O'Reilly's bestselling Oracle Essentials has been updated to include the latest Oracle release, Oracle9 i. Oracle Essentials distills an enormous amount of information about Oracle's myriad technologies and releases into a compact, easy-to-read volume filled with focused text, illustrations, and helpful hints. Oracle9 i promises to be an even more significant upgrade than Oracle8 i, offering such major features as Real Application Clusters, flashback queries, Oracle personalization, clickstream intelligence, and Oracle Database Cache and Web Cache; it also promises significant improvements in Oracle's business intelligence, XML integration, high availability, and management capabilities. The book includes overviews of these features, as well as the new Oracle9 I Application Server (Oracle9 iAS) and Oracle9 i Portal. The book contains chapters on: Oracle products, options, and overall architecture for Oracle9 i and other recent releases Installing and running Oracle: creating databases, configuring Net8 (known as Oracle Net in Oracle9 i), starting up and shutting down Oracle Oracle data structures, datatypes, and ways of extending datatypes Managing Oracle: security, the Oracle Enterprise Manager, fragmentation and reorganization, and backup and recovery Oracle networking, monitoring, and tuning Multi-user concurrency, online transaction processing (OLTP), and high availability Hardware architectures (e.g., SMP, MPP, NUMA) and their impact on Oracle Data warehousing and distributed databases Oracle9 i, Oracle8 i, and the Web, including the latest Java, web, and XML technologies, interMedia, Oracle9 i Application Server, and Oracle9 i Portal For new Oracle users, DBAs, developers, and managers, Oracle Essentials is an all-in-one introduction to the full range of Oracle features and technologies, including the just-released Oracle9 i features. But even if you already have a library full of Oracle documentation, this compact book is the one you'll turn to, again and again, as your one-stop, truly essential reference.

Spatial Databases is the first unified, in-depth treatment of special techniques for dealing with spatial data, particularly in the field of geographic information systems (GIS). This book surveys various techniques, such as spatial data models, algorithms, and indexing methods, developed to address specific features of spatial data that are not adequately handled by mainstream DBMS technology. The book also reviews commercial solutions to geographic data handling: ArcInfo, ArcView, and Smallworld GISs; and two extensions to the relational model, PostgreSQL and Oracle Spatial. The authors examine these underlying GIS technologies, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and consider specific uses for which each product is best suited. * Examines the strengths of various query languages and approaches to query processing. * Explains the use of computational geometry in spatial databases GISs, providing necessary background and an in-depth look at key algorithms. * Covers spatial access methods, including the R-tree and several space-driven structures, and is filled with dozens of helpful illustrations.

SQL Loader is a ubiquitous tool in the Oracle world. It has been shipped with Oracle since at least Version 6 and continues to be supported and enhanced with each new version of Oracle, including Oracle8 and Oracle8Loader is to load data from flat files into an Oracle database. It's optimized for loading large volumes of data, and is flexible enough to handle virtually any input format.Almost every Oracle user has to use SQL i. The job of SQL Loader at one time or another, and DBAs are frequently called upon to load data for the users in their organization. Despite SQLLoader's wide availability and usage, few DBAs and developers know how to get the most out of it. Oracle SQL has everything you need to know to put SQLLoader to its best use: an introduction to SQL Loader: The Definitive Guide Loader, a reference to all of its syntax options, and most importantly, step-by-step instructions for all the SQLLoader tasks you'd want to perform--and maybe some you didn't realize you COULD perform.You'll learn how to construct the necessary control files and load from different types of files containing different types of data (e.g., fixed-width data, delimited data, and data of various datatypes). You'll also learn how to validate data, load it selectively, transform it as it is loaded, and recover after failure. This book explains how to optimize SQL Loader performance by adjusting the transaction size and using the new direct path option. It also covers the newest SQLLoader features--the loading of large object (LOB) columns and the new object types (nested tables, varying arrays, and object tables). Oracle SQL is an indispensable resource for anyone who is new to SQLLoader; a task-oriented learning tool for those who are already using it; and a quick reference for every user. If you want to take best advantage of an essential Oracle tool, you need this book. Loader: The Definitive Guide

In this book, Steven Feuerstein, widely recognized as one of the world's experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language, distills his many years of programming, writing, and teaching about PL/SQL into a set of PL/SQL language "best practices"--rules for writing code that is readable, maintainable, and efficient. Too often, developers focus on simply writing programs that run without errors--and ignore the impact of poorly written code upon both system performance and their ability (and their colleagues' ability) to maintain that code over time. Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices is a concise, easy-to-use reference to Feuerstein's recommendations for excellent PL/SQL coding. It answers the kinds of questions PL/SQL developers most frequently ask about their code: The book contains 120 best practices, divided by topic area. It's full of advice on the program development process, coding style, writing SQL in PL/SQL, data structures, control structures, exception handling, program and package construction, and built-in packages. It also contains a handy, pull-out quick reference card. As a helpful supplement to the text, code examples demonstrating each of the best practices are available on the O'Reilly web site. How should I format my code? What naming conventions, if any, should I use? How can I write my packages so they can be more easily maintained? What is the most efficient way to query information from the database? How can I get all the developers on my team to handle errors the same way? Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices is intended as a companion to O'Reilly's larger Oracle PL/SQL books. It's a compact, readable reference that you'll turn to again and again--a book that no serious developer can afford to be without.

Oracle & Open Source is the first book to tie together the commercial world of Oracle and the free-wheeling world of open source software. As this book reveals, these two worlds are not as far apart as they may seem. Today, there are many excellent and freely available software tools that Oracle developers and database administrators can use, at no cost, to improve their own coding productivity and their system's performance. Moreover, many of the finest Oracle developers are now making their source code freely available so their peers can build upon this code base. Oracle Corporation is even porting its RDBMS to Linux and starting to incorporate a growing number of open source tools in the company's own software. Oracle & Open Source describes close to 100 open source tools you can use for Oracle development and database administration, from large and widely known open source systems (like Linux, Perl, Apache, TCL/Tk and Python) to more Oracle-specific tools (like Orasoft, Orac, OracleTool, and OraSnap). You'll learn how to obtain the software and how to adapt it to best advantage. The book abounds with code examples, download and installation instructions, and helpful usage hints. Not only does it tell you how to find and use existing open source code; Oracle & Open Source gives you the details and the motivation to build your own open source contributions and release them to the Oracle community. You'll learn all about tools like the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) and Perl-DBI (Database Interface), which provide the glue allowing new open source tools to link into commercial Oracle software. With Oracle & Open Source as a guide, you'll discover an enormous number of highly effective open source tools, while getting involved with the thriving community of open source development.

Net8 is the fundamental Oracle technology that allows Oracle services and clients to communicate with each other over a network. Net8 is most often used to connect client software to Oracle database servers. It may also be used to connect database servers to one another, allowing communication between distributed databases. This practical guide provides the information that readers, especially database administrators, need to know in order to install configure, tune, and troubleshoot Net8. It discusses how Oracle's network architecture, products, and name resolution methods work, and it provides the details of client and server configuration using a variety of Oracle protocols and networking products, including: The Oracle Internet Directory (OID), Oracle's implementation of the standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). This directory can be used to maintain a central repository of net service names that can be referenced by all clients. Oracle Names, a networking component used mainly in earlier versions of Oracle, that allows net service names to be defined centrally. Multi-Threaded Server (MTS), an environment in which the client connections share access to a pool of shared server processes. Oracle Connection Manager, a Net8 component that acts much like a router and provides protocol conversion, connection concentration, and access control. The book also describes the utilities Oracle provides to help manage a Net8 environment; these include the Listener Control Utility (lsnrctl), the Oracle Names Control Utility (namesctl), the Oracle Connection Manager Control Utility (cmctl), tnsping, and Net8 Assistant. In addition, it provides a variety of networking troubleshooting techniques and commonly encountered Net8 configuration problems, and provides complete syntax for all networking files and commands.