Oracle® Database

1.1 Standard Edition Starter Database Upgrade

When the Standard Edition starter database is upgraded, the following components cannot be upgraded by the SE server because they require options that are not installed in the Standard Edition:

• Oracle Data Mining

• Spatial

• OLAP Catalog

• OLAP Analytic Workspace

• Oracle OLAP API

After the upgrade, these components will have a STATUS value of 'OPTION OFF' in the DBA_REGISTRY view, and there will be some invalid objects in the associated component schemas. The Database Upgrade Assistant will show unsuccessful upgrades for these components.

1.2 Tablespace Sizing

The Oracle Database 10g Pre-Upgrade Information Utility (utlu102i.sql) estimates the additional space required in the SYSTEM tablespace and in any tablespaces associated with the components that are in the database (for example, SYSAUX, DRSYS). For a manual upgrade, be sure to run this utility on your existing database prior to upgrading.

To avoid potential space problems during the upgrade, you can set one data file for each tablespace to AUTOEXTEND ON MAXSIZE UNLIMITED for the duration of the upgrade. The Pre-Upgrade Information Utility does not currently estimate UNDO tablespace utilization during the upgrade. The total amount of UNDO tablespace required to run the upgrade scripts depends upon the UNDO_RETENTION initialization parameter and other UNDO options in effect.

If you are using Automatic Storage Management (ASM), be sure there is adequate space in the ASM disk groups for the total tablespace sizes estimated by the utlu102i.sql utility.

1.3 JServer JAVA Virtual Machine Upgrade

The JServer NCOMP files, JAccelerator, are now on the companion products installation media. If JServer is in the database that is being upgraded, the following error will occur during a manual upgrade, provided JServer is not installed:

ORA-29558: JAccelerator (NCOMP) not installed. Refer to install guide for instructions.

JAccelerator can be installed either before or after the upgrade; installing it prior to the upgrade avoids the error.

This error will not be displayed if you are upgrading using the Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA). Instead, DBUA shows a warning message at the end of the upgrade in the Upgrade Results page, stating which components should be installed from the companion products installation media.

1.4 Upgrading Databases with interMedia, Spatial, or XDK for Java

Oracle interMedia, Oracle Spatial, and Oracle XDK for Java use the Oracle XML DB. If any of these components are installed with the database, Oracle XML DB will be automatically installed to support them.

1.5 Compatibility with Oracle8i Database

Connection of Oracle Database 10g release 2 client or server to Oracle8i Database release 8.1.7 servers is supported. Similarly, connecting Oracle8i Database servers to Oracle Database 10g release 2 servers is supported.

1.6 Upgrading XML Developer's Kit PL/SQL Code

When you use PL/SQL packages DBMS_XMLDOM, DBMS_XMLPARSER, and DBMS_XSLPROCESSOR with XML documents that reference Document Type Definition (DTD) documents or XML Schema documents, the referenced documents must reside as resources in Oracle XML DB Repository.

1.7 Enabling Automated Backups

While installing Oracle Database, the Specify Backup and Recovery Options screen may appear truncated if your system does not have the required fonts installed. If your system has only fixed-width fonts, you may not be able to fully specify the required information in the Backup Job Credentials area of the screen. To work around this issue, do not select Enable Automated Backups on this screen. After the installation is complete, use Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Database Control to enable automated backups.

3.1 ASM Non-Interactive Mode

When using the non-interactive mode of the ASMCMD utility on UNIX platforms, use the percent sign (%) as the wildcard character instead of the asterisk (*). In interactive mode, both wildcard characters are supported.

3.2 File Redundancy

The redundancy-lowered column in particular of V$ASM_FILE view can have one of the 3 values U, Y, or N for Unknown, Yes, or No, respectively. In the following cases ASM instance would unable to mark if the redundancy of a file is compromised or not.

1. Files were created using Oracle Database 10g release 1 Automatic Storage Manager software.

2. Newly-created files start out in an unknown state. This bug will be fixed in the first patch set.

The V$ASM_FILE views' redundancy_lowered column transitions from being unknown (U) to either Y or N when the storage configuration of the diskgroup is changed. For example, when adding, dropping or resizing, the disks in the diskgroup will update all the files that are affected. The user can trigger these updates by executing ALTER DISKGROUP CHECK or ALTER DISKGROUP REBALANCE.

4.1 Block Change Tracking and Physical Standby Database

Block Change Tracking can be enabled at a physical standby database. However, you should note that changed blocks are not recorded, and incremental backups will not be faster during the physical standby as they are receiving and applying redo transactions from the primary database.

When the physical standby becomes a primary database, changes are once again recorded. Following the subsequent Level 0 backup, incremental backups take advantage of change tracking.

5.1 NET Configuration Assistant (NETCA)

During creation of a 10.2.0.1 RAC database or upgrade of a 10.1.0.x RAC database, NETCA may be run to migrate listeners from the 10.1.0.x Oracle home to 10.2.0.1 Oracle home. If for some reason, migration fails on remote nodes, database creation or upgrade will succeed. However, listeners may not have been configured on the remote nodes where failure occurred. Perform one of the following workarounds to resolve this.

• Resolve the problem condition and rerun NETCA migrate on any failed node as netca /migrate /nodeinfo <comma separated list of remaining nodes>.

• Run NETCA in standalone mode to delete any existing listeners on the failed nodes and recreate 10.2.0.1 listeners.

5.2 Creating Multiple Databases with Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA)

Starting in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2), DBCA allocates 40% of total RAM to each instance by default, which is internally divided into SGA_TARGET and PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET. If you are creating a database with other database instances running on your machine, you may get error "ORA-27102: out of memory". If you plan to run multiple databases on the same machine, you may need to modify the default memory parameter settings. If you create a database as part of install, choose the Advanced option on the Select Database Configuration page of the Oracle Universal Installer, which launches DBCA interactively so you can customize memory parameters.

6.1 Network Utilization Metrics Not Displayed

Database Control should display the following network utilization metrics for each network interface:

• Network Interface Combined Utilization (%)

• Network Interface Read Utilization (%)

• Network Interface Write Utilization (%)

If these metrics are not displayed for a particular network interface, create the $ORACLE_HOME/sysman/config/network_speed file and enter the network interface name and speed in the file as follows. In this example, interface is the network interface name and speed is the speed of the interface in megabits per second (Mbps):

interface_name speed

For example, if the eth0 network interface does not display metrics, create the $ORACLE_HOME/sysman/config/network_speed file and enter the following, where 100 is the network speed in Mbps:

eth0 100

7.1 FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS Default Changed

As of Oracle Database 10g release 2, the limit for FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS for the DEFAULT profile is 10. Prior to release 10.2, the default was UNLIMITED.

7.2 Desupport of Oracle DCE Integration

Beginning in Oracle Database 10g release 2, Oracle Advanced Security option will no longer support integration with the Distributed Computing Environment (DCE).

7.3 CONNECT Role Privileges Removed

In Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) the CONNECT role only contains the CREATE SESSION privilege. Making this change enables new and existing database customers to enforce good security practices more easily. Applications that rely on the CONNECT role to create tables, views, sequences, synonyms, clusters, or database links, or applications that use the ALTER SESSION command dynamically, may fail due to insufficient privileges.

7.4 Scheduler External Jobs Security

In Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2), a new privilege, CREATE EXTERNAL JOB has been added which will now be required for database users to execute jobs that run on the operating system outside of the database. During upgrade from Oracle Database 10g release 1 this privilege is granted to all users who already have the CREATE JOB privilege.

For improved security, Oracle recommends that after an upgrade to Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2), DBAs revoke the CREATE EXTERNAL JOB privilege from all users who do not explicitly require it.

7.5 Changes in Default Security Settings

Java class oracle.security rdbms.server.AppCtx will be deprecated in future Oracle Database releases.

7.6 Enterprise User Security

Databases with different methods of authenticating to Oracle Internet Directory cannot share the same ldap.ora file.

If these databases use the same $ORACLE_HOME, one of them should have a separate TNS_ADMIN directory with its own ldap.ora file (Bug 3327626).

9.1 JavaVM

The JavaVM readme file is located at:

$ORACLE_HOME/javavm/doc/readme.txt

9.2 JDBC

For Instant Client operation of the JDBC Driver, the following files must be copied from the $ORACLE_HOME/jdbc/lib directory:

• classes12.jar if JDK 1.2 or 1.3 will be used

• orai18n.jar for Globalization and NLS support

• ocrs12.jar for Oracle JDBC rowset implementation

The JDBC readme file is located at:

$ORACLE_HOME/jdbc/Readme.txt

9.3 JPublisher

The JPublisher software, including Database Web services, is provided on the installation media.

The JPublisher readme is at the following locations:

$ORACLE_HOME/sqlj/READMEJPub.txt
$ORACLE_HOME/sqlj/READMEJPub.html

9.4 Web Services

As an alternative to Oracle Net, Oracle Database Web services provides non-connected access to the database through standard Web services mechanisms. These include XML, SOAP, and WSDL, and can turn the database into a Web services provider. Similarly, the database itself can act as a Web service consumer and invoke external Web services. Important features of Web services include:

• A JAX-RPC based SOAP Client library supports invocation of external Web services from within the database, and applies the power of SQL to the results.

• Web Services Call-In: Deploying a JPublisher-generated Java class against Oracle Application Server 10g enables you to invoke database operations like Java and PL/SQL procedures and packages, SQL queries, and DML operations.

• Web Services Call-Out: Deploying a JPublisher-generated Web services client from a WSDL and its PL/SQL wrapper supports invocation of external Web services from within the database.

10.1 Limited Globalization Support for Oracle Backup

The following globalization restrictions apply to Oracle Backup:

• The Oracle Backup command line interface is English only and is not globalized. It does not support localizations or multi-byte character set data. All messages are in English.

• Those portions of the Oracle Backup graphical user interface (GUI) that are exposed through Oracle Database Control are globalized and are translated to local languages. However, any information passed between the command line and Database Control is in English only.

• Older graphical interfaces to Oracle Backup, other than the Database Control interface, are English only.

• Oracle Backup does not support backups of file system files whose names are encoded in character sets that do not support null-termination, such as Universal Character Set (UCS).

• Oracle Backup does not support RMAN database backups when the backup names are encoded in character sets that do not support null-termination, such as UCS.

12.1 Fast-Start Failover

A Fast-Start Failover will fail if the observer cannot restart the new primary database. This can happen, for instance, if the <db_unique_name>_DGMGRL service name has not been statically registered with the listener as documented in Chapter 2 of the Oracle Data Guard Broker manual. If the observer cannot restart the new primary database, the observer will shut down and it cannot be restarted until the following steps have been completed:

1. Start and mount an instance of the new primary database.

2. Wait for the Broker to open the new primary database instance.

3. Start and mount an instance of the old primary database.

4. Run DGMGRL and connect to the new primary database.

5. Issue the REINSTATE DATABASE <old primary db_unique_name> command to convert the old primary database to a standby database.

6. Issue the STOP OBSERVER command. You must do this step even if the observer is not running to be able successfully restart the observer.

7. Restart the observer.

In rare cases, the observer may fail to automatically reinstate the old primary database. If this happens, run DGMGRL, connect to the new primary database, and then issue the REINSTATE DATABASE <oldprimary db_unique_name> command.

12.2 DDL Statements that Use DBLINKS

On logical standby databases, avoid using SQL statements such as CREATE TABLE tablename AS SELECT * FROM bar@dblink as they may fail.

When a statement is executed on the logical standby database, it will access the database link at that time. It is not possible to know if the information on the logical standby database is the same as it was at the time the statement was executed on the primary database. For example, additional columns may have been added or dropped; this can make it impossible to apply the rows that follow. Assuming that the network was set up so that the initial creation succeeded, you may see the following error: ORA-26689: column datatype mismatch in LCR for a table containing nested table columns. Also, the ORA-02019: connection description for remote database not found error may be returned if the database link or the TNS service was undefined on the logical standby database.

When this happens, use the DBMS_LOGSTDBY.INSTANTIATE_TABLE procedure for the table being created, and then restart SQL APPLY operations.

12.3 Logical Standby Databases on the Same Node as the Primary Database

If a logical standby database is located on the same computer system as the primary database, it is likely that both Oracle Database instances have access to the same directory structure. There are Oracle Database commands that reuse datafiles. If Oracle Database commands that reuse datafiles are applied on the primary database, the commands may also be applied on the logical standby database. If that happens while the primary database is shut down, it is possible for the logical standby database to claim the file as part of its database and possibly cause damage to the primary database.

For this reason only, Oracle recommends using the following settings when running the primary and logical standby databases on the same computer system:

EXECUTE DBMS_LOGSTDBY.SKIP('ALTER TABLESPACE');

12.4 Logical Standby Stops with Error ORA-00955

When this error occurs, check the alert log for the following output:

LOGSTDBY stmt: Create table anyddl.anyobj... 
LOGSTDBY status: ORA-16542: unrecognized operation 
LOGSTDBY status: ORA-16222: automatic Logical Standby retry of last action 
LOGSTDBY status: ORA-16111: log mining and apply setting up 
LOGSTDBY stmt: Create table anyddl.anyobj... 
LOGSTDBY status: ORA-00955: name is already used by an existing object 

The initial attempt to apply the DDL actually completed, but failed to be recorded. The ORA-16542 error identifies this problem.

You can restart the logical standby database using the following command:

ALTER DATABASE START LOGICAL STANDBY APPLY SKIP FAILED TRANSACTION;

12.5 ALTER DATABASE GUARD Issues on Oracle Real Application Clusters

For logical standby databases running on an Oracle Real Application Clusters system, you must issue the ALTER DATABASE GUARD statement on each active instance for it to be effective on all instances in the cluster.

12.6 Defining Destinations for Standby Log Files When Using a Flash Recovery Area with Logical Standby Databases

If you have enabled a flash recovery area on a logical standby database, you must set the following initialization parameters:

• Define the STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST parameter to point to a location other than the flash recovery area. Doing so ensures that redo data received from the primary database is not archived in the flash recovery area.

  For example, when creating a logical standby database as described in Section 4.2.3.2 of Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration, define the following parameter on the logical standby database: STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST='/arch2/boston/'

• Define a LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter and include the LOCATION and the VALID_FOR=(STANDBY_LOGFILES, STANDBY_ROLE) attributes to direct archiving of standby redo log files to a destination that is not the flash recovery area. For example,

  LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_3=
     'LOCATION=/arch2/boston/
     VALID_FOR=(STANDBY_LOGFILES,STANDBY_ROLE)
     DB_UNIQUE_NAME=boston'
  

In addition, Oracle recommends that you set the same initialization parameters on the primary database to prepare it for a future switchover:

• Define the STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST to point to a location other than the flash recovery area.

  For example, when creating a logical standby database as described in Section 4.2.2.2 of Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration, define the following parameter on the primary database: STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST='/arch2/chicago/'.

• Define a LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter and include the LOCATION and the VALID_FOR=(STANDBY_LOGFILES, STANDBY_ROLE) attributes to direct archiving of standby redo log files to a directory that is not the flash recovery area. For example,

  LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_3=
     'LOCATION=/arch2/chicago/
     VALID_FOR=(STANDBY_LOGFILES,STANDBY_ROLE)
     DB_UNIQUE_NAME=chicago'
  

12.7 Database Guard Stays On In the New Primary Database If a Prepared Switchover Operation Detects a Network Outage

If a logical standby database performs a switchover to the primary database role running in maximum protection mode, and the LGWR process encounters an error with a destination, LGWR will re-evaluate all destinations to ensure at least one of them is working properly.

If the LGWR process does not find a destination to which it can successfully write the standby redo log file, and if it does not contain any missing log files, or gaps, then the primary instance shuts down. Although the switchover completes successfully, the database guard remains enabled to prevent data divergence.

The solution, which appears in the alert log for the database instance, is to:

• Start the database in a lower protection mode, such as maximum performance.

• Manually disable the database guard by issuing the ALTER DATABASE GUARD NONE command.

12.8 Max Protection Switchover With a Bystander Logical Standby

When performing a zero data loss switchover in a maximum protection configuration that involves more than one logical standby database, keep the following items in mind:

• Ensure that all transport settings (specified by the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameters on the current primary database) for logical standby instances not participating in the switchover are set to ARCH, not LGWR, for the duration of the switchover.

• After the transport setting is modified, but before the switchover operation, perform an ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT to ensure that any active standby redo logfiles are archived.

• Once the switchover is complete, the destination setting for the bystanders should be changed back to the LGWR transport mode.

12.9 Enable Flashback Database on All Databases in a Data Guard Configuration

Oracle recommends that flashback database be enabled on all databases in a Data Guard configuration. This is particularly important on standby databases that do not use a log apply delay.

14.1 Checking for the Most Current Release

Oracle HTML DB (recently renamed Oracle Application Express) is released more frequently than the Oracle Database. To view information about or download a more current release, refer to:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/index.html

14.2 Rendering Select Lists in a Report or Tabular Form

You can use the HTMLDB_ITEM package to render select lists in a report or tabular form by making direct calls to HTMLDB_ITEM.SELECT_LIST or by applying certain display types to report columns. Note that this type of select list cannot exceed 32K characters. Also note that selecting too many options may result in the select list not rendering correctly.

In Oracle HTML DB 1.5.1, select lists rendered using this approach did not include closing OPTION tags for each option. Closing OPTION tags for each option are now included in Oracle HTML DB 1.6, reducing the number of options allowed in a select list. The actual change in the number of options depends on the length of the option text strings. This also affects pagination if the row ranges in select list style is chosen. If the number of allowed options is reached, the pagination style changes to X-Y of Z without using a select list.

14.3 Escaping Special Characters Rendered from Session State

Page and application items can have their session state values established using a URL or in POSTDATA. In release 1.6, the HTML DB engine escapes these values for two item types when it saves them in session state.

14.4 Restoring Indented Values in a Report Column

Earlier releases of Oracle HTML DB stripped all HTML tags from query column values when those columns where used in HTML expressions and links. In Oracle HTML DB 1.6, you can disable this behavior by turning off the Strip HTML attribute on the Report Attribute page. By default, this attribute is enabled so that applications developed in earlier releases will behave the same way after upgrading.

In release 1.6, stripping of HTML tags also includes NBSC escape characters. This type of character is used in some applications to indent link values in a report column. You can restore the indent after upgrading, by editing your report and setting the Strip HTML attribute on the Report Attribute page to No.

14.5 Implementing Themes in an Application Migrated from Earlier Releases

Oracle HTML DB release 1.6 introduces the concept of themes. A theme is a logical group and classification of templates within an Oracle HTML DB application. The HTML DB engine maps templates between different themes using classes. Because this functionality did not exist in previous releases, be aware of the following issues before trying to utilize themes in an application created in a previous release.

When you import an application into release 1.6 from an earlier release, Oracle HTML DB groups all the templates in the application into a theme named Application Theme.

Before switching the theme of an application developed in an earlier release you must:

• Edit each template in your application and assign it the appropriate class.Both the theme you are switching from and the theme you are switching to must contain the same classes. If you have a template that does not fall within a predefined class, you can use a custom class. Each template type has eight custom classes.

• Review the default templates (and template classes) in the theme you are switching from and the theme you are switching to. You can review the default templates defined in a theme on the Define Theme page.Note that failing to perform this step may result in unexpected results. For example, you might run into problems if one theme has a default page template that is one-level template while another has a default page template which is a two-level template.

If you switch an application theme and it does not render correctly:

1. Verify that the default templates for the active theme are set correctly.

2. Check that the templates within the active theme have the correct template classifications.

14.6 About Column Attribute Format in Japanese

When you open the number or date format select popup dialog on the Column Attribute of a Page Definition in Application Builder, it always displays 'backslash'+ 5,234.10 in the dialog. It is expected that the symbol of 'yen' displays accurately in a Japanese environment.

Note that backslash and yen are the same character code point, but display differently depending on the selected font. Backslash is also displayed when applying the data format on the page in the application.

14.7 Creating an Item with a Name that Includes Non-ASCII Characters

If you create a form on a table or view using a wizard based on an included column whose name contains non-ASCII characters, the name of the new item will also contain non-ASCII characters.

To correct this problem, when you create new items on the Page Definition use alphanumeric characters A_Z, 0-9 and '_' for the item names. You may also need to change the item names to alphanumeric before you apply changes to the item.

14.8 Runtime Errors in an Application Imported from a Previous Release

If you export an application from an earlier Oracle HTML DB release and then import and install it using the installation pages in Application Builder, in rare situations you may encounter runtime errors after the application installs.

These errors often manifest themselves as PL/SQL parser or execution errors pertaining to blocks of PL/SQL code embedded within application components. The installation process sometimes splits strings greater than 200 characters into multiple lines. For example, lines may split between PL/SQL keywords, or at other places that cause parsing errors.

If you encounter these types of errors and suspect the installation process has split large strings:

1. Isolate the failing component containing the suspect PL/SQL within the application by editing the failing page in Application Builder.

2. Locate the blocks of code that appear to split incorrectly.

3. Attempt to split the blocks of code in more appropriate places, or insert whitespace with the lines until no runtime errors are observed.

4. Export the application, import the export file, and then reinstall it.

5. Retain the new export file as a permanent backup copy.

14.9 Creating a Web Reference on a WSDL that has Input parameters Defined as Arrays

If you create a Web service reference in Oracle HTML DB on a WSDL document that has input parameters defined as arrays, you will not be able to use built-in wizards to create a form or a form and report on that Web reference. Oracle HTML DB does not provide a user interface for input parameters that are arrays. Output parameters that are defined as arrays are handled properly if you use the Form and Report on Web Service Wizard.

14.10 No Support for Corel SVG Viewer

Oracle HTML DB release 1.6 does not support the Corel SVG viewer.

16.1 Using the Oracle Internet Directory Configuration Assistant

The Oracle Internet Directory Configuration Assistant (OIDCA) enables you to create, upgrade, and delete an Oracle Context, configure the file ldap.ora, and convert an Oracle Context to an Identity Management Realm.

The OIDCA syntax is:

oidca oidhost=host 
      nonsslport=port |
      sslport=SSL Port
      dn=binddn 
      pwd=bindpwd 
      propfile=properties file

The following table lists parameters of the OIDCA. To see the usage of OIDCA, enter oidca -help at the command prompt.

16.2 Creating an Oracle Context

The following syntax is used to create an Oracle Context in OIDCA; the parameters are described in the subsequent table.

oidca oidhost=host
      nonsslport=port
      sslport=SSL Port
      dn=binddn
      pwd=bindpwd
      mode=CREATECTX 
      contextdn=OracleContext DN

oidhost

nonsslport

sslport

dn

pwd

contextdn

Note the following points:

• The contextdn must exist for this operation to be successful.

• This valid DN should not exist in OID: "cn=oraclecontext,dc=acme, dc=com".

• This valid DN must exist in OID: "dc=acme,dc=com".

• The parameters mode and contextdn can also be passed as a properties file.

• Specify the parameter nonsslport=port if you want to perform the operation using non-SSL mode.

• Specify the parameter sslport=sslport if you want to perform the operation using SSL mode.

• Either the nonsslport or the sslport parameter must be specified, but not both.

Functionality

1. The OIDCA verifies that contextdn has a valid DN syntax and that the entry exists in Oracle Internet Directory. Note that the OIDCA cannot create a root OracleContext explicitly. If there is no root Oracle Context, then OIDCA exits with an error.

2. If DN exists, then OIDCA verifies that the Oracle Context already exists.

   • If the Oracle Context already exists and is up-to-date, then OIDCA exits with the message Oracle Context already exists and is up to date.

   • If the Oracle Context already exists, but it is an older version, then OIDCA exits with the message Oracle Context already exists and is of an older version.

   • If the Oracle Context does not exist, then OIDCA creates the Oracle Context under this DN.

16.3 Upgrading an Oracle Context

To upgrade an OracleContext instance, use the following syntax; the parameters are listed in the subsequent table.

oidca oidhost=host
      nonsslport=port 
      sslport=SSL Port 
      dn=binddn
      pwd=bindpwd
      mode=UPGRADECTX
      contextdn=OracleContext DN

oidhost

nonsslport

sslport

dn

pwd

contextdn

Note the following points:

• The contextdn must contain an OracleContext for this operation to be successful.

• The DNs "cn=oraclecontext,dc=acme,dc=com" and "dc=acme,dc=com" are both valid.

• The parameters mode and contextdn can also be passed as a properties file.

• Specify the parameter nonsslport=port if you want to perform the operation using a non-SSL mode.

• Specify the parameter sslport=sslport if you want to perform the operation using SSL mode.

• Either the nonsslport or the sslport parameter must be specified, but not both.

Functionality

1. OIDCA verifies that the contextdn has valid DN syntax and that OracleContext exists in Oracle Internet Directory. OIDCA cannot upgrade a root OracleContext explicitly. If there is no root OracleContext, then OIDCA sends an error message.

2. If OracleContext exists under contextdn,

   • The OIDCA checks if the OracleContext belongs to a realm, in which case it exits with the appropriate message. Note that OracleContext instances that belong to a realm cannot be upgraded.

   • The OIDCA verifies that the OracleContext is up-to-date, then exits with the message Oracle Context already exists and is up to date.

   • If the OracleContext is not up-to-date, then the OIDCA upgrades the OracleContext under this DN.

16.4 Deleting an Oracle Context

To delete an OracleContext, use the following syntax; the parameters are listed in the subsequent table.

oidca oidhost=host
      nonsslport=port
      sslport=SSL Port
      dn=binddn
      pwd=bindpwd
      mode=DELETECTX
      contextdn=OracleContext DN

oidhost

nonsslport

sslport

dn

pwd

contextdn

Note the following points:

• The contextdn must contain an OracleContext for this operation to be successful.

• The DNs "cn=oraclecontext, dc=acme,dc=com" and "dc=acme,dc=com" are both valid.

• The parameters mode and contextdn can also be passed as a properties file.

• Specify the parameter nonsslport=port if you want to perform the operation using a non-SSL mode.

• Specify the parameter sslport=sslport if you want to perform the operation using SSL mode.

• Either the nonsslport or the sslport parameter must be specified, but not both.

Functionality

1. OIDCA verifies that the contextdn has valid DN syntax and that OracleContext exists in Oracle Internet Directory.

2. If OracleContext exists under contextdn,

   • The OIDCA checks if the OracleContext belongs to a realm, in which case it exits with the appropriate message. Note that OracleContext instances that belong to a realm cannot be deleted.

   • If OracleContext does not belong to a realm, OIDCA deletes it.

16.5 Configuring the file ldap.ora

To configure the file ldap.ora, use the following syntax; the parameters are listed in the subsequent table.

oidca oidhost=host
      nonsslport=port
      sslport=SSL Port
      adminctx=Administrative context
      mode=LDAPORA  
      dirtype=OID or AD
      -update

oidhost

nonsslport

sslport

dirtype

adminctx

-update

Note the following points:

• At least either non-SSL or SSL port must be specified. The other port is discovered.

• The parameters mode, dirtype, and adminctx can also be passed in within a properties file.

Functionality

1. Using the Discovery API, the OIDCA determines all the parameters not specified on the command line.

2. The OIDCA checks for the ldap.ora location using Discovery APIs.

   • If ldap.ora exists and the -update parameter is not specified, then exit with message ldap.ora exists.

   • If ldap.ora exists and the -update parameter is not specified, then update the existing ldap.ora using Discovery API.

   • If ldap.ora does not exist, create a new ldap.ora file in a location in the following order:

     LDAP_ADMIN
     $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/admin
     

16.6 Converting an Oracle Context to an Identity Management Realm

Oracle Database 10g entries must be stored in Oracle Internet Directory release 9.0.4 server. An Identity Management Realm release 9.0.4 is also required for Enterprise User Security, a feature of the Oracle Database 10g.

To convert an existing OracleContext to an Identity Management Realm, use the following syntax. The parameters are listed in the subsequent table. Note that the root of the OracleContext object is not converted.

oidca oidhost=host
      nonsslport=port
      sslport=SSL Port
      dn=binddn
      pwd=bindpwd
      mode=CTXTOIMR
      contextdn=OracleContext DN

oidhost

nonsslport

sslport

dn

pwd

contextdn

Note the following points:

• The OracleContext must exist under the specified contextdn.

• The DNs "cn=oraclecontext, dc=acme,dc=com" and "dc=acme, dc=com" are both valid.

• The parameters mode and contextdn can also be passed in a properties file.

• Specify the parameter nonsslport=port if you want to perform the operation using a non-SSL mode.

• Specify the parameter sslport=sslport if you want to perform the operation using SSL mode.

• Either the nonsslport or the sslport parameter must be specified, but not both.

Functionality

1. The OIDCA checks if contextdn has valid DN syntax, and if it contains a valid OracleContext.

2. If OracleContext exists under contextdn,

   • The OIDCA checks if the OracleContext belongs to a realm. If it does, then it exits with an appropriate error message.

   • If OracleContext does not belong to a realm, OIDCA upgrades it to the latest version, and converts it to a realm.

Note also:

• If the nickname attribute is not cn, configure it as a user configuration attribute using the Oracle Internet Directory Self-Service Console.

• If you want to use the Oracle Internet Directory Self-Service Console to manage the users and groups in the converted realm, you must set up the administrative privileges appropriately. For details, see the chapter on "Delegation of Privileges for an Oracle Technology Deployment" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Internet Directory, 10g Application Server (9.0.4).

18.1 Listener Compatibility Between Releases

A 10gR1 or later listener is required for a 10gR1 instance. A listener from an older release will not work.

A 10gR2 or later listener is required for a 10gR2 instance. A listener from an older release (including 10gR1) will not work.

19.1 Run the rootpre.sh Script Before Adding a 64-Bit Server Node to Oracle Real Application Clusters

This note provides information that was omitted from the Oracle Database Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration Deployment Guide 10g Release 2 (10.2), part number B14197-04. This information is specific to Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) running release 10.2. Do not use these instructions if you are running a later release of the Oracle Database software.

Before adding a 64-bit server node to an existing Oracle RAC configuration that is running release 10.2, you must run the rootpre.sh script on the node.

The following steps describe how to run the rootpre.sh script. The command examples are specific to a Linux or UNIX system:

1. Switch user to root:

   $ su - root
   

2. Complete one of the following steps, depending on the location of the installation:

   • If the installation files are on a CD/DVD, then enter a command similar to the following, where directory_path is the mount point directory or the path of the database directory on the CD/DVD:

     # /directory_path/rootpre.sh
     

   • If the installation files are on the hard disk, then change directory to the Disk1 directory and enter the following command:

     # ./rootpre.sh
     

3. Exit from the root account:

   # exit
   

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 on each node in the cluster.

19.2 Changing Hostnames and VIP Addresses

Avoid changing hostnames and VIP addresses after you complete the CRS installation. This is a complex process and it includes adding or deleting domain qualifications.

19.3 CVUQDisk RPM Name and Location

The Red Hat Linux RPM package, cvuqdisk, must be installed before you can use Cluster Verification Utility (CVU). The RPM package name is listed incorrectly in the Oracle Database, Oracle Clusterware, and Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Linux. The correct name is cvuqdisk-1.0.1-1.rmp. The RPM package is available on the Oracle Clusterware DVD and in the installed CRS home directory, under the directory name rpm.

21.1 SH Schema

In previous releases of the Sample Schemas, the SH schema contained data for pharmaceutical and beauty care products. In this release, the SH schema contains consumer electronics and computer products.The Oracle Sample Schemas readme file is located at:

$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/schema/README.txt

The scripts for manually creating Sample Schemas or any of their components are on the installation media.

21.2 OE Schema

The OE schema contains XML purchase order documents. The XML documents are stored in the Oracle XML DB Repository after validation against the registered XML schema purchaseorder.xsd.

The purchase order XML documents are located at the Oracle XML DB Repository folder $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/order_entry/2002/<month>, where <month> is one of the three-letter month abbreviations (for example, Jan, Feb, Mar, and so on).

25.1 UCS-2 Codepoint Semantics

Oracle Text follows UCS-2 codepoint semantics when evaluating offsets and length values. This applies to its entire API including the CTX_DOC package. The Oracle Text documentation incorrectly refers to it as USC-2.

25.2 Filtering PDF Documents with Embedded Fonts

Embedded fonts in a PDF document are not filtered correctly. They show up as garbage characters in the output. The document itself does not fail to filter, and all non-embedded fonts are filtered correctly.

25.3 Oracle Text Supplied Knowledge Bases

An Oracle Text knowledge base is a hierarchical tree of concepts used for theme indexing, ABOUT queries, and deriving themes for document services. The following Oracle Text services require that a knowledge base be installed:

• Index creation using a BASIC_LEXER preference where INDEX_THEMES=YES

• SYNCing of an index where INDEX_THEMES=YES

• CTX_DOC.THEMEs

• CTX_DOC.POLICY_THEMEs

• CTX_DOC.GIST

• CTX_DOC.POLICY_GIST

• CTX_QUERY.HFEEDBACK

• CTX_QUERY.EXPLAIN, if using ABOUT or THEMES with TRANSFORM

• CTX_DOC.SNIPPET (if using the ABOUT operator)

• CTX_DOC.POLICY_SNIPPET (if using the ABOUT operator)

• CONTAINS queries that use ABOUT or THEMES with TRANSFORM

• The Knowledge Base Extension Compiler, ctxkbtc

• Clustering and classification services, if themes are specified

If you plan to use any of these Oracle Text features, you should install the supplied knowledge bases, English and French, from the Oracle Database 10g installation media.

Note that you can extend the supplied knowledge bases, or create your own knowledge bases, possibly in languages other than English and French. For more information about creating and extending knowledge bases, see the Oracle Text Reference.

For information on how to install products from the installation media, see the Oracle Database Installation Guide specific to your platform.

Supplied Knowledge Bases and Upgrades

Because the supplied knowledge bases are contained on the Oracle Database 10g installation media, they are not immediately available after an upgrade to Oracle Database 10g. Oracle Text features that depend on the supplied knowledge bases available before the upgrade will not function after the upgrade, so you have to install the supplied knowledge bases from the installation media.

After an upgrade, you must regenerate all user extensions to the supplied knowledge bases. These changes affect all databases installed in the given $ORACLE_HOME.

For more information on upgrading Oracle Text and supplied knowledge bases, see the Oracle Database Upgrade Guide, Chapter 4, "After Upgrading a Database", section "Upgrading Oracle Text". The Oracle Text Application Developer's Guide contains both general instructions for upgrading from previous releases of Oracle Text and information on supplied knowledge bases.

25.4 KOREAN_LEXER Desupport

KOREAN_LEXER was deprecated in Oracle9i Release 9.0.1. It is now desupported. Detailed information on how to migrate applications from KOREAN_LEXER are available as Note 300172.1 on Oracle MetaLink.

27.1 XML Date Formatting

Dates and timestamps in generated XML are now in the formats specified by XML Schema. See Oracle XML DB Developer's Guide, Chapter "Generating XML Data from the Database", section "XMLELEMENT and XMLATTRIBUTES SQL Functions", subsection "Formatting of XML Dates and Timestamps".

27.2 Restrictions in XQuery

The following changes to the XQuery Language Specification and to the XQuery Functions & Operators Specification are not supported in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2).

Unsupported XQuery Language Specification Changes

Error Message Changes: The following changes were made to XQuery error messages:

• Changed the error codes in the language document to have eight characters. The first two characters are XQ for XQuery only, XP for either XPath or XQuery. The next two characters are "category codes" (ST, DY, or TY). The final four characters are digits.

• Added a new error code "XQST0076 Collation specified in order-by clause is not found in statically-known collations."

• Removed the rule against a module importing its own namespace. Deleted error XQST0056.

• Checked consistency of error descriptions with error references. Added three missing error references: XQST0012, XQST0013, and XQST0069. Deleted three obsolete errors: XQST0014, XQST0056, and XQDY0062.

Other Unsupported XQuery Language Specification Changes: These are other changes to XQuery not supported in this release:

• URI values are whitespace normalized according to the rules for the |xs:anyURI| type in the W3C XML schema recommendation.

• Allowing default function namespace to be null

• Support for xml:id. This is not supported. An error is raised.

• Construction mode for document constructors

• Standalone attribute "/./". This may lead to wrong results for some queries.

Unsupported XQuery Functions & Operators Specification Changes

• Constructor for a user defined type that is not in a namespace

• The XQuery standard distinguishes positive zero (+0) from negative zero (-0), but Oracle XML DB does not. Both are represented as |0|, and they are treated equally.

• The functions fn:codepoint-equal and fn:prefix-from-Qname.

28.1 DBMS_STATS

The PL/SQL package, DBMS_STATS, has been expanded to include two new DIFF_TABLE_STATS_* statistics functions. These functions can be used to compare statistics for a table from two different sources.

For more information see Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

28.2 SQL Test Case Builder

For many SQL-related problems, obtaining a reproducible test case makes it easier to resolve the problem. The SQL Test Case Builder automates the somewhat difficult and time-consuming process of gathering and reproducing as much information as possible about a problem and packages it up ready to send to Oracle Support. SQL Test Case Builder is part of the PL/SQL package DBMS_SQLDIAG.

For more information see Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide and Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

28.3 Procedure DBMS_DDL.ALTER_COMPILE is Deprecated

DBMS_DDL.ALTER_COMPILE is deprecated as of this release. While the procedure will still be available in the package, users are strongly advised to use the following DDL within a dynamic SQL statement:

ALTER PROCEDURE|FUNCTION|PACKAGE [<schema>.]<name> COMPILE [BODY]

28.4 DBMS_SCHEDULER PL/SQL Package

The Oracle Scheduler has support for event based jobs. These are jobs that are started when a message is enqueued into a database queue. When the database queue used for this purpose is a secure queue, the QUEUE_SPEC attribute of event-based jobs and schedules is a pair of the form <queue name>, <agent name>. The reason an agent has to be specified is to help the scheduler determine which messages the user is allowed to see. In the case of non-secure queues, if the user has dequeue privileges on a queue then he can dequeue as any agent that is subscribed to the queue. This means that he can see all the messages in the queue. In the case of secure queues, the user has to be granted privileges to not only the queue but to agents as well.

In addition to granting dequeue privileges, the queue owner has to make a call to dbms_aqadm.enable_db_access() to allow the user to dequeue as a specific agent. The agent could be subscribed to the queue using a rule which filters out messages that the user should not see.

The scheduler always subscribes to every queue (secure or otherwise) using its own agent SCHEDULER$_EVENT_AGENT. Since the scheduler runs as user SYS, it will be able to see all the messages in the queue. In the case of secure queues, however, this should not be done since the purpose of secure queues is to allow the queue owner to provide some kind of limited access to the queue to users. Therefore, the scheduler requires an agent name in the QUEUE_SPEC attribute. This agent name is used solely for the purpose of determining which messages the user is allowed to see. The scheduler does not dequeue messages as this agent. When the scheduler receives notification that a message has arrived in a secure queue then it performs the following checks for each event-based job that depends on the queue.

1. It checks to see if the job owner has dequeue privileges on the queue.

2. It checks to see if the agent name provided in the queue spec can be used by the job owner.

3. It checks to see if the agent is currently subscribed to the queue.

4. It checks if the incoming message is visible to the agent.

If all the above checks pass then the scheduler will launch the event-based job. Regardless of whether the checks pass or not, the message will be dequeued using the agent SCHEDULER$_EVENT_AGENT.

When providing an agent for the QUEUE_SPEC attribute, the user can provide an existing agent name or have a new one created for this purpose. In either case, it is the user's or queue owner's responsibility to ensure that the agent dequeues its messages.

32.1 Globalization Support (NLS) and Replication

In a replication environment involving Oracle Database 10g and pre-Oracle9i Database releases at sites utilizing NCHAR and NVARCHAR2 data types, an Oracle Database patch must be installed at the earlier release (pre-Oracle9i Database) site. Contact Oracle Support Services to obtain the appropriate NLS patch as recommended in ALERT 140014.1 Oracle8, Oracle8i to Oracle9i using New AL16UTF16 available on OracleMetaLink, http://metalink.oracle.com.

32.2 RMAN

The unused block compression feature will be disabled in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2). The feature will be re-enabled with the first Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) patch set.

32.3 Virtual Private Database (VPD) and Replication

For multimaster replication, there must be no VPD restrictions on the replication propagator and receiver schemas. For materialized views, the defining query for the materialized view may not be modified by VPD. VPD must return a NULL policy for the schema that performs both the create and refresh of the materialized view. Creating a remote materialized view with a non-NULL VPD policy does not generate an error, but may yield incorrect results.

35.1 DESCRIBE Behavior Change

DESCRIBE behavior of invalidated objects has been changed to be more user-friendly. In previous releases, a DESCRIBE on an invalidated object failed with an error ORA-24372: invalid object for describe; this error would continue to be generated even after the object was re-validated. In Oracle Database 10g, a DESCRIBE operation automatically revalidates the object, and lets it work if the revalidation is successful.

36.1 Fine Grained Auditing (FGA)

If Fine Grained Auditing (FGA) is enabled on a table in the query, then Query Rewrite will not occur for this query.

36.2 Feature Availability

The creation and refresh features of materialized views are supported in both the Standard and Enterprise Editions. However, query rewrite and materialized view advice from the SQL Access Advisor are available in the Enterprise Edition only.

36.3 NLS Parameters

When using or refreshing certain materialized views, you must ensure that your NLS parameters are the same as when you created them in the materialized view. Materialized views that fall under this restriction contain the following constructs:

1. Expressions that may return different values, depending on NLS parameter settings For example, (date >?01/02/03?) or (rate <= ?2.150?) are NLS parameter dependent expressions.

2. Equijoins where one side of the join is character data The result of this equijoin depends on collation and this can change on a session basis, giving an incorrect result in the case of query rewrite or an inconsistent materialized view after a refresh operation.

3. Expressions that generate internal conversion to character data in the select list of a materialized view, or inside an aggregate of a materialized aggregate view This restriction does not apply to expressions that involve only numeric data, for example, a+b where a and b are numeric values.

37.1 Propagation from Oracle9i release 9.2 to Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) Returns Error ORA-25334

Propagation from Oracle9i release 9.2 to Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) will result in an error ORA-25334 unless the patch to Bug 4285404 has been applied to the Oracle9i release 9.2.

37.2 Streams Advanced Queuing

Subscription names for AQ notification will become canonical. Thus, registrations for scott.queue1:sub and SCOTT.QUEUE1:SUB are for the same entity and will be represented in canonical form as "SCOTT"."QUEUE1":"SUB".

39.1 Object Type Translator

The Object Type Translator (OTT) readme file is located at:

$ORACLE_HOME/precomp/doc/ott/readme.doc

40.1 Data Pump Import Using Automatic Storage Management and SQLFILE

To perform a Data Pump Import to a SQL file using Automatic Storage Management (ASM), the SQLFILE parameter that you specify must include a directory object that does not use the ASM + notation. That is, the SQL file must be written to a disk file, not into the ASM storage.

40.2 Data Pump Export/Import Using Automatic Storage Management and LOGFILE

To perform a Data Pump Export or Import using Automatic Storage Management (ASM), you must specify a LOGFILE parameter that includes a DIRECTORY object that does not include the ASM + notation. That is, the logfile must be written to a diskfile, and not written into the ASM storage. Alternatively, you can specify NOLOGFILE=Y. However, this prevents the writing of the logfile.

40.3 Data Pump Export/Import and Database Link types

The following types of database links are supported for use with Data Pump Export/Import:

• Public database link (both public and shared)

• Fixed-user database link

• Connected user database link

The following type of database link is not supported for use with Data Pump Export/Import:

• Current user database link

Refer to the Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for further information about database links.

40.4 DBMS_METADATA MODIFY Transform Restriction

A maximum of ten instances of any remap parameter may be specified for a MODIFY transform. That is, you may specify up to ten REMAP_DATAFILE parameters, up to ten REMAP_SCHEMA parameters, and so on. Additional instances are ignored. As a workaround, perform another ADD_TRANSFORM for the MODIFY transform and specify the additional remap parameters:

th1 := dbms_metadata.add_transform(h,'MODIFY');
dbms_metadata.set_transform_param(th1,'REMAP_SCHEMA','USER1','USER101');
dbms_metadata.set_transform_param(th1,'REMAP_SCHEMA','USER2','USER102');
...
dbms_metadata.set_transform_param(th1,'REMAP_SCHEMA', 'USER10', 'USER110');
th2 := dbms_metadata.add_transform(h,'MODIFY');
dbms_metadata.set_transform_pa