Oracle8i Personal Edition Administrator's Guide
Release 2 (8.1.6) for Windows 98
A85313-01

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Database Tools Overview

Oracle8i Personal Edition for Windows 98 includes various tools to perform database functions. This chapter describes the preferred tools to perform common database administration tasks.

Specific topics discussed are:

Choosing a Database Tool

Database tools is a collective term for tools, utilities, and assistants that you can use to perform database administration tasks. Some database tools perform similar tasks, though no one database tool performs all database administration tasks. The following sections indicate which database tools can be used on particular operating systems and the preferred tools to use for common database administration tasks.

Note:

This chapter describes tasks that use SQL*Plus command line syntax. In this guide, all Server Manager text and examples have been replaced with SQL*Plus equivalents. Although Server Manager continues to ship with 8.1.x releases, Oracle Corporation strongly recommends that you migrate to SQL*Plus as soon as possible. See your SQL*Plus documentation for information on using SQL*Plus to perform database administration tasks.

Note that for all previous 8.0.x releases of Oracle8, the Server Manager executable was SVRMGR30. For 8.1.6, the Server Manager executable is SVRMGRL. The "L" indicates line mode.

Oracle8i Navigator can be installed from Oracle8i Personal Edition for Window 98 CD-ROM of Release 8.1.6. It can be installed by selecting Typical Installation or through Custom Installation. 

Database Tools and Operating System Compatibility

This table lists database tools and the operating system(s) on which each can be used:

Database Tools  Windows 98 

Application Development 

 

SQL*Plus (SQLPLUS)1 

Yes 

Object Type Translator (OTT) 

Yes 

Database Administration  

 

Oracle Database Configuration Assistant 

Yes 

Migration Utilities 

 

Oracle Data Migration Assistant 

Yes 

Oracle Utilities from the MS-DOS Command Line 

 

Migration Utility (MIG) 

Yes 

DBVERIFY (DBVERF) 

Yes 

Export Utility (EXP) 

Yes 

Import Utility (IMP) 

Yes 

OCOPY 

Yes 

Password Utility (ORAPWD)2 

Yes 

Recovery Manager (RMAN) 

Yes 

SQL*Loader (SQLLDR) 

Yes 

TKPROF (TKPROF) 

Yes 

Network Administration 

 

Net8 Assistant 

Yes 

Net8 Configuration Assistant 

Yes 

Windows 98 Tools 

 

Registry 

Yes 
1 The ORADEBUG utility can be used through SQL*Plus to send debug commands to Oracle processes. See "Using the ORADEBUG Utility" .
2 ORAPWD does not work on password files for remote databases.

Preferred Database Tools

This table lists common database administration tasks and the various database tools you can use to perform them. Oracle Corporation recommends you use the tools listed in the "Preferred Database Tool" column of the table. After choosing a tool to perform a task, go to "Starting Database Tools" for instructions on how to start the tool.

Database Administration Task  Preferred Database Tool  Other Database Tools 

Create a database 

Oracle Database Configuration Assistant 

 

Delete a database 

Oracle Database Configuration Assistant 

 

Start a database 

Oracle Start Utility (OSTART) 

SQL*Plus 

Shut down a database 

Oracle Stop Utility (OSTOP) 

SQL*Plus and KNLSTOP together 

Change internal database passwords 

ORAPWD 

 

Migrate a database

  • From Release 7.3.x to Release 8.1.6

 

Oracle Data Migration Assistant1  

Migration Utility (MIG) 

Upgrade a database

  • From Release 8.0.x to Release 8.1.6

 

Oracle Data Migration Assistant 

Run provided scripts in SQL*Plus 

Export data 

Export Utility (EXP) 

 

Import data 

Import Utility (IMP) 

 

Load data 

SQL*Loader (SQLLDR) 

 

Back up a database 
  • Recovery Manager (RMAN)

  • OCOPY2

 

 

Recover a database 
  • Recovery Manager (RMAN)

  • OCOPY

 

 

Authenticate Database Administrators and Users 

SQL*Plus 

 

Create database objects3 

Oracle8i Navigator 

SQL*Plus 
1 Oracle Data Migration Assistant can only be used to upgrade Release 7.x, 8.0.x or 8.1.5 databases to Release 8.1.6. It cannot be used to upgrade an earlier Oracle7 database release to a later Oracle7 database release. See your Oracle7 for Windows 95 documentation for information on how to upgrade from an earlier Oracle7 release to a later Oracle7 release.
2 Do not back up files while you are shutting down the database, otherwise your backup will be invalid. You cannot use an invalid backup to restore files at a later date. See Oracle8i Backup and Recovery Guide for more information.
3 See Oracle8i Administrator's Guide for guidelines on creating databases objects. This guide provides equations for estimating the space requirements for clusters, non-clustered tables, and indexes. Windows 98 uses the same fixed header, transaction header, and row header constants described in this guide.

Starting Database Tools

This section describes how to start each of the database tools in the following categories:

You will be referred back to this section for database tool startup procedures as you use this guide.

Starting Database Tools in Multiple Oracle Homes

If you have multiple Oracle homes on your computer from previous releases, see "Multiple Oracle Home Functionality in Different Releases" and "Multiple Oracle Home Environments" for a description of the differences between pre-8.1.6 Oracle homes and Release 8.1.6 and later Oracle homes.

Starting Tools from Release 8.0.4 and later 8.0.x Multiple Oracle Homes

If you are using multiple Oracle homes functionality, the command to start a tool includes a HOME_NAME, where HOME_NAME indicates the name of a different Oracle home. Note that the first Oracle home created on your computer does not have HOME_NAME appended to the group. For example:

To start SQL*Plus from the first Oracle home, choose:

Start > Programs > Oracle > Application Development > SQL Plus

To start SQL*Plus from an additional Oracle home, choose:

Start > Programs > Oracle - HOME_NAME > Application Development > SQL Plus

Starting Tools from Release 8.1.6 Personal Edition for Windows 98 Multiple Oracle Homes

In Release 8.1.6, all Oracle homes, including the first Oracle home you create on your computer, have a unique HOME_NAME. For example, the command to start Database Configuration Assistant is as follows:

Start > Programs > Oracle - HOME_NAME > Database Administration > Database Configuration Assistant, where HOME_NAME is the name of the Oracle home. For example, either HOME1 or HOME2 in the following figure:

Starting Database Tools

This table describes how to start most tools, and where to go for further information on using these products:

Tool  Choose Start > Programs > Oracle - HOME_NAME >  For More Information, See... 

Oracle Data Migration Assistant 

Migration Utilities > Data Migration Assistant 

  

Oracle Database Configuration Assistant 

Database Administration > Database Configuration Assistant 

  

Net8 Assistant 

Network Administration > Net8 Assistant 

Net8 Administrator's Guide 

Net8 Configuration Assistant 

Network Administration > Net8 Configuration Assistant 

Net8 Administrator's Guide 

Starting Oracle Utilities from the Command Line

This table describes how to start Oracle utilities from the MS-DOS command line, and where to go for further information on using these products:

Oracle Utilities  To Start...  For More Information, See... 

DBVERIFY (DBV) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> DBV

DBVERIFY starts and prompts you for a file name parameter. To obtain a list of parameters, enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> DBV HELP=Y 

Oracle8i Utilities 

Export Utility (EXP) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt followed by your user name and password:C:\> EXP

EXP starts and prompts you for parameters. To obtain a list of these parameters, enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> EXP HELP=Y

Note: When running the Export Utility, the default values for the following parameters under Windows NT are:

BUFFER 4 KB

RECORDLENGTH 2 KB

Note: To export an entire database, you must use the user name SYSTEM. Do not use INTERNAL or SYS. 

  

Import Utility (IMP) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt followed by your user name and password:C:\> IMP

IMP starts and prompts you for parameters. To obtain a list of these parameters, enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> IMP HELP=Y

Note: When running the Import Utility, the default values for the following parameters under Windows NT are:

BUFFER 4 KB

RECORDLENGTH 2 KB 

  

Migration Utility (MIG) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> MIG

To obtain a list of parameters, enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> MIG HELP=Y 

Oracle8i Migration 

OCOPY 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> OCOPY 

"Backing Up Files with OCOPY" 

Password Utility (ORAPWD) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> ORAPWD

Note that the password file is a hidden file. To see it in a file list, from the Windows NT Explorer, choose View > Options > View > Show All Files  

"Creating Password Files" 

Recovery Manager (RMAN) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> RMAN PARAMETERS 

  

SQL*Plus (SQLPLUS) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> SQLPLUS 

  

SQL*Loader (SQLLDR) 

Invoke SQL*Loader at the MS-DOS command prompt followed by certain keywords. Enter the following and SQL*Loader displays a Help screen with the available keywords and default values:C:\> SQLLDR 

  

TKPROF (TKPROF) 

Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:C:\> TKPROF 

Oracle8i Tuning

 

Starting Windows 98 Tools

This table describes how to start Windows 98 tool, and where to go for more information on using this product:

Windows 98 Tools  To Start...  For More Information, See... 

Registry 
  • Enter the following at the MS-DOS command prompt on Windows 98:

    C:\> REGEDIT

    The registry editor window appears.

 		  

Using SQL*Loader

This section describes Windows 98-specific information for using SQL*Loader (SQLLDR).

Windows 98 Processing Options

These are the possible values for the Operating System Dependent (OSD) file processing specifications string option, referred to in the "SQL*Loader Control File Reference" chapter of Oracle8i Utilities.

Processing Option  Description 

""1  

Stream record format in which each record is terminated by a newline character. The maximum record size is 48 KB. 

"FIX n" 

Fixed record format in which each record is exactly n bytes long. If the record is terminated by a newline character, the newline character must be the nth byte. Note that the Oracle8i Utilities guide refers to this control file option as "RECSIZE". 

"VAR xxxx" 

Load variable length records. Specify the OSD "VAR recsizehint" in the control file for this option to take effect. The xxxx gives an estimate of the average record size to SQL*Loader so that it can approximate buffer sizes accurately and not waste memory. The default length is eighty characters. The xxxx does not specify how many leading bytes of length are included in each record. It only acts as a hint to SQL*Loader. Each record must always be preceded by five ASCII bytes containing the length of the remainder of the record. For example, a record must look like the following: 00024This is a 24 byte string

Any whitespace, carriage returns, or linefeeds at the end of the record are ignored unless specifically included in the byte count in the length field.  
1 Two double quote characters with no space in between.

Direct Path Option

SQL*Loader includes a direct path option that bypasses Oracle8i for Personal Edition redo log and data verification features, thereby decreasing loading time. Use the direct path option with data files known to be error free.

Control File Conventions

When preparing a SQL*Loader control file (.CTL), you must follow certain syntax and notational conventions. When specifying datatypes in the SQL*Loader control file, note that the default sizes of native datatypes are specific to Windows 98. You cannot override these defaults in the control file.

Native Datatypes  Default Field Length 

DOUBLE 

8 

FLOAT 

4 

INTEGER 

4 

SMALLINT 

2 

See:

Oracle8i Utilities for a complete list of options and instructions on using SQL*Loader. 

Using Windows 98 Tools

The following Windows 98 tool can be used to administer an Oracle database:

Registry

The Oracle database stores its configuration information in a structure known as the registry. You can view and modify this configuration information through the registry editor. The registry contains configuration information for your computer, and must not be accessible for editing by inexperienced users. Only experienced administrators should view and change this information.

The registry editor displays configuration information in a tree-like format consisting of four keys (or folders). These keys are shown in the tree view in the left-hand window. In the right-hand window, the parameters and values assigned to that key are displayed.

What Database Parameters Are Configured?

When you install products from your CD-ROM, configuration parameters are automatically entered in the registry. These parameters are read each time your Windows 98 computer is restarted and whenever an Oracle product is launched. These parameters include settings for:

The following figure shows some of the Oracle database configuration parameters in the registry:

See:

See Appendix C, "Oracle8i Configuration Parameters and the Registry" for definitions of Oracle database configuration parameters and specific instructions on using the registry to modify Oracle database configuration parameters. 

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