How much time to do you spend debugging database application problems? Probably more time than you want. How much of that time is spent capturing the SQL that is being submitted by your application to the database? I’m going to guess that it’s a significant amount. Asssuming you have access to production (or a test environment that adequately replicates production), then you probably want to check out V$SQLTEXT_WITH_NEWLINES. Before I talk about V$SQLTEXT_WITH_NEWLINES, let’s talk…
We moved a few years ago, to a wonderful home in the heart of Cary, NC. Lots of things to love about the house, but the geek in me has been eyeing these sets of in-ceiling speakers littered throughout the house. The previous owner was a huge fan of classical music and NPR, and wanted to be able to listen in the bath, the yard, the garage, even the kitchen. When we moved in, I…
Post Updated on November 10, 2011. 11gR2 was supposed to be 12g..or so the story goes. You can read tons of posts on OTN from several years ago where 12g is referenced. Nothing recent though. So… Oracle Open World 2011 is coming soon, and you know the Big Red Machine will want to have a big splash. Will it be a new version of their RDBMS solution? And for all those people who just got…
Sometimes I get a little preachy in my presentations. OK, maybe I get a LOT preachy. In exchange for being stuck with me for 90 minutes, I promise every person will receive at least one new technique or trick that will greatly affect their productivity when working with the database. Fortunately for me, most agree that this is a fair trade! Things generally go at a pretty rapid pace until I bring up one of…
Apologies to Wynonna Judd for borrowing and mangling her lyrics and song title, but I just had a really interesting conversation with a fellow Oracle tools guru. We we’re discussing just how much functionality an end-user really takes advantage of in a software product. He had mentioned that users maybe exercises about 20% of a tool’s feature-set and I countered with 10%. Maybe we’re both wrong, but I think we are on the right side…
Disclaimer: When I wrote this I was not an employee of Oracle, a RDBMS vendor. I am now, and you should know that. First, please go read Karen Lopez’s rant on Normalization Myths here. Now, a bit of my experience with relational database theory, design, and practice. As a senior Computer Science undergraduate I took a 200 level course on ‘Databases.’ We were taught set theory, a bit of algebra, Boyce-Codd, what it means to…
“Those people are fine, they JUST write SQL.” I often hear this in the context of visiting customers and offering to provide training (and yes, software) to their database users. There is a class of people who are deemed unworthy of such productivity tools because they do nothing but ‘just write dumb SQL all day long.’ The only problem is, I know that it’s these people that are largely responsible for running the business. When…
Oracle 11gR1 Enterprise Edition with the Diagnostic and Tuning packs has a very compelling new feature, Real-Time SQL Monitoring. Oracle thinks enough of the feature that it was highlighted prominently in whitepaper by ACE Directory Arup Nanda titled “Oracle Database 11g: The Top Features for DBAs and Developers” (read it here) Long story short: Too late or too lazy to start a trace on a poorly performing query? Want to know what is going on…
Coming up with themes and titles for a blog post can be very challenging. You want something that will catch the eye, but not be so random or out of left field that no one catches your drift. This morning I had two themes battling inside my head for this post. Welcome to the Jungle Baby! Pigs In Space You’re here so you already know who won. Pigs in space? Pigs don’t belong in space?!?!…
Ask questions, get answers – and a Toadie! He wants questions. You want answers (and a Toad). So, ask away – stump the Toad chump! We’re looking for challenging questions dealing with Oracle Database and Toad, for example: Can Toad do that? I had this problem once where… I hate it when… The Rules! If I like your question, you get a Toad beanie. I’ll answer any and all questions submitted. Please keep the questions…