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Release Notes

This chapter describes features of Oracle9i Release 2 Server for Fujitsu Siemens BS2000/OSD. The following topics are covered in this chapter:

• Oracle9i Release 2 Server product set

• hardware requirements

• software requirements

• new features

• known problems, restrictions and workarounds

Oracle9i Release 2 Server Product Set

Oracle9i on BS2000/OSD is delivered in two editions:

• /390 mode for /390 type BS2000/OSD hardware

• SPARC mode for SX Server (e.g. SX130)

Depending on your type of hardware you have to choose among these two editions.

This documentation is gathering all SPARC mode related information in the chapter about "Oracle on SX Server".

All other chapters do not refer to this distinction or are (in very small parts) /390 related.

This section provides a complete list of the products delivered with your Oracle Server release 9.2.0 for Fujitsu Siemens BS2000/OSD distribution kit. You will receive a list which includes those products that you have purchased and currently have under a technical support agreement. For a complete listing of the programs and system files contained in this distribution, refer to the ARCHIVE listing generated when you read in the distribution tape.

Tape Description

The Oracle Server product set is available on magnetic tape cartridge.

The tape cartridge description is as follows:

Item	Description
Number of tapes:	1
Volume type:	TAPE-C4
Format:	ARCHIVE
Volume serial numbers:	ORACL1

Tape Contents

Product	Release	Status
Oracle9i Release 2 Server	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Advanced Replication Option	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle CORE	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Distributed Database Option	9.2.0.2.10	Production
NLSRTL	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle XA Library	9.2.0.1.10	Production
Parallel Execution Option	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Partitioning	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Advanced Queuing	9.2.0.2.10	Production
PL/SQL	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Pro*C	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Pro*C UTM	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Pro*COBOL	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Pro*COBOL UTM	9.2.0.2.10	Production
OTT8	8.1.8.2.10	Production
JVM	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Spatial Data	9.2.0.2.10	Production
SQL*Plus	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle Net Services	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle TCP/IP Protocol Adapter	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle IPC Protocol Adapter	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle Names	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle Connection Manager	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle Text	9.2.0.2.10	Production
RAC	9.2.0.2.10	Production
RMAN	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Intelligent Agent	9.2.0.1.10	Production
Data Guard	9.2.0.2.10	Production
Oracle Advanced Security	9.2.0.2.10	Production
LDAP Client	9.2.0.2.10	Production

Hardware Requirements

This section describes the hardware requirements which must be satisfied before you install Oracle9i Release 2.

CPU

Any CPU supported by BS2000/OSD V3.0, V4.0 or V5.0, with the XS31 HSI. Main memory must be at least 128 MB.

Terminal

9750-compatible.

Tape Drive or Magnetic Tape Cartridge Unit

For installation, a TAPE-C4 magnetic tape cartridge device or 3490-compatible cartridge unit is required.

Disk Space

Total static Oracle Server non-database requirements are approximately 300 000 PAM pages. Dynamic requirements (for example, SQL files, host language programs, output spool files) depend on Oracle Server usage.

Database Space

Minimum database (DB) size is 60 000 PAM pages, and the minimum log file size is 5000 PAM pages. These values may be changed as part of the installation process.

Software Requirements

This section describes the software requirements for running the Oracle Server.

Operating System

BS2000/OSD Version V3.0, V4.0 or V5.0.

Communication System

openNet Server V2 including BCAM V16 and SOCKETS V2 or

openNet Server V3 including BCAM V17 and SOCKETS V2.1.

Language Compilers and Runtime Environment for Oracle Applications

Though not required to run the Oracle Server, if high-level languages (such as C or COBOL) are used to interface to the Oracle Server, the following versions are supported:

• COBOL85 Version 2.2, V2.3 and COBOL2000 V1

• C-BS2000 Version 2.2, 3.0 and 3.1

• CRTE 2.4

UTM Software

You need UTM version 4.0, 5.0 or V5.1.

Intelligent Agent

The Intelligent Agent requires BS2000/OSD version 4.0 or 5.0.

Other Software

The following products are used during the installation and execution of the Oracle Server:

• CRTE-BASYS, V1.4

• ARCHIVE

• SDF

• SDF-P

• EDT

• LMS

Address Space Limit

A user's address space should not be less than 128 MB.

New Features

This section describes:

• changes and enhancements since release 8.1.7 of the Oracle Server for Fujitsu Siemens BS2000/OSD.

Changes since release 8.1.7

Oracle 9.2.0 on BS2000 supports following features:

• Real Application Cluster (RAC)

• Intelligent Agent

• Data Guard

• Oracle Advanced Security

• XML Support

• Oracle Managed Files

• External Tables

• etc.

Restrictions

• CORBA, EJB

• WebDB

• Internet File System (iFS)

• JAccelerator

• interMedia Audio, Image, Video Support

• Time Series

• Heterogeneous Services

• Migrate Utility

• Native Compilation of PL/SQL Code

• DBNEWID Utility

• OLAP Services

• File Mapping Interface

Known Problems, Restrictions and Workarounds

This section provides information about known problems and restrictions for which workarounds are suggested. It also contains suggestions for certain common usage problems. In addition to this section, you should also refer to the appendix "Problem Solving". If you encounter a problem which is not reported here, please contact your Oracle Customer Support Representative for further assistance.

General Notes

The German characters ä, ö, ü and ß, cannot be used in the names of tables, columns, fields, synonyms, and so on. This is because these characters are converted into bracket symbols (for example, { ). The characters can, however, be stored as data.

Oracle Server

• The Database Administrator should always use the file, sid.P.ORAENV, to control the database environment. This file is generated during the installation procedure, and is referred to by the startup programs (for example, SQLPLUS) and the background jobs.

• Oracle9i Release 2 can read SAM, ISAM, and PAM files and can create ISAM and PAM files. If you want the Oracle Server to write to a SAM file then you need to pre-allocate the appropriate list or log file with the BS2000 FILE command (FCBTYPE=SAM).

• A few initialization file parameters, described in the generic documentation are not supported by Oracle9i Release 2 for BS2000/OSD. These are as follows:

  BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST

  MAX_DUMP_FILE_SIZE

  OS_ROLES

  USER_DUMP_DESTINATION

  PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET

  AUDIT_TRAIL = OS

  AUDIT_FILE_DEST

  Specifying these parameters in the initialization file will result in an Oracle Server error during startup; the workaround is to remove the offending lines.

• You can decrease the size of a datafile only if you are the only user accessing that datafile. If another user is accessing the same datafile, the Last-Page pointer cannot be set to a new value so only the logical size of the file is changed. Oracle Corporation recommends, therefore, that you only change the size of datafiles when you have opened the database in restricted mode.

  Note: The size of datafiles belonging to the SYSTEM tablespace cannot be decreased.

• The default value of the initialization parameter STATISTICS_LEVEL for Oracle9i on BS2000/OSD is different from the default value on other platforms. On BS2000/OSD, the default value is "BASIC" and not "TYPICAL" in order to save the overhead for timed statistics.

• The valid time zone names cannot be listed by SELECT TZNAME FROM V$TIMEZONE_NAMES because the values are stored in ASCII format in the time zone files. The workaround is to use character set conversion:

  SELECT CONVERT (TZNAME,'WE8BS2000','US7ASCII') FROM V$TIMEZONE_NAMES;
  

Archiving to Tape

Archiving to tape is not currently supported; log archive files must always be created as disk files. You may, however, use normal BS2000 backup procedures to back up the log archive files created by the archive process.

SQL*Loader

• If you want to use the command line option "file", you must specify the filename fully, stating catalogid and userid, for example:

  		file=:ORA:$ORACL920.DBXY.DBS.DATABASE1.DBF
  
  
  

• Multithreading functionality of direct path loads is not supported on BS2000.

The Import and Export Utilities

• Avoid ASCII/EBCDIC conversions being done by the operating system or PERCON. Import and Export perform their own conversions; additional conversions will render the files unusable.

• When doing a full database export, the names of the tablespace files are dumped, including the BS2000 userid prefix. Therefore, a full database export cannot be imported under a different BS2000 userid.

  The workaround is to specify the relevant ORAENV variable as follows:

  	  IMP_USERID_IGNORE=YES
  
  

  Import will strip the BS2000 PVS-id and userid from the tablespace filenames, thus allowing a full database import to a different BS2000 userid.

• Import and Export on tapes are not possible to/from more than one tape.

National Language Support

• National Language Support for Export, Import and SQL*Plus is incomplete. When a question requires a yes or no answer you must type either Y or N, no matter which language you are using. Ignore the prompts which tell you to enter the language's equivalent (for example, J/N in German).

• The default value for the CHARACTER SET parameter which controls the character set used when you issue the CREATE DATABASE command is WE8BS2000 (an 8-bit character set containing more codes than US8BS2000). Oracle Corporation recommends that if you are creating a database you specify WE8BS2000 as the CHARACTER SET in the CREATE DATABASE command.

  User-defined character sets implemented by means of Customizing Locale Data (as described in the Oracle9i Globalization Support) are not supported in this release.

• Choosing the conversion site is no longer possible, i.e. the ORAENV parameter NLS_CONVERSION is no longer supported. Conversion between different character sets is now always done at the client side.

DB-Verify

• If the file has a blocksize other than 2Kb and BLOCKSIZE is not specified, all pages are marked corrupt (instead of returning the error DBV-00103).

• If FEEDBACK is specified, dots appear on the screen as each line of data is read

Java in the Database

• The ORAENV parameter JAVA_HOME has been renamed to ORACLE_HOME. This parameter is now used by both the Oracle Java VM and the Oracle Intelligent Agent.

• The ORAENV parameter JVM_BASE is not used any more. JVM_BASE is now incorporated in KNL_BASE.

• The ORAENV parameter ENABLE_JAVA is not used any more. Java is now inherently enabled.

• The default encoding when loading source files with dbms_java.loadjava or CREATE JAVA SOURCE USING BFILE has changed from version 8.1.7. The default encoding now is the database character set.

Oracle Call Interface

The following features are currently not supported:

• OCI shared mode functionality

• OCI publish-subscribe functions

• OCI Thread package

• OCI FileGetLength

• OCI dynamic callback registration

SQL*Plus

• SQL*Plus, which is replacing Server Manager in Oracle9i, prompts you for username/password when started. If you want to omit this enter the /NOLOG parameter after the operating system prompt.

  Example:

  /START-PROGRAM $ORACL920.SQLPLUS
  * /NOLOG
  SQL> connect scott/tiger
  
  

  Usage of /NOLOG is assumed throughout this documentation.

• SQL*Plus will truncate input lines that exceed 511 characters.
  A warning message is displayed.

• If you use the SQL*Plus -s option, it must be the first option entered at the prompt.

• Only the EDT editor is supported in this release. SQL*Plus accepts whatever editor you specify in the DEFINE_EDITOR command, but the editor will always be EDT.

• The internal message buffer is limited to 76 characters, therefore certain messages will be truncated. This typically occurs if a message includes a second message. In such cases you will usually still see the message number part of the second message. For further information see the manual relevant to the particular message, either the Oracle9i Messages and Codes Manual, or Appendix A of this document.

• If ECHO is set to ON and TAB is set to ON and you specify a spool file, the listing of commands may be misaligned.

• Excessive use of the K2 key to interrupt SQL*Plus may occasionally lead to a user dump. This problem is not related to the Oracle Server, but occurs with programs that use the C runtime system with ILCS.

Oracle Net Services

The following remarks relate to Oracle Net Services:

• When you specify a name for the listener in the LISTENER.ORA file, Oracle Corporation recommends that the name is less than 20 characters long. If you use a listener name with more than 20 characters, you must specify a log directory (trace directory) and log file (trace file).

• Due to the file-naming conventions on BS2000/OSD a used underscore character ("_") in the listener name is mapped to a hyphen ("-") in the file name. Any other characters that do not match the BS2000/OSD file-naming convention are mapped to the commercial at character ("@").

• Until Oracle8i Release 3 the environment parameter TNS_ADMIN was hard coded predefined by an empty string. This causes the netsoftware to search the parameter files as plain files, e.g. LISTENER.ORA. If no file was found the default directoy NETWORK.ADMIN was added, e.g. NETWORK.ADMIN.LISTENER.ORA. With Oracle9i Net Services the parameter TNS_ADMIN is no longer hard coded so that the Oracle9i Net software now searches for parameter files with the prefix NETWORK.ADMIN. If you want to enable the old behavior please set the environment variable TNS_ADMIN to an empty string in the file P.ORAENV (see also DEMO.P.ORAENV):

  TNS_ADMIN= 
  

Oracle Protocol Support for TCP/IP

The following remarks relate to Oracle Protocol Support for TCP/IP:

Although the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) divided the port numbers into three ranges

• Well Known Ports from 0 through 1023

• Registered Ports from 1024 through 49151

• Dynamic and/or Private Ports from 49152 through 65535

you will find in the Fujitsu Siemens Computers documentation for TCP/IP on BS2000 the recommendation to set the privileged port to 2050. This however, can cause conflicts if you use Oracle's registered port numbers (see http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers), e.g.1521 for the listener process. Any Oracle process, which should listen on such a registered port number, may fail with:

TNS-12545: Connect failed because target host or object does not exist
TNS-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error
TNS-00515: Connect failed because target host or object does not exist
BS2000 Error: 126: Can't assign requested address
BS2000 BCAM-RC: 40010020

The workaround is to use a non-privileged port, or to set the privileged port number to a value less than 1500, normally to 1024.

Net8 MTT - Net8 OSI4

Single-Task Mode - Two-Task Mode

In order to let an application run in two-task mode without having to care about listener and Oracle Net Services configuration files, bequeath protocol usage is made simple. For more information refer to chapter 2, "Oracle9i Release 2 Server Architecture and Implementation" and section "Bequeath Protocol" in ch. 9.

POSIX subsystem

As a consequence of Java in the Database and the Intelligent Agent, Oracle9i on BS2000/OSD does use POSIX interfaces. For a non-POSIX user this fact should not be visible with the following exceptions:

• You might get the following message:

  CCM0090: ALL UFS TERMINAL DEVICES ARE IN USE OR PERMISSION DENIED
  

  Then you should ask your BS2000 administrator to increase the number of UFS devices (parameter NOSTTY in SYSSSI.POSIX-BC.version).

• If the POSIX subsystem is started before the Oracle instance, then the termination of the POSIX subsystem will also terminate the Oracle instance. If you use neither Java in the database nor the Intelligent Agent, however, you can work with Oracle even if the POSIX subsystem is not started at all.

Migrate Utility

Making an Oracle9i database from an Oracle8i database does not need the Migrate Utility, it is done by upgrade scripts. Therefore Migrate Utilitiy of Oracle9i has not been ported to BS2000/OSD. As a consequence when you try to migrate an Oracle 7 database to an Oracle9i database you must follow this path:

1. Migrate the Oracle7 database to an Oracle8i database

2. Upgrade the Oracle8i database to an Oracle9i database