20 Using Application Express Utilities

This section describes how to use Oracle Application Express utilities to load and unload data from an Oracle database, generate DDL, view object reports, and restore dropped database objects.

This section contains the following topics:

• About Importing, Exporting, Loading, and Unloading Data

• Loading and Unloading Data from From the Database

• Generating DDL

• Viewing Object Reports

• Using the Recycle Bin to View and Restore Dropped Objects

• Monitoring the Database

• Viewing Database Details

About Importing, Exporting, Loading, and Unloading Data

You have a number of options when copying data between Oracle databases or between an Oracle database and external files. Data copying is accomplished by exporting and importing data, and by unloading and loading data. The following table defines these terms.

Term	Definition
Exporting	Copying database data to external files for import into another Oracle database only. The files are in a proprietary binary format.
Importing	Copying data into the database from external files that were created by exporting from another Oracle database.
Unloading	Copying database data to external text files for consumption by another Oracle database or another application (such as a spreadsheet application). The text files are in an industry-standard format such as tab-delimited or comma-delimited (CSV).
Loading	Copying data into the database from external text files that are in either a standard delimited format or in any of the formats that are supported by the Oracle SQL*Loader utility.

You can export data from any Oracle Database edition (Express Edition, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition) into any other edition.

This section contains the following topics:

• Choosing the Right Import/Export/Load/Unload Option

Choosing the Right Import/Export/Load/Unload Option

The Oracle Database and Oracle Application Express provide a number of powerful options for importing, exporting, loading, and unloading data. Table 20-1 provides a summary of these options.

Table 20-1 Summary of Oracle Application Express Import/Export Options

Feature or Utility	Description
Data Load/Unload wizards in Oracle Application Express	Easy to use graphical interface Loads/unloads from and to external text files (delimited fields) or XML files Loads/unloads tables only, one table at a time Access only to schema of logged-in user No data filtering
SQL*Loader utility	Command-line interface, invoked with sqlldr command Bulk-loads data into the database from external files Supports numerous input formats, including delimited, fixed record, variable record, and stream Loads multiple tables simultaneously Powerful data filtering capabilities
Data Pump Export and Data Pump Import utilities	Command-line interface, invoked with expdp and impdp commands Exports and imports from one Oracle database to another (proprietary binary format) Imports/exports all schema object types Imports/exports entire database, entire schema, multiple schemas, multiple tablespaces, or multiple tables Powerful data filtering capabilities High speed Does not support XMLType data
Export and Import utilities	Command-line interface, invoked with exp and imp commands Exports and imports from one Oracle database to another (proprietary binary format) Supports XMLType data Does not support the FLOAT and DOUBLE data types Capabilities similar to Data Pump; Data Pump is preferred unless you must import or export XMLType data

Table 20-2 provides a number of load, unload, import, and export scenarios and suggests the appropriate option to use for each.

Table 20-2 Import/Export Scenarios and Recommended Options

Import/Export Scenario	Recommended Option
You have fewer than 10 tables to load, the data is in spreadsheets or tab- or comma-delimited text files, and there are no complex data types (such as objects or multivalued fields).	Data Load/Unload wizards in Oracle Application Express
You have to load data that is not delimited. The records are fixed length, and field definitions depend on column positions.	SQL*Loader
You have tab-delimited text data to load, and there are more than 10 tables.	SQL*Loader
You have text data to load, and you want to load only records that meet certain selection criteria (for example, only records for employees in department number 3001).	SQL*Loader
You want to import or export an entire schema from or to another Oracle database. There is no XMLType data in any of the data.	Data Pump Export and Data Pump Import
You want to import or export data from or to another Oracle database. The data contains XMLType data and contains no FLOAT or DOUBLE data types.	Import (imp) and Export (exp)

See Also:

Oracle Database Utilities for more information on Data Pump, the Import and Export utilities, and SQL*Loader

Loading and Unloading Data from From the Database

The Data Load/Unload wizards in Oracle Application Express enable you to easily load and unload delimited text data to and from the database. The step-by-step wizards have the following features:

• You can load or unload XML files or delimited-field text files (such as comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited files).

• You can load by copying and pasting from a spreadsheet.

• You can omit (skip) columns when loading or unloading.

• You can load into an existing table or create a new table from the loaded data.

• When loading into a new table, the primary key can be taken from the data or generated from a new or existing Oracle sequence.

• When loading into a new table, column names can be taken from the loaded data.

• Each time that you load from a file, file details are saved in a Text Data Load Repository. You can access these files from within the repository at any time.

Limitations include the following:

• The wizards load and unload table data only. They do not load or unload other kinds of schema objects.

• You can load and unload to and from your own schema only. This is also true for users with administrator privileges.

• You can load or unload only a single table at a time.

• There are no data type limitations for unloading to text or XML files, or for loading from XML files. However, when loading from spreadsheets (through copy and paste) or from text files, only the following data types are supported: NUMBER, DATE, VARCHAR2, CLOB, BINARY_FLOAT, and BINARY_DOUBLE.

Supported unload formats include:

• Text such as comma-delimited or tab-delimited data

• XML documents

This section contains the following topics:

• Accessing the Data Load/Unload Page

• Loading Data

• Unloading Data

• Using Text Data Load Repository

Accessing the Data Load/Unload Page

To access the Data Load/Unload page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

   The Data Load/Unload page appears.

3. Click the appropriate icon to load data, unload data, or view the repository.

Loading Data

You can load data into the Oracle Application Express database in the following ways:

• Copy and paste data from a spreadsheet.

• Upload a spreadsheet file in a delimited format (such as comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited).

• Upload a text file containing comma-delimited or tab-delimited data.

Topics in this section include:

• Loading a Text File

• Loading an XML Document

• Loading Spreadsheet Data

See Also:

"Choosing the Right Import/Export/Load/Unload Option"

Loading a Text File

For files smaller than 30KB, you can copy and paste tab-delimited data directly into the Load Data Wizard. For files larger than 30KB, you must upload a separate file.

To load a text file:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Load.

4. Click Load Text Data.

   The Load Data Wizard appears.

5. Under Load To, select either Existing table or New table.

6. Under Load from, select either Upload file or Copy and paste.

7. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Loading an XML Document

Oracle Application Express supports XML documents in Oracle's canonical XML format.

In Oracle's canonical XML format, each element represents a column value, each element is named after the column, all elements that are part of the same row are children of a <ROW> element, and all <ROW> elements are children of a <ROWSET> element.

To load an XML document:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Load.

4. Click Load XML Data.

   The Load XML Data Wizard appears.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Loading Spreadsheet Data

You can load spreadsheet data by either copying and pasting text, or by loading a file. To copy and paste text, the spreadsheet file must be less than 30KB. For files larger than 30KB, you can import the file in a delimited format (such as comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited), upload the file, and then load the data into a new or existing table.

To load spreadsheet data:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Load.

4. Click Load Spreadsheet Data.

   The Load Data Wizard appears.

5. Under Load to, select either Existing table or New table.

6. Under Load from, select either Upload file or Copy and paste.

7. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Unloading Data

You can use the Unload page to export the contents of a table to a text file or XML document.

Topics in this section include:

• Unloading a Text File

• Unloading to an XML Document

See Also:

"Choosing the Right Import/Export/Load/Unload Option"

Unloading a Text File

Use the Unload to Text Wizard to export the contents of a table to a text file. For example, you could export an entire table to a comma-delimited file (.csv).

To unload a table to a text file:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Unload.

4. Click Unload To Text.

   The Unload to Text Wizard appears.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

You select the schema and choose the table and columns to be exported. You can also specify the type of separator to be used to separate column values as well as whether column text strings are identified using single or double quotation marks.

Unloading to an XML Document

Use the Unload to XML Wizard to export the contents of a table to an XML document adhering to the Canonical XML specification.

To unload a table to an XML document:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Unload.

4. Click Unload to XML.

   The Unload to XML Wizard appears.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

You select the schema and choose the table and columns to be exported.

Using Text Data Load Repository

Loaded text data files are stored in the Text Data Load Repository.

To access the Text Data Load Repository:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Data Load/Unload.

3. Click Repository.

4. To filter the display, make a selection from the Show list and click Go.

5. To view information about a specific file, click the View icon.

6. To delete an imported file, select it and click Delete Checked.

Generating DDL

With Oracle Application Express, you can generate Data Definition Language (DDL) statements from the Oracle data dictionary. These scripts can be used to create or recreate database schema objects. The scripts can be generated to display inline or saved as a script file. You can generate the create scripts for all objects for a specific schema, specific object types, or specific objects.

If you are running Oracle Application Express with Oracle Database 10g release 1 (10.1) or later, you can generate Data Definition Language (DDL) statements from the Oracle data dictionary. These scripts can be used to create or recreate database schema objects. The scripts can be generated to the screen, or they can be saved as a SQL Script. You can generate the create scripts for all objects for a specific schema, specific object types, or specific objects.

To generate a DDL statement:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Generate DDL.

   The Generate DDL page appears.

3. Click Create Script.

   The Generate DDL Wizard appears.

4. Select a database schema and click Next.

5. Define the object type:

   1. Output - Specify an output format. Select either Display Inline or Save As Script File.

   2. Object Type - Select the object types for which to generate DDL.

   3. To select object names for the selected object types, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

6. Click Generate DDL.

See Also:

• Oracle Database SQL Reference for information about DDL statements

• "The Data Dictionary" in Oracle Database Concepts for information about the data dictionary

Viewing Object Reports

SQL Workshop includes a variety to object reports to help you better manage the objects in your database.

Topics in this section include:

• Viewing All Objects Reports

• Accessing the Data Dictionary

• Viewing PL/SQL Reports

• Viewing Security Reports

• Viewing Details about the Tables in Your Database

Viewing All Objects Reports

Use the reports on the All Objects page to view all objects for the selected schema. Available reports include All Objects, Invalid Objects, Object Calendar, and Objects Counts by Type.

To access the reports available on the All Objects page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports and then All Objects.

3. Select one of the following reports:

   • All Objects. Sort objects by creation date as well as last DDL (data definition language). To filter the report, select a object type, specify an object name, and click Go.

   • Invalid Objects. View all invalid objects in the database by object type. To filter the report, enter an object name, select a object type, and click Go.

   • Object Calendar. View all objects in a calendar format based on the date each database object was created.

   • Object Counts by Type. View counts of database object types for the selected schema.

4. To filter the report, select a object type, specify an object name, and click Go.

Accessing the Data Dictionary

Each Oracle database has a data dictionary. An Oracle data dictionary is a set of tables and views that are used as a read-only reference about the database. For example, a data dictionary stores information about both the logical and physical structure of the database. A data dictionary also stores information about valid Oracle database users, integrity constraints for tables in the database, and the amount of space allocated for a schema object as well as how much of it is being used.

To browse the data dictionary:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports and then Data Dictionary.

   The Data Dictionary appears, listing all the Oracle Data Dictionary views.

3. To filter the report, enter a query in the Search field and click Go.

   You can query for details about database objects in the Data Dictionary.

4. Click the View icon to display Data Dictionary Browser.

   The Data Dictionary Browser appears. Use this page to query the Oracle Data Dictionary for details about database objects.

5. On the Data Dictionary Browser page, select the appropriate views and click Query. To select all views, select Check All and then click Query.

   A report appears.

6. To create a new query, click New Query and repeat step 5.

7. To browse another view, click Browse Another View and repeat steps 4 and 5.

See Also:

Oracle Database Concepts for information about the data dictionary

Viewing PL/SQL Reports

PL/SQL reports enable you to view program unit arguments or unit line counts or search PL/SQL source code.

Topics in this section include:

• Viewing Program Unit Arguments

• Viewing Unit Line Counts

• Searching PL/SQL Source Code

Viewing Program Unit Arguments

Use the Program Unit Arguments report to view package input and output parameters.

To view the PL/SQL Arguments report:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports, PL/SQL, and then Program Unit Arguments.

3. To filter the report, enter a query in PL/SQL Package or Program Unit and click Go.

Viewing Unit Line Counts

Use the Unit Line Counts report to view then number of lines of code for each object. Use this report to identify larger PL/SQL program units.

To view the Unit Line Counts report:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports, PL/SQL, and then Unit Line Counts.

3. To filter the report, enter an object name and click Go.

Searching PL/SQL Source Code

Use the Search PL/SQL Source code page to search the text within your PL/SQL code. Use this report to find references to tables or functions you might be thinking of deleting. You can also use this page to locate code when you can only recall a code snippet.

To search for PL/SQL source code:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports, PL/SQL, and then Search PL/SQL Source.

3. To filter the report:

   1. In Object Name, enter a query.

   2. In Text, enter the PL/SQL code you want to search for.

   3. Click Go.

Viewing Security Reports

Security reports enable you to see privileges granted on database objects owned by other schemas. You can also use these reports to view database roles and system privileges.

Topics in this section include:

• Viewing Role Privileges

• Viewing Object Grants

• Viewing Column Privileges

Viewing Role Privileges

Role Privileges report shows the database roles that have been granted to a selected schema. Roles are collections of various privileges.

To view Role Privileges:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports, Security, and then Role Privileges.

   The Role Privileges report appears.

Viewing Object Grants

The Object Grants report identifies privileges granted from or to the selected database schema. Use this report to determine the privileges for an existing schema has as well understand what privileges have been granted from the selected schema to other schemas.

To view the Object Grants report:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports and then Security.

3. Click User Privileges and then Object Grants.

   The Object Grants report appears.

4. From Schema, select the database schema owner.

5. To filter the report, make a selection from the Show list and click Go.

Viewing Column Privileges

The Column Privileges report identifies column privileges granted from or to the selected database schema. Use this report to determine the privileges for an existing schema as well as understand what privileges have been granted from the selected schema to other schemas.

To view the Column Privileges report:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports and then Security.

3. Click User Privileges and then Column Privileges.

   The Column Privileges report appears.

4. From Schema, select the database schema owner.

5. To filter the report, make a selection from the Show list and click Go.

Viewing Details about the Tables in Your Database

You can view specific details about the tables within your database by accessing the reports available on the Tables page.

To view the reports available on the Tables page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Object Reports and then Tables.

   The Tables page appears.

3. Select a report to review. Available reports include:

   • Columns

   • Comments

   • Constraints

   • Statistics

   • Storage Sizes

   • No Primary Key

   • Unindexed

   • Unindexed Foreign Keys

4. To filter a report, enter search criteria in the fields provided and click Go.

Using the Recycle Bin to View and Restore Dropped Objects

You can use the Recycle Bin to view and restore dropped database objects. When you drop a table, the space associated with the table is not immediately removed. The Oracle database renames the table and places it and any associated objects in the Recycle Bin. You can recover objects in the Recycle Bin at a later time.

This section contains the following topics:

• Managing Objects in the Recycle Bin

• Emptying the Recycle Bin Without Viewing the Objects

Note:

The Recycle Bin feature is only available if you are running with an Oracle 10g or later database.

See Also:

"Backing Up and Recovering the Database" in Oracle Database Express Edition 2 Day DBA

Managing Objects in the Recycle Bin

You can view objects in the Recycle Bin on the Dropped Objects page. Once you select an object and view the Object Details page, you can choose to purge the object or restore the object by clicking the appropriate button.

To view objects in the Recycle Bin:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Recycle Bin and then Dropped Objects.

   The Dropped Objects page appears.

3. To filter the report, select an object type, enter the object name in the Original Name field, and click Go.

4. To view object details, click the object name.

   The Object Details page appears.

5. To restore the current object, click Restore Object.

6. To permanently delete the current object, click Purge Object.

Emptying the Recycle Bin Without Viewing the Objects

To empty the Recycle Bin without viewing the objects:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon.

2. Click Recycle Bin.

3. Click Purge Recycle Bin.

   The Purge Recycle Bin page appears.

4. Confirm your request by clicking Purge Recycle Bin again.

Monitoring the Database

The reports available on the Database Monitor page provide a database-wide view of the database sessions, system statistics, SQL statements, and longer operations. You can use these reports to identify poorly preforming SQL and to gain a better understand the workload of the database.

To access any of the icons on the Database Monitor page, you must have an account that has been granted an administrator role.

This section contains the following topics:

• Sessions

• About System Statistics

• About Top SQL

• About Long Operations

See Also:

"Monitoring the Database" in Oracle Database Express Edition 2 Day DBA

Sessions

A session is the connection of a user to an Oracle database instance. A session lasts from the time the user connects until the time the user disconnects or exits the database application.

You must have database administrator privileges in order to access the Sessions page.

To access reports on the Sessions page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon and then Monitor.

2. Click Sessions.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate administrator username and password and click Login.

   The Sessions page appears.

4. To view a report, select one of the following tabs at the top of the page:

   • Sessions

   • Locks

   • Waits

   • I/O

   • SQL

   • Open Cursors

   The sections that follow describe each report.

Sessions Report

The Sessions Report displays information about the current sessions in the database. Use the controls at the top of page to narrow the view:

• Search. Enter search criteria and click Go. For search details, click the Search label.

• Status. Select a status and click Go.

• Show. Select how many columns to display and click Go.

• Display. Select the number of rows to appear in the report and click Go.

To view session details, click the Session ID (SID). The Session Details page appears. To remove the current session, navigate to the Session Details page and click Kill Session.

Locks Report

The Locks report displays a report of sessions which have locks that are blocking other session(s). To control the number of rows that appear, make a selection from the Display list and click Go.

Waits Report

The Waits report displays the wait events for each session. Use the controls at the top of page to narrow the view:

• Search. Enter search criteria and click Go. For search details, click the Search label.

• Status. Select a status and click Go.

• Show. Select how many columns to display and click Go.

• Display. Select the number of rows to appear in the report and click Go.

To view session details, click the Session ID (SID). The Session Details page appears. To remove the current session, click Kill Session.

I/O Report

The I/0 report displays details about the I/O for each session. Use the controls at the top of page to narrow the view:

• Search. Enter search criteria and click Go. For search details, click the Search label.

• Display. Select the number of rows to appear in the report and click Go.

To view session details, click the Session ID (SID). The Session Details page appears. To remove the current session, click Kill Session.

SQL Report

The SQL report displays details about the current or last SQL statement executed for each session. Use the controls at the top of page to narrow the view:

• Search. Enter search criteria and click Go. For search details, click the Search label.

• Status. Select a status and click Go.

• Show. Select how many columns to display and click Go.

• Display. Select the number of rows to appear in the report and click Go.

To view session details, click the Session ID (SID). The Session Details page appears. To remove the current session, click Kill Session.

Open Cursors

The Open Cursors report displays details about the number of open cursors for each session. Use the controls at the top of page to narrow the view:

• Search. Enter search criteria and click Go. For search details, click .

• Status. Select a status and click Go.

• Display. Select the number of rows to appear in the report and click Go.

To view details about a specific open cursor count, click the numeric link under the Open Cursor Count column.

To view session details, click the Session ID (SID). The Session Details page appears. To remove the current session, click Kill Session.

About System Statistics

The System Statistics page displays statistics for:

• Physical I/O. A physical I/O is an I/O that requires disk access. This report displays disk access statistics for physical reads and writes.

• Logical I/O. An logical I/O is an I/O that is satisfied in memory or disk. Displays the sum of buffer reads which might be consistent gets or current mode gets. Redo is the buffer in the SGA that contains information about changes.

• Memory Statistics. Displays memory consumption of the database.

• Time Statistics. Shows various times consumed by the database.

• SQL Cursor Statistics. Displays statistics about the cursors in the Oracle database.

• Transaction Statistics. Shows the number of transactions performed.

To view the System Statistics page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon and then Monitor.

2. Click System Statistics.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate administrator username and password and click Login.

   The System Statistics page appears.

Additional controls on the System Statistics page include:

• Refresh Report - Refresh the System Statistics report.

• Save Statistics - Save the current report.

• Show delta between current and saved values - Click this check box to display actual statistic values, or display deltas between an saved value and the current value.

  See Also:

  "Memory Configuration and Use" in Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide

About Top SQL

The "top" SQL statements represent the SQL statements that are executed most often, that use more system resources than other SQL statements, or that use system resources more frequently than other SQL statements.

Use the Top SQL page to identify poorly performing SQL.

To view the Top SQL page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon and then Monitor.

2. Click Top SQL.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate administrator username and password and click Login.

   The Top SQL page appears. Use the search fields and lists and the top of the page and click Go to narrow the display. For details on each field or list, click the Search label.

4. To access the SQL Plan page, click the View icon.

   
   Description of the illustration view_icon.gif
   
   

   The SQL Plan page appears.

   The SQL Plan page contains the following sections:

   • Query Plan - Contains a color coded explain plan. Note that unindexed columns display in red.

   • SQL Text - Displays the full text of the SQL statement.

   • Indexes - Displays all indexes on the table in the query. There is a checkmark when that index is used in the query.

   • Table Columns - Shows all columns on all tables or views in the query.

About Long Operations

The Long Operations page displays the status of various operations that run for longer than 6 seconds (in absolute time). These operations currently include many backup and recovery functions, statistics gathering, and query execution, and more operations are added for every Oracle release.

To view the Long Operations page:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon and then Monitor.

2. Click Long Operations.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate administrator username and password and click Login.

4. See Also:

   V$SESSION_LONGOPS" in Oracle Database Reference

Viewing Database Details

You can view details about your database on the About Database page.

To access details about your database:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Utilities icon and then Monitor.

2. Click About Database.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate administrator username and password and click Login.

   The About Database page appears. The About Database page is divided into two sections: Database and Version.

4. To view additional information about installed options, currently used features, or National Language Support, select one of the following check boxes and click Go:

   • Version

   • Settings

   • Options

   • National Language Support

   • CGI Environment

   • Parameters