Preface

Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database is a memory-optimized relational database. Deployed in the application tier, TimesTen operates on databases that fit entirely in physical memory using standard SQL interfaces. High availability for the in-memory database is provided through real-time transactional replication.

TimesTen supports a variety of programming interfaces, including ODBC (Open Database Connectivity), OCI (Oracle Call Interface), Oracle Pro*C/C++ (precompiler for embedded SQL and PL/SQL instructions in C or C++ code), JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), and PL/SQL (Oracle procedural language extension for SQL).

This preface covers the following topics:

Audience

This document is intended for anyone developing or supporting applications that use PL/SQL with TimesTen. Although it provides some overview, you should be familiar with PL/SQL or have access to more detailed documentation. This manual emphasizes TimesTen-specific functionality.

You should also be familiar with TimesTen, SQL (Structured Query Language), and database operations.

You would typically use PL/SQL through some programming interface such as those mentioned above, so should also consult any relevant additional TimesTen developer documentation.

Also see "Audiences for this document", which goes into more detail.

Related documents

TimesTen documentation is available on the product distribution media and on the Oracle Technology Network:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/timesten/documentation/

Oracle documentation is also available on the Oracle Technology network. This may be especially useful for Oracle features that TimesTen supports but does not attempt to fully document:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/documentation/

In particular, these Oracle documents may be of interest:

In addition, numerous third-party documents are available that describe PL/SQL in detail.

Conventions

TimesTen supports multiple platforms. Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this guide applies to all supported platforms. The term Windows refers to Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The term UNIX refers to Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, and AIX.

Note:

In TimesTen documentation, the terms "data store" and "database" are equivalent. Both terms refer to the TimesTen database unless otherwise noted.

This document uses the following text conventions:

Convention Meaning
italic Italic type indicates terms defined in text, book titles, or emphasis.
monospace Monospace type indicates commands, URLs, procedure and function names, package names, attribute names, directory names, file names, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.
italic monospace Italic monospace type indicates a placeholder or a variable in a code example for which you specify or use a particular value, such as in the following example:

Driver=install_dir/lib/libtten.sl

This means replace install_dir with the path of your TimesTen installation directory.

[ ] Square brackets indicate that an item in a command line is optional.
{ } Curly braces indicated that you must choose one of the items separated by a vertical bar ( | ) in a command line.
| A vertical bar (or pipe) separates alternative arguments.
. . . An ellipsis (. . .) after an argument indicates that you may use more than one argument on a single command line. An ellipsis in a code example indicates that what is shown is only a partial example.
% The percent sign indicates the UNIX shell prompt.

TimesTen documentation uses the following variables to identify path, file and user names.

Convention Meaning
install_dir The path that represents the directory where TimesTen is installed.
TTinstance The instance name for your specific installation of TimesTen. Each installation of TimesTen must be identified at installation time with a unique instance name. This name appears in the installation path.
bits or bb Two digits, either 32 or 64, that represent either a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.
release or rr Numbers that represent a major TimesTen release, with or without dots. For example, 1121 or 11.2.1 represents TimesTen Release 11.2.1.
DSN TimesTen data source name (for the TimesTen database).

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/support/contact.html or visit http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/support.html if you are hearing impaired.

Technical support

For information about obtaining technical support for TimesTen products, go to the following Web address:

http://www.oracle.com/support/contact.html