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Case Insensitivity and Performance

This topic is part of Performance Guidelines for Data Objects Layer.

Case-sensitive queries perform better than case-insensitive queries, where queries include wildcards. However, you can support case-insensitive queries and reduce the performance impact through appropriate configuration. Siebel Business Applications are case-sensitive by default. You can enable case insensitivity for specified columns. End users can force case-sensitive or case-insensitive queries.

You can use the Case Insensitivity Wizard to configure Siebel database columns to support case-insensitive queries. For best performance, it is recommended to accept the recommendations of this wizard. For each specified column, the wizard creates a case-insensitive column populated with upper-case characters and creates a case-insensitive index. Before you run the wizard, verify that the columns that are to support case-insensitive queries are already indexed, to improve performance for case-insensitive queries (by avoiding table scans).

The Case Insensitivity Wizard formats the search criteria for the applicable columns into upper case and appends a wildcard to the search string. The wildcard is used to match data in the specialized column populated with upper-case characters.

NOTE:  A trailing wildcard causes performance issues with Oracle Database and IBM DB2. However, you can resolve this problem by setting the user property Use Literals For Like. Instead of the host variable, a literal string like 'SMITH%' is sent to the database server, which determines that the wildcard is in the last position and uses the appropriate index.

If you enable case insensitivity for a user key column that is denormalized to related visibility tables, then also enable case insensitivity for the denormalized column. For example, if you enable case-insensitivity for Account.Name, then also enable it for the S_ACCNT_POSTN and S_ORG_BU denormalized columns for Account.Name. After you enable case insensitivity for user key fields like Last Name, the Contacts View is slower. For more information, see 536211.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

For more information about configuring case insensitivity and about different ways of using the Case Insensitivity Wizard, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications, Siebel Database Upgrade Guide, and Siebel Global Deployment Guide. For more information about performing case-insensitive queries, see Siebel Fundamentals for Siebel Open UI and Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

Before you configure case insensitivity, a thorough review of business requirements and performance criteria is highly recommended. In addition, if the feature is enabled, then conduct a performance test with a full copy of the production database. It is also recommended that Oracle Advanced Customer Services be engaged to optimize the configuration and review requirements. Contact your Oracle sales representative to request assistance from Oracle Advanced Customer Services.

Related Books

Configuring Siebel Business Applications

Siebel Database Upgrade Guide

Siebel Global Deployment Guide

Siebel Fundamentals for Siebel Open UI

Siebel Applications Administration Guide