Changes in This Release for Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference

This preface contains:

• Changes in Oracle Database Release 19c, Version 19.1

Changes in Oracle Database Release 19c, Version 19.1

The following are changes in Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for Oracle Database release 19c, version 19.1.

• New Features

• Deprecated Features

• Desupported Features

See Oracle Database New Features Guide for a complete list of new features in this release.

New Features

This section lists the major new features in Oracle Database release 19c PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

The following features are new in Oracle Database release 19c, version 19.1:

• ANYTYPE TYPE

  The GETANYTYPEFROMPERSISTENT function replaces GETPERISTENT static function.

  See GETANYTYPEFROMPERSISTENT Function

• DBMS_ADDM

  Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) support for pluggable databases (PDBs). You can now use ADDM to analyze AWR data in PDBs for identifying and resolving performance related issues. Two new parameters, CDB_TYPE_OVERRIDE and READ_ONLY_TYPE_OVERRIDE added to the following subprograms to the DBMS_ADDM package:

  • ANALYZE_DB Procedure

  • ANALYZE_INST Procedure

  • ANALYZE_PARTIAL Procedure

  • COMPARE_CAPTURE_REPL AY_REPORT Function

  • COMPARE_DATABASES Function

  • COMPARE_INSTANCES Function

  • COMPARE_REPLAY_REPLA Y_REPORT Function

  • REAL_TIME_ADDM_REPORT Function

• DBMS_AUTO_INDEX

  The new package DBMS_AUTO_INDEX provides an interface for configuring auto indexes and generating reports containing the details of the executed automatic indexing operations in a database.

  See “DBMS_AUTO_INDEX”

• DBMS_CREDENTIAL

  You can also use the DBMS_CREDENTIAL.CREATE_CREDENTIAL procedure to manage the credentials for cloud object storage. The credential parameter of impdb specifies the name of a credential object that contains the user name and password required to access an object store bucket. You can also specify a default credential using the database property DEFAULT_CREDENTIAL.

• DBMS_HADOOP

  Oracle Database now supports hybrid partitioned tables. A hybrid partitioned table is a partitioned table in which some partitions reside in the database and some partitions reside outside the database in external files, such as operating system files or Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) files.

  A new procedure CREATE_HYBRID_PARTNED_TABLE is added to the DBMS_HADOOP package.

• DBMS_INMEMORY_ADMIN

  A new function POPULATE_WAIT is added to DBMS_INMEMORY_ADMIN package. This function ensures that the specified In-Memory objects have been populated before allowing application access.

• DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE

  The following new subprograms are added to the DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE package as part of the Memoptimized Rowstore fast ingest feature:

  • GET_APPLY_HWM_SEQID

  • GET_WRITE_HWM_SEQID

  • WRITE_END

  See “DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE”

DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE_ADMIN

The new package DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE_ADMIN provides an interface for flushing the Memoptimized Rowstore data buffered in the large pool to disk.

See “DBMS_MEMOPTIMIZE_ADMIN”

• DBMS_METADATA

  The following new transform parameters which are used by the metadata layer of datapump are added to the DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM procedure:

  • OMIT_ENCRYPTION_CLAUSE

  • DWCS_CVT_IOTS

  • DWCS_CVT_CONSTRAINTS

  • CONSTRAINT_USE_DEFAULT_INDEXES

  • CONSTRAINT_NAME_FROM_INDEXES

• DBMS_MVIEW

  Oracle Database now supports hybrid partitioned tables. A hybrid partitioned table is a partitioned table in which some partitions reside in the database and some partitions reside outside the database in external files, such as operating system files or Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) files.

  A new parameter, SKIP_EXT_DATA, is added to the DBMS_MVIEW.REFRESH procedure.

DBMS_SQLQ

The new package DBMS_SQLQ provides an interface for configuring quarantine thresholds for SQL statements and their execution plans. The SQL statements that cross the quarantine thresholds are quarantined and are not allowed to run again in a database.

See “DBMS_SQLQ”

• DBMS_SQLDIAGNew SQL Repair Advisor function DBMS_SQLDIAG.SQL_DIAGNOSE_AND_REPAIR

  The new SQL Repair Advisor function DBMS_SQLDIAG.SQL_DIAGNOSE_AND_REPAIR creates a diagnostic task, executes it, and accepts SQL patch recommendation for a SQL statement that is generating a critical error. This function helps users to diagnose and fix problems.

• DBMS_SODA

  DBMS_SODA is a PL/SQL package implementing Simple Oracle Document Access (SODA) which allows you to use the Oracle Database as a NoSQL document store. Additional functions and features are added in this release.

• DBMS_STATS

  A new boolean parameter REALTIME_STATS is added to GET_TABLE_STATS and GET_COLUMN_STATS procedures.

• DBMS_XPLAN

  New COMPARE_PLANS function added to the DBMS_XPLAN package. This function compares each plan in a list with a reference plan and returns the report.

• Key-based Messaging

  The following new parameters are added to the GET_QUEUE_PARAMETER, SET_QUEUE_PARAMETER, and UNSET_QUEUE_PARAMETER procedures of the DBMS_AQADM package as part of the Key-based messaging feature:

  • Sharded queue parameters

    • SHARD_NUM

    • KEY_BASED_ENQUEUE

    • STICKY_DEQUEUE

  • Key-based parameters

    • AQ$KEY_TO_SHARD_MAP

    • AQ$GET_KEY_SHARD_INST

  See “DBMS_AQADM”

Changes in Oracle Database Release 19c, Version 19.9

The following features are new in Oracle Database release 19c, version 19.9:

• Support for DBMS_CRYPTO Asymmetric Key Operations

  Starting with this release, the DBMS_CRYPTO PL/SQL package supports asymmetric key operations, in addition to the existing support for symmetric key operations. To implement the support for asymmetric key operations, the following procedures have been added to the DBMS_CRYPTO package:

  • PKENCRYPT

  • PKDECRYPT

  • SIGN

  • VERIFY

  See DBMS_CRYPTO.

Changes in Oracle Database Release 19c, Version 19.10

The following features are new in Oracle Database release 19c, version 19.10:

• DBMS_CLOUD

  The DBMS_CLOUD package provides a comprehensive support for working with data in Object Storage.

• Blockchain tables are append-only tables in which only insert operations are allowed. Deleting rows is either prohibited or restricted based on time. Rows in a blockchain table are made tamper-resistant by special sequencing & chaining algorithms. Users can verify that rows have not been tampered. A hash value that is part of the row metadata is used to chain and validate rows. Blockchain tables enable you to implement a centralized ledger model where all participants in the blockchain network have access to the same tamper-resistant ledger. The following new packages are available in this release:

  • DBMS_BLOCKCHAIN_TABLE

  • DBMS_USER_CERTS

• DBMS_LOGMNR subprograms ADD_LOGFILE Procedure and START_LOGMNR Procedure modified to support per-PDB Capture for Oracle Autonomous Database.

Changes in Oracle Database Release 19c, Version 19.11

The following features are new in Oracle Database release 19c, version 19.11:

• DBMS_IMMUTABLE_TABLE

  Immutable tables are read-only tables that protect data against unauthorized modification. They also prevent against accidental data modifications that may be caused by human errors. The DBMS_IMMUTABLE_TABLE package allows you to delete the expired rows in an immutable table.

• New subprograms are added to DBMS_SODA and SODA Types.

• A new procedure, ACCHK_VIEWS, is added to the DBMS_APP_CONT_ADMIN package. This procedure is available for the 19c release only.

Deprecated Features

List of deprecated features in Oracle Database release 19c version 19.1 PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

DBMS_SESSION.IS_ROLE_ENABLED function is deprecated.

Use DBMS_SESSION.CURRENT_IS_ROLE_ENABLED or DBMS_SESSION.SESSION_IS_ROLE_ENABLED function instead.

Starting with Oracle Database 19c, customer use of the SERVICE_NAMES parameter is deprecated. It can be desupported in a future release.

The use of the SERVICE_NAMES parameter is no longer actively supported. It must not be used for high availability (HA) deployments. It is not supported to use service names parameter for any HA operations. This restriction includes FAN, load balancing, FAILOVER_TYPE, FAILOVER_RESTORE, SESSION_STATE_CONSISTENCY, and any other uses.

To manage your services, Oracle recommends that you use the SRVCTL or GDSCTL command line utilities, or the DBMS_SERVICE package.

Desupported Features

This section lists the desupported features in Oracle Database release 19c version 19.1 PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.

The following features are desupported in this release:

• The ability to create flat file dictionary dumps of pluggable databases (PDBs) is desupported in Oracle Database 19c.

  In previous releases, using a flat file dictionary was one means of mining the redo logs for the changes associated with a specific PDB whose data dictionary was contained within the flat file. This feature is now desupported. With Oracle Database 19c and later releases, Oracle recommends that you call DBMS_LOGMNR.START_LOGMNR, and supply the system change number (SCN) or time range that you want to mine. The SCN or time range options of START_LOGMNR are enhanced to support mining of individual PDBs.

• Desupport of CONTINUOUS_MINE option

  The continuous_mine option for the DBMS_LOGMNR.START_LOGMNR package is desupported in Oracle Database 19c, and is no longer available. The CONTINUOUS_MINE functionality of the LogMiner package is obsolete. It was deprecated in Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2). There is no replacement functionality.

  Desupport of Oracle Streams

  Starting in Oracle Database 19c, the Oracle Streams feature is desupported. Use Oracle GoldenGate to replace all replication features of Oracle Streams.

• Oracle Multimedia

  Starting in Oracle Database 19c, the Oracle Multimedia feature is desupported. Use Oracle SecureFiles with open source or third-party products for metadata extraction and for image processing and conversion instead of Oracle Multimedia.

  See Also: For more information, see Oracle Database Upgrade Guide

• MAX_CONNECTIONS attribute of LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n Desupported

  The MAX_CONNECTIONS attribute of the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameters for Oracle Data Guard Redo Transport is obsolete. It is desupported in Oracle Database 19c.

  The MAX_CONNECTIONS attribute can interfere with the new Redo Transport Streaming mechanism introduced in Oracle Database 11g, and increase the time necessary to resolve gaps. To prevent these types of errors, Oracle has desupported and removed this attribute.

• Desupport of Extended Datatype Support (EDS)

  The Extended Datatype Support (EDS) feature is desupported in Oracle Database 19c. All Data types that the EDS feature supported are now supported natively by both Logical Standby and Oracle GoldenGate.

  The Extended Datatype Support (EDS) feature provides a mechanism for logical standbys to support certain Oracle data types that lack native redo-based support. For example, EDS was used to replicate tables with a SDO_GEOMETRY column. However, starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2), there are no EDS-supported Oracle data types that are not supported natively, either by Logical standby, or by Oracle GoldenGate. This feature is desupported with Oracle Database 19c (19.1).

• The initialization parameter O7_DICTIONARY_ACCESSIBILITY is desupported in Oracle Database 19c.

  The O7_DICTIONARY_ACCESSIBILITY parameter controlled restrictions on System Privileges from accessing SYS owned objects. It was retained to enable certain backward compatibility for earlier release applications. Desupporting obsolete features enables Oracle to focus on security across all features and functionality. Oracle recommends that you manage system privileges in accordance with standard security best practices.