Changes in This Release for Oracle Database SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference

This preface contains the changes in this book for Oracle AI Database 26ai.

New Features

This section lists new features introduced in SQL*Plus releases.

SQL*Plus Release 26ai

This section describes new features introduced in SQL*Plus in 26ai.

  • A new command, CONFIG, generates the config store JSON file from the tnsnames.ora file.

    CONFIG

  • A new command, ARGUMENT, customizes the input prompt and sets default values when parameters are not passed to the script.

    ARGUMENT

  • A new command, PING, pings the database or database network listener to check availability.

    PING

  • Display error details
    • A new command, OERR, allows users to see the detailed cause and action text for Oracle errors.

      OERR

    • A new command, SET ERRORDETAILS, displays the Oracle Error Help URL along with the cause and action details when any SQL, PL/SQL, or SQL*Plus statement fails during execution.

      SET ERRORDETAILS

    • The HELP command is enhanced to display error details, such as Cause, Action, and Parameters, for the provided error code.

      HELP

  • The DESCRIBE command is enhanced to display annotation information for columns that have associated annotations available.

    DESCRIBE

  • The SHOW CONNECTION command lists the Oracle Net Service Names present in the tnsnames.ora file and resolves the given net service name to the connection string.

    SHOW

  • Support for the SQL BOOLEAN data type
    • Added support for a new data type, BOOLEAN, in SQL statements.

      DESCRIBE

    • Enhanced the syntax of the COLUMN and the VARIABLE commands.

      COLUMN

      VARIABLE

  • Support for a new data type, VECTOR, in SQL*Plus.

    VARIABLE

SQL*Plus Release 21c

This section describes new features introduced in SQL*Plus in 21c.

  • The HISTORY command syntax has been enhanced. If N is omitted in the command, then RUN, EDIT or DELETE is executed on the most recent entry in the history list.

  • SET JSONPRINT is a new command that enables you to format JSON data.

SQL*Plus Release 19c

This section describes a new feature introduced in SQL*Plus in 19c.

The Easy Connect syntax, used by applications to connect to Oracle Database, has been enhanced and is called Easy Connect Plus.

Deprecated Features

This section lists the deprecated features in Oracle AI Database release 26ai.

Deprecation of FIPS Parameters

Starting with Oracle AI Database 26ai, several parameters associated with FIPS_140 are deprecated.

FIPS_140 in FIPS.ORA can be used to enable FIPS for all features starting with Oracle AI Database 26ai. The following FIPS parameters are deprecated:

  • SQLNET.ORA: FIPS_140 to enable FIPS for native network encryption
  • FIPS.ORA: SSLFIPS_140 to enable FIPS for TLS
  • Initialization parameter: DBFIPS_140 to enable FIPS for TDE and DBMS_CRYPTO

Deprecation of Enterprise User Security (EUS)

Enterprise User Security (EUS) is deprecated with Oracle AI Database 26ai.

Oracle recommends that you migrate to using Centrally Managed Users (CMU). This feature enables you to directly connect with Microsoft Active Directory without an intervening directory service for enterprise user authentication and authorization to the database. If your Oracle Database is in the cloud, you can also choose to move to one of the newer integrations with a cloud identity provider.