Preface

This reference provides reference information about Oracle8i for all operating systems.

Features and Functionality

Oracle8i Reference contains information about the features and functionality of the Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition products. Oracle8i and Oracle8i Enterprise Edition have the same basic features. However, several advanced features are available only with the Enterprise Edition, and some of these are optional.

See Also: Getting to Know Oracle8i for information about the differences between Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and the available features and options. That book also describes all the features that are new in Oracle8i.

Audience

This reference is intended for database administrators, system administrators, and database application developers.

This reference is not an installation or migration guide. If your primary interest is installation, refer to your operating system-specific Oracle documentation. If your primary interest is database and application migration, refer to Oracle8i Migration.

This reference describes the architecture, processes, structures, and other concepts of Oracle8i, but it does not explain how to administer an Oracle server. For that information, see the Oracle8i Administrator's Guide.

Experienced users of Oracle and advanced database application designers will find information in this reference useful. However, database application developers should also refer to the Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals and to the documentation for the tool or language product they are using to develop Oracle database applications.

Knowledge Assumed of the Reader

Readers of this reference should be familiar with relational database concepts, basic Oracle concepts, and with the operating system environment in which they are running Oracle.

What's New in Oracle8i

Release 2 (8.1.6)

The following initialization parameters are new in this release of the documentation:

• ACTIVE_INSTANCE_COUNT

• CURSOR_SHARING

• JAVA_MAX_SESSIONSPACE_SIZE

• JAVA_POOL_SIZE

• JAVA_SOFT_SESSIONSPACE_LIMIT

• LOG_ARCHIVE_TRACE

• MTS_CIRCUITS

• MTS_SESSIONS

The following data dictionary views are new in this release of the documentation:

• ALL_MVIEWS (and the related DBA_MVIEWS and USER_MVIEWS)

• ALL_TAB_MODIFICATIONS (and the related DBA_TAB_MODIFICATIONS and USER_TAB_MODIFICATIONS)

• DBA_ORPHAN_KEY_TABLE

• DBA_REPAIR_TABLE

• V$BSP

• V$HS_PARAMETER

The following SQL scripts are new in this release of the documentation:

• INITJVM.SQL

• RMJVM.SQL

• UTLJAVARM.SQL

How Oracle8i Reference Is Organized

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1, "Initialization Parameters"

This chapter describes the database initialization parameters you can specify in the parameter file to start or configure an instance.

Chapter 2, "Static Data Dictionary Views"

This chapter describes the Oracle data dictionary tables and views, also known as static views.

Chapter 3, "Dynamic Performance (V$) Views"

This chapter describes the dynamic performance views, also known as the V$ views.

Chapter 4, "Database Limits"

This chapter lists the limits of values associated with database functions and objects.

Chapter 5, "SQL Scripts"

This chapter describes the SQL scripts that are required for optimal operation of the Oracle server.

Appendix A, "Oracle Wait Events"

This appendix describes some event names, wait times, and parameters for wait events displayed by the V$SESSION_WAIT and V$SYSTEM_EVENT views.

Appendix B, "Oracle Enqueue Names"

This appendix lists some enqueues used by Oracle8i.

Appendix C, "Statistics Descriptions"

This appendix describes some statistics stored in the V$SESSION_WAIT and V$SYSSTAT dynamic performance table.

Conventions Used in This Manual

The following sections describe the conventions used in this manual.

Text of the Manual

The text of this manual uses the following conventions.

UPPERCASE Characters

Uppercase text is used to call attention to command keywords, database object names, parameters, filenames, and so on.

For example, "After inserting the default value, Oracle checks the foreign key integrity constraint defined on the DEPTNO column," or "If you create a private rollback segment, the name must be included in the ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS initialization parameter."

Italicized Characters

Italicized words within text are book titles or emphasized words.

Code Examples

Commands or statements of SQL, Oracle Enterprise Manager line mode, and SQL*Plus appear in a monospaced font.

For example:

INSERT INTO emp (empno, ename) VALUES (1000, 'SMITH'); 
ALTER TABLESPACE users ADD DATAFILE 'users2.ora' SIZE 50K; 

Example statements may include punctuation, such as commas or quotation marks. All punctuation in example statements is required. All example statements terminate with a semicolon (;). Depending on the application, a semicolon or other terminator may or may not be required to end a statement.

UPPERCASE in Code Examples

Uppercase words in example statements indicate the keywords within Oracle SQL. When you issue statements, however, keywords are not case sensitive.

lowercase in Code Examples

Lowercase words in example statements indicate words supplied only for the context of the example. For example, lowercase words may indicate the name of a table, column, or file.

Your Comments Are Welcome

We value and appreciate your comment as an Oracle user and reader of our manuals. As we write, revise, and evaluate our documentation, your opinions are the most important feedback we receive.

You can send comments and suggestions about this reference to the Information Development department at the following e-mail address:

infodev@us.oracle.com

If you prefer, you can send letters or faxes containing your comments to:

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Oracle Corporation

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Fax: (650) 506-7228 Attn.: Oracle8i Reference