How to stop Oracle XE from starting up with your computer

Eddie Awad blogs about "How to Give Your System a Break from Oracle XE".
---
There was a question on OraQA about how to stop Oracle XE from starting up with your computer. When you install Oracle XE on Windows, it creates a service called ?OracleServiceXE? with a startup type of ?Automatic? which means that the service starts automatically when the computer boots.

One way to prevent Oracle XE from starting up automatically is to change the startup type of the Oracle service to ?Manual?. You can do that by navigating to your Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services, double click on the Oracle service and change the Startup type to Manual.

Another way to prevent Oracle XE from starting up automatically when Windows starts is to use the ORADIM command-line tool that is available with the Oracle database. From the DOS command line execute the following:

oradim -edit -sid XE -startmode manual

Now, when you want to use Oracle XE, you start it up like this:

oradim -startup -sid XE

And you shut it down like this:

oradim -shutdown -sid XE

Or you can use the ?Start Database? and ?Stop Database? shortcuts installed with Oracle XE. Navigate to Start -> All Programs -> Oracle Database 10g Express Edition ->Start/Stop Database

Now you know how you can squeeze out a bit of extra performance from your computer when you are not using Oracle XE :)

Sources and Resources:
- Eddie Awad's Blog
- ORADIM documentation
- Related AskTom thread

Integrigy Oracle Listener Security Check Tool Updated (v. 2.2)

AppSentry Listener Security Check is a tool to check the security configuration of the Oracle Database Listener and listeners for Oracle Applications 11i. Four checks are performed:
1. is a password set,
2. is logging enabled,
3. is ADMIN_RESTRICTIONS enabled, and
4. is LOCAL_OS_AUTHENTICATION set for Oracle 10g.

Download lsnrcheck.exe (754KB)

Leverage your Oracle 10g skills to learn DB2 9.1 for Linux, UNIX and Windows

If you're a database specialist interested in growing your DB2 skills, there's a good chance that you've already developed database skills with another relational database product somewhere along the way. Recently updated for the latest versions of DB2 and Oracle, this article shows you how to use your current knowledge of Oracle 10g to quickly gain skills in IBM DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows.

Link

Ruby on Rails with Oracle FAQ

Exploring Ruby on Rails (RoR)?
This FAQ provides basic information about connecting to Oracle, installation, and creating Oracle Database XE + RoR applications.
Link

Oracle built-in functions

A nice matrix of Oracle built-in functions

Install the Oracle DBA Toolbar

The Oracle DBA Toolbar (available for Internet Explorer only at the moment; a Mozilla/Firefox version is forthcoming) gives you one-click access to key DBA resources on OTN.

Features:
* Pop-up Blocker
* Integrated RSS Manager
* OTN Search
* One-click access to SQL*Plus install, Downloads, MetaLink, and more
* Online Support FAQ
Oracle DBA Toolbar

Developer: Open Source

Ruby on Rails with Oracle FAQs by Casimir Saternos

What is Ruby?

Ruby is an object-oriented interpreted scripting language created by Yukihiro Matsumoto. Since the mid 1990s, it has grown in popularity in Japan and has gained recent attention as the language behind the Rails framework. You can use the language for a striking variety of functions?from basic scripting to creating Windows applications to developing Web applications. You can start using Rails without extensive knowledge of the language; the Rails framework generates the fundamental classes needed for the Web application and uses reflection to perform object-relational mapping to the database.

OTN's "Greatest Hits"

The Oracle Technology Network (OTN) "Greatest Hits" CD is a compilation of the most popular technical articles, software downloads, podcasts, sample code, and documentation, we've published in a given 12-month period. The compilation provides you with convenient access to the "best" of OTN as well as an insight into the interests of the Oracle developer and DBA communities.
Greatest Hits - 2006 Edition ZIP (119MB)
Greatest Hits - 2006 Edition ISO (190MB)

Free Oracle Tutorial Downloads

A lot of interesting tutorials:
Oracle
Others

Oracle Database Patch Sets

Here you have a nice link to latest patch sets against platforms including release dates.

*You must have a MetaLink account to download patch sets.

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft

Microsoft has over 150 FREE Windows Programs available for download -- but finding them all is extremely difficult. Until NOW

Helpful Ruby on Rails tutorials.

Top 30 Ruby on Rails Tutorials from eConsultant

20 ways to Secure your Apache Configuration

Here are 20 things you can do to make your apache configuration more secure.

Oracle DB feature matrix

If you are interested in the features and options of the different editions of the Oracle database(XE,STD,EE) - this document contain a handy matrix.

Ruby on Rails on Oracle XE

As you may have noticed, Oracle recently published an article about Ruby on Rails on Oracle. This articles introduces the Ruby on Rails framework and explains how to use it to access an Oracle database (Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE), to be precise).
If you are not familiar with Ruby on Rails, it is important to note that it has nothing to do with Java; it is a Ruby-based framework. Ruby on Rails is really interesting, powerful.
If you have nothing to do :) - check this 3 links:
Ruby on Rails on Oracle: A Simple Tutorial
Grails on Oracle for Java Developers
HR Schema on Rails

Starter Toolkit for DB2 on Rails

A set of tools that enables rapid building of Web applications with Ruby on Rails and DB2.

Startup Toolkit for DB2 on Rails has everything you need packaged in to a single one-click installer that will make your Windows PC in to real RoR development workstation. This includes the Ruby language itself, the Rails framework, DB2 enablement for Ruby on Rails, assorted learning materials and, naturally, DB2 Express-C 9 test drive (formerly known as DB2 Viper). And, if you are familiar with DB2 Express-C then you know that there are absolutely no charge for developing, deploying, and even redistributing DB2 with your applications. Yes, completely free and including way cool pureXML technology.
There is also a new blog dedicated to DB2 and Ruby on Rails at http://db2onrails.com/blog/.

Free PHP and Oracle Manual is Available

The free Underground PHP and Oracle Manual is hot off the press. Check it out. The OTN team describe it:
"Just starting out with PHP database development, or unsure how to install PHP and Oracle? This full-length guide (PDF format) includes everything you need to know (and more)."

RSS Available on my Page

Now you can read RSS newsfeeds from your desktop.

What is RSS?
RSS provides a way for web sites to distribute their content outside of a web browser. A news web site might have an RSS newsfeed which contains breaking stories, while a magazine web site may provide a feed with excerpts of their latest articles.

Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE) Installation Issues Roundup for Windows

After installing XE, one of the first things you'll do is to go to the database homepage. If something went wrong with the installation, you will see a generic error message...
More on Sergio's Blog

New Release of Oracle Database 10g Express Edition

Oracle database XE now also available on Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Debian.
Get download packages for these additional distros here, and .deb install tips here.

Demos @ Oracle By Example

You can use this page to play demos to learn how to use various features of the Oracle Database.

Here is a list of the demos you can find there at the moment, there will be more comming up:
Oracle Database 10g Release 2

Using SQL Baselines

Using Metric Baselines

Install ASM single instance in its own home

Install ASM single instance in the same home

Migrate a database to ASM

Setup XML DB to access ASM

Access ASM files using ASMCMD

Transport a tablespace version to another database

RAC scale example

RAC speedup example

Use Oracle Clusterware to protect the apache application

Use Oracle Clusterware to protect the Xclock application

Use Transparent Application Failover (TAF) with SELECT statements

Runtime Connection Load Balancing example

Install ASM in its own home in a RAC environment

Convert a single-instance database to a RAC database using Grid Control

Push Management Agent software using Grid Control

Clone Oracle Clusterware to extend your cluster using Grid Control

Clone ASM home to extend your cluster using Grid Control

Clone database home to extend your cluster using Grid Control

Add a database instance to your RAC database using Grid Control

Basic use of services in your RAC environment

One open source platform for managing your entire environment

Hyperic has open sourced their management infrastructure.
HQ provides an inventory of all the hardware, software and services deployed in your infrastructure as well as supplying alerts on events and allowing control of various software resources.

Storing images on the database

Article on OTN about storing images on the database.

Installing Oracle XE under Debian/(K)Ubuntu - it is easier than Windows by Jeroen van Wilgenburg

Yesterday I installed Oracle XE at my Ubuntu Linux server at home. I wanted to do this for a long time but was a bit scared because installing non open source applications under Linux can be really painful. I searched on google and found a tutorial on OTN. That's a promising START.

Translation in APEX - Mini how-to

Hi all,

I will try to give You my example of solving translation of application in APEX.

Main parameters:
Primary language: en (English)
Translation lang: hr (Croatian).

Read more


1.Firstly you have to define primary language (Application Builder>Application 500>Edit Globalization Attributes) and select your primary language (Application Primary Language: English (en).
2. On the sam page define Application Language Derived From as "Application preference (use FSP_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE).
3. Define translation mapping "Application Builder>Application 500>Shared Components>Translate Application>Application Language Mappings" and create mappings for your second language (example is hr (Croatian)).
4. On the login page or first page if you don't have login, create hidden field (P101_LANG i n my example replace for your usage). It is used for rememebering current language
5. Create new application process (Application Builder>Application 500>Shared Components>Application Processes)
Name: redirect
Process point: On load before header
Type: PL/SQL Anonymous block
Conditions>condition type: Request=Expression1
Conditions>Expression1: LANG
Process text (here is the code):
BEGIN
IF nvl(:P101_LANG,'en')='hr' THEN
:P101_LANG:='en';
ELSE
:P101_LANG:='hr';
END IF;
HTMLDB_UTIL.SET_PREFERENCE ('FSP_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE',:P101_LANG,:FLOW_USER);
owa_util.redirect_url('f?p='||:APP_ID||':'||:APP_PAGE_ID||':'||:SESSION);
END;

6. Login page: on this page create one button with label in your primary lang. point on second language. My example label is "Croatian" in english as primary language and translated to "English" in Croatian. This logic is used for having just one button saying "Croatian" when I'm in english web page and "English" when I'm in croatian web page.
Button has "Optional URL Redirect" with :
Target is: page in this application
Page : your login page number (most probably 101)
Request: LANG

7. For all other pages i use new item on navigation bar defined as:
Label: Croatian (secondary language) in Croatian translation label is "English"
Target>Target Type: Page in this application
Target>Page: &APP_PAGE_ID. (don't forget dot on the end)
Target>Request: LANG

8. Export XLIFF
9. Translate
10. Import translation
11. Publish translated app
12. Enjoy
That's all folks.

Main logic is to create same process for every page that is triggered if the request is LANG. This process changes the FSP_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE preference that as far as I know can not be changed as other common app parameter but using HTMLDB_UTIL.SET_PREFERENCE function. With hte process in place you just have to implement link on every page for itself with request=lang and tha language will change.

I hope this is useful for everybody because it took me 6 bloody hours to do figure it out.

Published on Oracle forum by Dark Lord

Free e-book "1000 Java Tips"

"1000 Java Tips" eBook is huge collection of big and small Java programming articles and tips. You need latest version of Acrobat Reader to be able to read it, because the content is digitally signed. The size of "1000 Java Tips" e-Book is 856 pages of A4 format!

Take your copy here [35MB].

Tips & Tricks

Q.: How to see installed options like Oracle Text,OLS etc.
A.: select * from v$option

Read more

On my XE the result was:
(54 rows returned)

Partitioning	FALSE
Objects	TRUE
Real Application Clusters	FALSE
Advanced replication	FALSE
Bit-mapped indexes	FALSE
Connection multiplexing	TRUE
Connection pooling	TRUE
Database queuing	TRUE
Incremental backup and recovery	TRUE
Instead-of triggers	TRUE
[...]	[...]

Oraspeed 2.7

Oraspeed 2.7 has been released.
Features: Using this Oracle IDE you can write and test Queries. Create, Compile, Execute and Debug your PL/SQL Programs. Execute Anonymous PL/SQL Blocks. Create/Edit Database object using advanced wizards. TKProf, PL/SQL Profiler, Parent Child Tables Data Explorer,Built-in reports, BLOB Editor and much more.

Interesting thing is how these products compare to Oracle's free SQLDeveloper or Qwest's TOAD. Any comments?

Project Lockdown by Arup Nanda

Article Abstract:

(Arup Nanda) Imagine that you have just landed a new job as a DBA. On your first day, you hear rumors of an impending security audit driven by Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. You need to get to know your environment as soon as possible, so you know where to look and understand when to take immediate or preventive action.

Link

DBA Interview Questions

1. Explain how you would restore a database using RMAN to Point in Time?
   
2. How does Oracle guarantee data integrity of data changes?
   
3. Which environment variables are absolutely critical in order to run the OUI?
   
4. What SQL query from v$session can you run to show how many sessions are logged in as a particular user account?
   
5. Why does Oracle not permit the use of PCTUSED with indexes?
   
6. What would you use to improve performance on an insert statement that places millions of
   rows into that table?
   
7. What would you do with an "in-doubt" distributed transaction?
   
8. What are the commands you?d issue to show the explain plan for "select * from dual"?
   
9. In what script is "snap$" created? In what script is the "scott/tiger" schema created?
   
10. If you?re unsure in which script a sys or system-owned object is created, but you know it?s in a script from a specific directory, what UNIX command from that directory structure can you run to find your answer?
    
11. How would you configure your networking files to connect to a database by the name of DSS which resides in domain icallinc.com?
    
12. You create a private database link and upon connection, fails with: ORA-2085: connects to . What is the problem? How would you go about resolving this error?
    
13. I have my backup RMAN script called "backup_rman.sh". I am on the target database. My catalog username/password is rman/rman. My catalog db is called rman. How would you run this shell script from the O/S such that it would run as a background process?
    
14. Explain the concept of the DUAL table.
    
15. What are the ways tablespaces can be managed and how do they differ?
    
16. From the database level, how can you tell under which time zone a database is operating?
    
17. What?s the benefit of "dbms_stats" over "analyze"?
    
18. Typically, where is the conventional directory structure chosen for Oracle binaries to reside?
    
19. You have found corruption in a tablespace that contains static tables that are part of a database that is in NOARCHIVE log mode. How would you restore the tablespace without losing new data in the other tablespaces?
    
20. How do you recover a datafile that has not been physically been backed up since its creation and has been deleted. Provide syntax example.
    

from deep Internet

DB2 Universal Database Version 8.2 for Linux HOWTO

DB2 Universal Database Version 8.2 for Linux HOWTO is intended for anyone interested in installing and using 32-bit IBM DB2 Universal Database on Linux. The information found in this document is based on experiences installing and configuring DB2 UDB Version 8.2.

Freeware Veritas Storage Foundation Basic 4.1

Veritas Storage Foundation Basic is a free-license version of Storage Foundation, with an optional support subscription. Storage Foundation Basic combines the industry-leading Veritas File System and Veritas Volume Manager, offering a complete solution for heterogeneous online storage management.

System Requirements:
Storage Foundation Basic 4.1 is currently available on Solaris and Linux platforms:
Solaris 10 x64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 32 and 64-bit (Xeon, EM64T and AMD Opteron)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 64-bit (Itanium2)
Novell SUSE SLES 9 32 and 64-bit (Xeon, EM64T and AMD Opteron)
Novell SUSE SLES 9 64-bit (Itanium2)
---

Veritas Storage Foundation Basic jest darmową wersją znanego na całym świecie pakietu Storage Foundation. Wersja Basic łączy w sobie cechy Veritas File System and Veritas Volume Manager - dzięki czemu stanowi kompletne rozwiązanie dla ochrony danych.

ApEx 2.2 Evaluation

Looks like the ApEx folks have an Evaluation Version of ApEx 2.2. There are also some new icons and themes... more and more.


Apex 2.2 update


Here are some other new or improved features in APEX 2.2:

Application Deployment Packaging

Component Attributes Screens (eg Regions, Items, Computations, & Processes)

Copy Application Feature

Finder Utility

Monitoring - Application Reports

Timestamp support

Report Attributes Page

Improved Page Debug Messages

Re-Ordering Widgets

Online Help

Oracle ORION

ORION is the Oracle I/O Numbers Calibration Tool designed to simulate Oracle I/O workloads
- Without having to create and run an Oracle database
- Using the Oracle database's I/O libraries
- Using small I/Os to simulate OLTP workloads
- Using large I/Os to simulate data warehouses

ORION is useful for understanding the performance capabilities of a storage system, either to uncover performance issues or to size a new database installation.

Orion is available on otn for the following platforms:
-Linux AMD x86-64
-Linux i386
-Windows
--
ORION jest narzędziem służącym do symulowania obciążenia serwera Oracle. W prosty sposób możemy wykryć problemy z naszą bazą. Nie wymaga on instalacji Oracla, czy też tworzenia bazy danych.
--
Follow this link \ Więcej tutaj:
link 1 link 2

Centralny serwer logów MS Windows na PostgreSQL

Zachęcam do zapoznania się z ciekawą koncepcją połączenia systemu logów MS Windows'ów z darmową bazą danych PostgreSQL. Autorem koncepcji i aplikacji jest Bartek Siębab.
Głównym założeniem projektu była centralizacja logów zbieranych z różnych systemów MS Windows z dzienników evenlog oraz innych (za pośrednictwem protokołu syslog) w jednej darmowej bazie SQL. Z powodu wymagań co do wydajności bazy, objętości gromadzonych dzienników oraz faktu iż baza ma być darmowa, sql'owa i ma być bazą (a nie programem do wyświetlania tabelek takim jak "mójsql" ;-) a ponadto koniecznym "połączeniem" do bazy w postaci komponentu .NET 2.0 na placu boju pozostał PostgreSQL...
Cały artykuł

Nagrody LinuxWorld rozdane

Zwycięzcy tegorocznego "LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards" byli prezentowani na "LinuxWorld Conference & Expo" w Bostonie.

A oto pełna lista zwycięzców:
Best Application Development Platform
- Novell Inc. - Mono Development Framework
Best Clustering Solution
- Continuent - Continuent p/Cluster
Best Desktop Solution
- SunWah - Linux Rays LX 1.5
Best Grid Computing Solution
- Themis - DCRM
Best Database Solution
- Oracle - Oracle Database 10g Express Edition
Best Messaging Solution
- Scalix - Scalix Appliance
Best Open Source Solution
- Xchange Server 5 - Open
Best Security Solution
- Barracuda Networks - Barracuda Spyware Firewall
Best Systems Management Tools
- rPath Inc. - rBuilder
Best Virtualization Solution
- Swsoft Inc. - Virtuozzo for Linux
Most Innovative Hardware
- AMD - Dual Core AMD Opteron processors Models 885, 285 and 185
Best Integration Solution
- Xandros - Xandros Server

źródło:LinuxWorld

Formatowanie składni SQL'a

Często nasza składnia SQL'owa jest chaotyczna i trudna do odczytania, ale jest na to rada SQLinForm oraz Online SQL Formatter.

Czas na przykład:
- przed
select ename from (select ename from emp order by sal desc) where rownum <>

Historia baz danych

Ciekawy artykuł dotyczący historii baz danych w języku angielskim.