Preface

Monospace text  

Indicates text that must be typed exactly as shown.

set echo off  

All uppercase plain  

Indicate command names, SQL reserved words and keywords as in ALTER DATABASE.

All uppercase plain is also used for directory names and file names.

ORANT\DATABASE\INITORCL.ORA  

Italics  

Indicate a value that you must provide. For example, if a command asks you to type filename, you must type the actual name of the file.

Italics are also used for emphasis in the text and to indicate the titles of other manuals.  

Horizontal ellipsis . .  

Indicate that parts of the statement or command not directly related to the example have been omitted.

CHKVAL fieldname value 1 value 2... valueN  

Vertical bar |  

Represents an `or' option between several options. You must enter only one of the options. Do not enter the vertical bar. The set of alternative choices is enclosed by curly braces if one of the items is required, or by square brackets if the item is an optional alternative.  

Curly braces {}  

Enclose required items. You must choose one of the alternatives.

..DEFINE { macro1 | macro2 }  

Square brackets [ ]  

Enclose optional items. You can choose one or none of the alternatives.

cvtcrt termname [outfile]

Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].  

C:\>  

Represents the Windows NT command prompt of the current hard disk drive. Your prompt may differ and may, at times, reflect the subdirectory in which you are working.  

Backslash (\) before a directory name  

Indicates that the directory is a subdirectory. For example, \DATABASE.  

Symbols  

Symbols other than brackets and vertical bars must be entered in commands exactly as shown.