Preface

This manual provides reference information about the Oracle8i server, running on all operating systems. This information includes:

Feature Coverage and Availability

Oracle8i Reference contains information relating to both Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition. Some of the features documented in this manual are available only if you have purchased the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition.

For information about the differences between Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition, please refer to Getting to Know Oracle8i. Oracle8i Reference describes those features which are common to both products, and those which are only available with the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition or a particular option.

Audience

This manual is written for database administrators, system administrators, and database application developers.

Knowledge Assumed of the Reader

It is assumed that readers of this manual are familiar with relational database concepts, basic Oracle Server concepts, and with the operating system environment under which they are running Oracle.

Installation and Migration Information

This manual 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.

Information Database Administration

While this manual describes the architecture, processes, structures, and other concepts of the Oracle Server, it does not explain how to administer the Oracle Server. For that information, see the Oracle8i Administrator's Guide.

Application Design Information

In addition to administrators, experienced users of Oracle and advanced database application designers will find information in this manual 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.

How Oracle8i Reference Is Organized

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1, "Initialization Parameters"

This chapter contains detailed descriptions of the database initialization parameters in the parameter file that are required to start an instance.

Chapter 2, "Static Data Dictionary Views"

This chapter contains descriptions of the Oracle data dictionary tables and views.

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

This chapter contains descriptions of 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 the event name, wait time and parameters for wait events displayed by the V$SESSION_WAIT and V$SYSTEM_EVENT views.

Appendix B, "Enqueue and Lock Names"

This appendix describes the enqueues and locks used by the Oracle Server.

Appendix C, "Statistics Descriptions"

This appendix describes the 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 (Server Manager), 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

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

infodev@us.oracle.com

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