Oracle Technology Network
OTN has links to two of my blog posts
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that I had a bit of a spike in my blog stats (I don’t check them often). In particular there was 2 groups of blog posts that were getting a lot of the hit.
After a bit of investigation I found out that it was do to referrals from one particular website. It was OTN or Oracle Technology Network, and more specifically it was from their webpage dedicated for Database Admins and Developer.
Yes OTN had links to my blog posts on Clustering in Oracle Data Miner and to my blog post on Are you a Type I and Type II Data Scientists.
What a surprise this was to discover!!! and what a honour 
I don’t know how long they will be on the OTN webpage, but hopefully lots of people in the Oracle community will find them useful.
I’m working on my next set of Oracle Data Miner blog posts, so watch this space. Plus I’ve started work on two technical articles that I’ll be submitting to OTN over the next few weeks. So hopefully you will see these up on OTN soon.
Oracle Magazine–March/April 1999
The headline articles for the March/April 1999 edition of Oracle Magazine were on the evolving world of the DBA. With some much new technology available in the database the role of the DBA is moving from a back office type role to one having a significant strategic influence in the organisation.
Other articles included:
- Oracle releases a web based version of their Oracle Strategic Procurement application that includes three key parts: Strategic Sourcing, Internet Procurement and Process Automation.
- Sun and Oracle announce a strategic agreement that allows both companies to enhance their product offerings by exchanging key technologies. Oracle will use the core of the Sun Solaris operating environment to deliver the industry’s first database server appliances.
- Oracle Data Mart Suite releases version 2.5. It includes, Oracle Data Mart Builder, Oracle Data Mart Designer, Oracle 8 Enterprise Edition, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle Application Server and Oracle Reports and Reports Server.
- New integration between Oracle Reports release 6.0 and Oracle Express Server release 6.2 to give users the ability to distribute high quality reports of information held in a multi-dimensional database across the enterprise.
- The need for the DBA to know and understand the V$ views has been increasing during the later releases of 7.3 and 8i. The can be used for a variety of purposes, including understanding locked users, system resources, licencing and parameter settings.
- One thing that all DBAs need to plan for is a database recovery. Planning it is one thing, but practicing it is another thing. A typical recovery plan will include, choosing a data file, create a backup, take the damaged tablespace offline, restore the damaged data file, bring the tablespace back online, recover the tablespace, bring the tablespace back online and test it.
- Avoiding trigger errors, including Mutating and constraining table errors.
- There is an article by Bryan Laplante on using Historgrams to Optimize Data Mart Performance.
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions and a PDF for the very first Oracle Magazine from June 1987.
New features for Developers in Oracle 12c & Tools
Continuing on from my previous posts on new features in the Advanced Analytics Option and the 12c Databases, this post will focus on the proposed new features for Developers in 12c and in the new releases of the development tools.
Health Warning: As with all the presentations at OOW that talked about what may be in or may be in the next release, there is no guarantee that these features will actually be in the released version of the database. Here is the slide that gives the Safe Harbor statement.
- APEX 4.2 is out now and has lots of new features in particular features for creating mobile applications including transitions, gestures, changes in orientation and HTML 5 support. Coming in 12c APEX will be able to support the pluggable database environment. You will have the option to install APEX in the Contain database or in the pluggable databases. It will also support the extended VARCHAR2 size
- SQL Developer will have Data Pump to allow for fast movement of data and for scheduling of the movements. The Database Difference tool has been redesigned to give more options and gives a more reliable comparison. A redesigned Database Copy (more options), improved Migrations and PDF report generation. SQL Developer is not the admin tool to manage the APEX Listener. UI improvements include more/better drag and drop, GRANT statement support in SQL editor and database Doc reporting. A new release of SQL Developer will be made available with the release of 12c that includes all the 12c new features
- Better Data Compression of data being sent to/from the client/server. So how you use the ORDER BY clause will become more important
- We will now have BOOLEAN in 12c but only in PL/SQL
- 12c will allow you to grant ROLES to PL/SQL program units. Or we could specify a White List that lists what other code units can call your code. This is a great security enhancement, although it involves more admin work, but it is worth it.
- 12c will allow you to include PL/SQL in WITH
- 12c will allow you to create duplicate indexes on the same set of columns. Sometimes you might want two different types of index on the same data, for example a bit map index and a b-tree index.
- Cursor results sets can now be returned implicitly instead of the existing explicit method
- The Warning messages when compiling our PL/SQL code can be filtered based on if they are Severe, Performance related or just Informational. This can be set at a System or Session level.
alter session set plsql_warnings=’enable:severe’;
alter session set plsql_warnings=’enable:performance’;
alter session set plsql_warnings=’enable:informational’;
There was a large number of exhibits at OOW. All of them were giving things away. For some of these you had to endure a sales pitch. One of the popular type of give away was a t-shirt. If you really wanted to, you could get enough t-shirts to keep you going for a few years. I popped into the exhibits for JavaOne and the pictures below is my faviourate t-shirt from OOW, by CloudBees.
Some of the exhibits were also giving away money. If you would sit through a 10 minute presentation you were given a ticket and if your number was picked your would could win anything from $20 up to $100. Many thanks to Intel 
Review of Oracle Magazine-September/October 1996
The headline articles for the September/October 1996 edition of Oracle Magazine was on Putting the Web to Work and focused how to build web based applications. Topics covered included the Web Server, Intranet vs Client/Server applications, what (Oracle) tools to use.
Oracle articles included:
- There was an interesting advertisement from Sun. It consisted on one page that contained the following text, “when your intranet is protected with Solstice by Sun, unauthorized users see your information quite differently,. For a free demonstration, turn the page” The next two pages are blank!
- Oracle publishing will be launching Oracle Applications Magazine in November 1996. The new magazine will be targeted at top line-of-business managers and will offer executives and other qualified Oracle Applications users in-depth industry analysis and technology and business overviews of topics critical to managers looking for technology solutions to business problems.
- Euro Star train service that covers UK and France, and has trains running under the the English Chanel, has implemented the Oracle Financials Application suite. One of the main features is its ability to handle multiple currencies and companies and the flexibility of running processes and period-end routines.
- Oracle announces that Wells Fargo has negotiated that the largest enterprise database licence agreement in the financial industry and will be implementing Oracle Universal Server, Oracle DB 7.3 as well as DB options such as data warehousing and electronic commerce. This new environment will need to support 25,00 users and the gathering of 80 gigabytes of data each month.
- Oracle has released a number of its applications for the web.
- Using partitioning for a Data Warehouse and how it compares to using Clustering.
- How to build business rules using triggers in Oracle 7 and how to ensure consistency in the data.
- A summary of a number of SQL Functions were given with examples. These included Numeric, Character, Data, Conversion and Group By functions.
- A listing of a procedure and some other scripts was given for sizing tables and indexes in Oracle 7.
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions and a PDF for the very first Oracle Magazine from June 1987.
Review of Oracle Magazine–July/August 1996
The headline articles for the July/August1996 edition of Oracle Magazine was on how to balance security and communication in a distributed world, extending Oracle power objects applications and automating Oracle tuning
Oracle articles included:
- Oracle released three of its products on the web. These included Oracle Web Customers, Oracle Web Suppliers and Oracle Web Employees. They aimed to help make it possible for companies to conduct secure business transactions over the internet and corporate intranets. They also shipped Oracle Workflow to help support the implementation of these new products
- Oracle Express Analyzer, an object-oriented reporting and analysis tool had its second release
- UBS Bank implements the Oracle based operational accounting system, with over 800,000 input records daily and over 3,000 cost centre reports that needed different levels of summarisation. The new application allows the executives to view information in virtually any format choosing from 120,000 multi-level, multi-view reports.
- The Egyptian Stock Exchange and Capital Market Authority implements a new trading system build on Oracle
- Don Burleson in his article on Automating Oracle Tuning gives a number of scripts that would assist the DBA in finding out what is going on in the database. So instead of purchasing some expensive tools, all you needs was these scripts UTKBSTAT/UTLESTAT.
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions and a PDF for the very first Oracle Magazine from June 1987.
Oracle Magazine–Volume 1 Number 1
A few weeks ago I sent a few emails to some well know names in the Oracle World looking to see if they have a copy of the very first Oracle Magazine (Volume 1 Number 1).
Many thanks to Oracle ACE Director Cary Millsap of Method-R, who responded to say that he had the very first Oracle Magazine. He kindly arranged to have it scanned into PDF.
To view the 12 page Oracle Magazine (Volume 1 Number 1) click on the following image. Read and Enjoy!
Some people have said that his is not the first Oracle Magazine, published in June 1987. Although this edition is labelled as Volume 1 Number 1, an Oracle Newsletter existed for a few years prior to this edition.
Do you know of anyone who has these newsletters ?
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be Oracle Magazine Collection. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions.
OTN Developer Days–Dublin 12th to 14 June
The OTN Developer Days events return to the Oracle Dublin office in East Point this month from the 12th to the 14th.
These are free events, but places are limited, and allow you to get some hands-on training with these tools. Depending on the day and the topic there is a mixture of lecture and workshop, to just being a hands-on workshop.
12th June – Golden Gate 11g, Oracle Data Integrator 11g and Enterprise Data Quality (full day : 9:45-17:00)
13th June – Partitioning and Advanced Compression (9:45-13:00)
14th June – Unlocking the value of Oracle Database 11g Core Features (9:45-15:00)
These are free events and you will even get a free lunch from Oracle.
VM for Oracle Data Miner
Recently the OTN team have updated the ‘Database App Development’ Developer Day virtual machine to include Oracle 11.2.0.2 DB and SQL Developer 3.1. This is all you need to try out Oracle Data Miner.
So how do you get started with using Oracle Data Miner on your PC. The first step is to download and install the latest version of Oracle VirtualBox.
The next step is to download and install the OTN Developer Day appliance. Click on the above link to go to the webpage and follow the instructions to download and install the appliance. Download the first appliance on this page ‘Database App Development’ VM. This is a large download and depending on your internet connection it can take anything from 30 minutes to hours. So I wouldn’t recommend doing this over a wifi.
When you start up the VM your OS username and password is oracle. Yes it is case sensitive.
When the get logged into the VM you can close or minimise the host window
There are two important icons, the SQL Developer and the ODDHandsOnLab.html icons.
The ODDHandsOnLab.html icon loads a webpage what contains a number of tutorials for you to follow.
The tutorial we are interest in is the Oracle Data Miner Tutorial. There are 4 tutorials given for ODM. The first two tutorials need to be followed in the order that they are given. The second two tutorials can be done in any order.
If you have not used SQL Developer before then you should work through this tutorial before starting the Oracle Data Miner tutorials.
The first tutorial takes you through the steps needed to create your ODM schema and to create the ODM repository within the database. This tutorial will only take you 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
In the second tutorial you get to use the ODM to build your first ODM model. This tutorial steps your through how to get started with an ODM project, workflow, the different ODM features, how to explore the data, how to create classification models, how to explore the model and then how to apply one of these models to new data. This second tutorial will take approx. 30 to 40 minutes to complete.
It is all very simple and easy to use.
The First Oracle Magazine–Volume1 Issue 1
In my last blog post I reviewed the contents of the March/April 1996 edition of Oracle Magazine. While doing this I noticed on the Editors Pages, Julie Gibbs gave a review of the very first Oracle Magazine from 1987.
Here is the front cover of the first Oracle Magazine. I’ve scanned the editors page, containing the review. Just click on the image below.
![527610_463186290364358_114144098601914_2017027_29908051_n[2]](https://i0.wp.com/lh3.ggpht.com/-U9REspyqmrY/T7yqiCH6KNI/AAAAAAAAGWM/R1pwCmFj7xA/527610_463186290364358_114144098601914_2017027_29908051_n%25255B2%25255D%25255B6%25255D.jpg "527610_463186290364358_114144098601914_2017027_29908051_n[2]")
The first edition had just 12 pages of content.
Here is the extract from the editors page March/April 1996:
“The picture you see on this page is of the first cover of Oracle Magazine-Yolume I, Number I, June 7987. Yes, we are celebrating our tenth anniversary this year. Ten years may not seem like much in other industries, but in high tech, it’s a veritable lifetime. Companies and products have come and gone-where ate you now, VisiCalc? How about the PC jr? And who knew in 1987 that the Internet would be the dominant topic of the high-tech press in 1996?
What was in the first issue of Oracle Magazine? Here’s a sampling of articles in that 12-page fledgling publication: New Network Expands Customer Support (24-hour online support was introduced June I, 1987);
Oracle Version 5 .1 Released; Oracle RDBMS Now Available on Wang VS; Oracle Exceeds First HaIf Forecast (revenues for the first half totalled almost $46million); UniForum: Site of Oracle UNIX Announcements (at the time, Oracle ran on more than 20 platforms, including new
UNIX ports to NCR, Sun, DEC Ultrix,Sequent, Altos, and Plexus); SQL Declared Standard Language by ANSI; Double DEC Awards for Oracle (Digital Review’s Target Awards gave Oracle first place for “Best Database Management Product” and the No. I rating in the “Digital News 50”).”
Some people say that Oracle Magazine existed before 1987. Oracle did have a newsletter type publication.
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions.
Review of Oracle Magazine–March/April 1996
The headline articles for the March/April 1996 edition of Oracle Magazine was Oracle’s first or early articles on Data Warhousing, including DW Architectures, what Oracle tools you can use, multi-dimensional analysis, Oracle Express and future directions of data warehouses.
Julie Gibbs, the editor of Oracle Magazine, wondered ‘What will be hot in 2005?’. Some of her predictions/suggestions were:
- Will Larry Ellison’s NC provide every home with a $500 internet box
- What will be the 3 biggest software companies and were any of them around in 1995
- How many people will use the internet everyday
- Will the internet be censored ? How and by whom ?
- Or will the internet be passe and will virtual reality be a reality
- What will be the size of the largest data warehouse
- Will Apple still exist
- Will you be reading your magazines in print or online
- Will your company have a woman CEO
- How many people will be telecommuting
- Will every desktop have built in video conferencing so that you can talk to your coworkers
Other articles included:
- Oracle Interoffice Suite was released and comprised Messaging, Document and Workflow servers based on Oracle 7.3. The product provided groupware functions, such as electronic mail, messaging, scheduling, directory services, document management, workflow and conferencing.
- Oracle 7.3 new features included Oracle Enterprise Manager, Oracle Software Manager, SQL*Net 2.3, advanced replication and Oracle ConText.
- How to rename your database. It is not always optimal for a database to keep the name it was born with. A step by step guide is given on how to do this without loosing any data!
- A case study is presented from NeXT Computer on how to audit and clean up your Oracle Applications data as you prepare to upgrade to Release 10. These included:
- Review Usernames and unused responsibilities
- Unused menus and menu options
- Are outdate concurrent requests being purged
- Unused printers
- Identify cluttered production libraries
- Unused custom concurrent processes
- Unused database objects
- Inactive vendors and invalid distribution sets
- Unused payment terms
- Closed bank accounts
- Protecting your budgets
- Obsolete journal sources
- Invalid price lists
- Unbooked orders and unclosed orders
- Unused payment terms, transaction types, units of measure and inactive sales people
- How to design a database for OLAP. Most of the following steps still stand today for designing your star-schemas
- Define the question (business function/area)
- Use Normalized logic
- Identify Dimensions
- Create Hierarchies
- Identify Attributes
- Identify Measures
- Add Calculations
- There was a review of the very first Oracle Magazine that was published in June 1987. Watch this space, as I will be posting the details soon.
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions.
Oracle Magazine May/June 2012 Collector Editions
The good people at Oracle Magazine have produced a number of collectors editions (six) of the current edition (May/June 2012) .
I received my copy of the magazine in the post yesterday and the one that I received is the following
I’ve been collecting Oracle Magazine for over 20 year and I have almost the entire collection.
I would like to add all 6 special editions to my collection.
If you would like to donate your Oracle Magazine and help me complete the collection, add a comment to the blog or email me directly. I will be able to let you know what special editions I’m still missing
Oracle Magazine-May/June 1995
The headline articles for the May/June edition of Oracle Magazine included one of the first articles on Data Centers,using the prebuilt packages in PL/SQL and how to use object-oriented programming techniques in Oracle Forms 4.5
Other articles included:
Oracle 7 Internet Access Kit also called the Oracle World Wide Web Interface Kit. Developers could use this kit developers can create links between web servers and Oracle 7 databases. The Oracle WWW Interface Kit included:
- Oracle’s Web-Oracle-Web (WOW) PL/SQL gateway to web servers
- Oracle’s PL/SQL editor and development tool for creating dynamic PL/SQL
- PERL, a freeware interpreting programming language
- ORAPERL, an extension to PERL for use with Oracle 7 databases
- ORAYWWW, a PERL gateway
- WORA, a user-friendly database browser written in Pro*C
- DECOUX, a post-processing gateway that inserts query results from a Oracle 7 database into HyperText Markup Language (HTML) documents
- Navigator, a collection of PERL scripts and one Pro*C module that enables administrators to quickly configure HTML forms for end user queries
- Text Search System (TSS), an indexing and free text search system
- MORE, a collection of Pro*C gateways for maintaining an information repository
- HotMetal, a HTML editor
Fee access to Oracle ConText. Oracle customers were offered an opportunity to try ConText before you buy. According the the article Oracle ConText is a revolutionary linguistic analysis program that automatically generates back-of-book indexes and reduces the volume of text to a summary.
Ken Jacobs gives the second part of his in-depth article on the latest release of Oracle 7.1 and Oracle 7.2 databases. Ken was vice president of Product Planning and has been working with Oracle since version 2 of the database.
Mike Ault has an article on using DBMS_PIPES PL/SQL package, how to access the shared pool using the DBMS_SHARED_POOL PL/SQL package and how to use the DBMS_OUTPUT procedure.
How big is your database ? Oracle conducted a survey of all its customers to see what was the typical size of their databases and how many users each database would have. The following diagrams gives the results of this survey and compares the 1994 results with the results from 1993. We can see that there was a bit of a jump on the size of the databases but the number of users increased significantly
So must customers had databases in the 2GB to 10GB. How things have changed. If the survey was conduced for 2012 what results would be get ?
In 1995, Oracle Open World took place in Yokohama, Japan between 18th and 19th January. It had 130 seminars and sessions. In 2012 OOW will have over 500 sessions and will run over 5 days!
To view the cover page and the table of contents click on the image at the top of this post or click here.
My Oracle Magazine Collection can be found here. You will find links to my blog posts on previous editions.
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