01 02 03 04Database Outsourcing Experts

Oracle 9i release 2

Administration

AuditingThe SYS user can now be audited like any other user.

File MonitorTo cope with the increasing complexity of �le storage systems, Oracle now provides a means of mapping �les to immediate storage layers and physical devices for I/O monitoring purposes. This feature is implemented through a new background process (FMON, File Monitor); a new PL/SQL package, DBMS_STORAGE_MAP and several new data dictionary views. The FMON process interacts with Operating System-provided mapping libraries (described in the new �lemap.ora �le) to facilitate the mapping process.

LoggingYou can force logging on tables and other objects at database, control�le and tablespace level, overriding any nologging options speci�ed at a lower level.

Obsolete ParameterThe DISTRIBUTED_TRANSACTIONS init.ora parameter has been made obsolete.

Created Database EnhancementsSYS and SYSTEM passwords can now be speci�ed as part of the CREATE DATABASE statement.

Locally Managed SYSTEM TablespaceThe SYSTEM tablespace can now be managed locally, either from the start in the CREATE DATABASE statement or through migration using DBMS_SPACE_ADMIN. However, for this to work you need to specify a default temporary tablespace other than SYSTEM on creating the database and also have a locally managed tablespace for your rollback segments (which is normal when using the automatic undo feature introduced in 9i Release 1).

Object PrivilegesThe GRANT ANY OBJECT privilege enables other users to grant privileges on someone else’s objects.

Rename Functions

Availability Enhancements

Additional FeaturesOther availability enhancements:

• The Log Miner utility, now supports LONG and LOB datatypes and mining of redo logs that were archived after the Log Miner was started. Also, supplemental logging is now turned o� by default (a change from 9i Release 1).

• The Flashback Query feature (introduced in 9i Release 1) is now available within individual SQL statements as well as in the session as was previously the case. For example you can now select di�erences in the same piece of data over time within the same SQL statement.

Downtime ReductionsIn an e�ort to reduce downtime during application upgrades, column and constraint names can now be renamed and the recompilation procedure for PL/SQL procedures and packages has been enhanced to improve e�ciency. Only packages and procedures that have been detected as having been altered will be recompiled.

Data GuardOracle Data Guard, the enhanced Standby Database technology introduced in 9i Release 1, has been extended to include automated switchover, automatic network failure handling and enforceable restrictions on nologging operations on the primary database which could a�ect the standby database.

01 02 03 04Database Outsourcing Experts

Oracle 9i release 2

Availability Enhancements

SQL Apply ModeA major new mode has been added to Data Guard – SQL Apply Mode maintains a logical copy of the primary database as the standby and applies the actual SQL statements from the Primary database to the standby. On top of this the standby database in “SQL Apply Mode” is continually available for reporting even as new SQL statements are being applied by the Data Guard broker.

Other Enhancements

Oracle StreamsOracle Streams is a new utility that essentially unites the old replication, data loading, message queue management and event noti�cation features under one integrated solution.

The utility captures data (be it new data or changes to existing data, events or messages) into a staging area where they can be optionally manipulated as required. Data changes can even be captured directly from the redo logs using the Log Miner.

Once in the staging area, information can be manipulated as required and is then consumed either by an application (messages or events) or by an “apply engine” which can apply data to the relevant database (including non-Oracle databases through the Transparent Gateway).

Controlfile AutobackupThis feature enables automatic backup of the control�le and sp�le after structural changes have been made to the database.

DbnewidCan alter a DBID or database name using the new DBNEWID utility.

Multi-charactersetRelease 9.2 sees further enhancements to Oracle’s Unicode support, including improved performance, Unicode 3.1 support for UTF-8 and UTF-16 datatypes, implicit and explicit conversion between Unicode and non-Unicode datatypes and supplementary support for an extra million characters.

In addition PL/SQL Object types now support NCHAR datatypes and multi-language debug-ging features are integrated into PL/SQL and Java.

New ViewsInclude V$database_block_corruption (rc_database_block_corruption) and v$database_incarnation (rc_database_incarnation).

ParallellismParallel DML can be performed on non-partitioned tables.

PartitioningA new composite List-Range partition type is available as well as new fast partition splitting capabilities.

TagsTags are now automatically generated if not speci�cally assigned.

Archive Log ManagementCan limit disk space used by RMAN when restoring archive logs for recovery and when backing up, meaning the DBA can set a space limit and then not have to worry about archive log space management.

Data CompressionBetter data segment compression ratios when reading into the bu�er cache.

01 02 03 04Database Outsourcing Experts

Oracle 9i release 2

Other Enhancements

Manageability EnhancementsThis has now been expanded to include all the new management features to become a one stop solution for all the various manageability enhancements such as Oracle Streams, Oracle OLAP, XML DB monitoring, SGA sizing, Real Application Clustering, Advanced Queuing, Log Miner, and resumable space operations.

Also includes the ability to display SQL statement results in graphical table format and data cloning functions for duplicating schemas.

New Advisory ServiceShared Pool advisory statistics (like the bu�er cache advisory in 9i Release 1) can show how the shared pool will perform in di�erent circumstances. A similar advisory for the PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET is also available. A new advisory service is also included for tuning Mean Time To Recover (MTTR) settings. All these advisory services can be visually accessed through the Enterprise Manager.

OLAPOracle OLAP is now fully integrated into the database providing all the scalability you would come to expect from Oracle products.

Parameter FilesRMAN can now backup Server Parameter Files.

Rollback ManagementIn an e�ort to reduce administration overheads, it is now possible to have the system manage it’s own rollback segments (now known as “undo” segments) by specifying the undo tables-pace and undo management type in the parameter �le. The system-managed undo tables-pace is essentially a locally managed tablespace with space managed by a bitmap in the �le header.

Query RewriteNew query rewrite features mean that you can force queries to always be re-written (QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED=FORCE option) and also force OLAP queries containing group-XML Enhancements

XML DBA key part of this new release is XML DB, Oracle’s solution for storing XML data within the relational database. Traditional relational database structures do not lend themselves well to e�cient storage and retrieval of XML data and with the emergence of new database vendors hawking databases designed exclusively for the storage of XML data, a solution was urgently needed from the traditional RDBMS camp.

Oracle’s solution has been the incorporation of the XML Type datatype and the XML reposi-tory, which together mean that XML data can be stored in and e�ciently retrieved from the database.

XML Type(introduced in 9i Release 1 and now signi�cantly enhanced) can be used like any other column datatype, comes with a number of associated methods for data manipulation. It can be stored “as is” in BLOB format or alternatively in object-relational format for maintaining Document Object Model (DOM) �delity. The latter format contains hidden columns for some of the data, which can be accessed through APIs. The two storage models are interchange-able. In addition to the XML Type datatype, Release 9.2 also includes a number of PL/SQL packages for manipulation of XML documents and conversion into relational data.

01 02 03 04Database Outsourcing Experts

Oracle 9i release 2

XML Enhancements

XML RepositoryProvides functionality for managing XML data and documents. The available features provide two key functions:

• Foldering, which enables the mapping of XML �les into database structures (and vice versa) which can be hierarchically traversed and accessed via SQL, FTP, WebDAV and Servlets.

• Access Control which enables you to de�ne your own security and privileges on any XML Type object.

Although Oracle’s XML features have been hailed as the best solution so far from the traditional RDBMS vendors, the inherent incompatibility between XML data storage and relational data storage remains and we can expect to see this functionality continually revamped over the coming months and years.