The usual method for extracting DDL commands from objects (such as database tables, indexes, constraints, triggers, etc.) involves extracting the metadata from those objects and storing it in memory. While there are many scripts capable of doing this, they are usually incomplete and out-of-date. Luckily, Oracle 9.2 provides an API that does the trick: the DBMS_METADATA package.

If you need a solution for running Oracle stored procedures in parallel, don't reinvent the wheel with solutions that run outside the database. Execute stored procedures in parallel inside the database using Oracle's native APIs and PL/SQL.

Learn how you can send e-mails directly from an Oracle database as a real-time messaging solution. No longer will you need to wait for stored procedures to complete in order to monitor them.

An Oracle developer may work on a project that requires table columns to have different names from the ones initially assigned during the database design phase. If you're faced with this situation, this simple technique can be your salvation.

To retrieve rows set by set from a database without getting previously obtained rows in subsequent sets, use Oracle's package structure as a holder for session-persistent data in combination with the new Oracle 8i BULK COLLECT feature and LIMIT keyword.

Foreign key (FK) constraints without supporting indexes can cause severe performance problems during SQL queries and massive DML (Data Manipulation Language) operations, such as DELETEs or UPDATEs. Use a SQL script to detect unindexed foreign key constraints.

Indexes are Oracle database objects that provide a fast, efficient method of retrieving data from database tables.

Use a PL/SQL solution (a custom stored procedure) or a SQL solution (using the new analytic function RANK() with nested subqueries) to eliminate duplicates in a single SQL statement and control which rows to keep in the database.

How to avoid the ORA-01555 error programmatically—that is, from the PL/SQL developer's perspective.

From the DBA's perspective, you can avoid the ORA-01555 error by allocating rollback segments and configuring them with the proper parameter values, as described.

This task of data cloning is quite common in any testing or tuning environment. Obviously, it requires some technique to automate it.

Use the Oracle 8i Profiler to analyze PL/SQL code and locate bottlenecks.

Use a single SQL statement to perform a top-N query.

Covers new features introduced in the 8i version of Oracle, including bulk binds, autonomous transactions, and new database triggers.

Covers new features introduced in the 8i version of Oracle, including Native Dynamic SQL, the NOCOPY parameter option, and the DBMS_Profiler.