👨🏻‍💻 Tobybase

Running EMCLI in a Windows VDI Environment

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 09:08:53 -0500

Running EMCLI in a Windows VDI Environment Link to heading

As part of a recent project, I needed to use Oracle Enterprise Manager’s emcli (Enterprise Manager Command Line Interface) tool from within a Windows-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). While Oracle provides documentation for emcli, running it in a Windows shell—especially in a corporate VDI environment with OneDrive integration—introduces some quirks.

This post walks through the exact setup I used, including installing a compatible JRE, dealing with long Windows paths, and securely authenticating with OEM.

Adding a Search Bar to the Blog With Pagefind.app

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:36:07 -0500

Adding a Search Bar to Tobybase with Pagefind Link to heading

After letting Tobybase sit idle for a while, I’m kicking things back into gear—and what better way to start than by implementing one of the most requested features: search.

I decided to use Pagefind, a modern, privacy-friendly search solution built for static sites. It’s easy to set up and works well with Hugo, the static site generator that powers this blog. However, integrating it into a GitHub Pages deployment workflow took a little trial and error. Here’s how I got it working.

'Invalid Format' Error Connecting to Server with SSH and Private Key

Sat, 06 Jun 2020 12:01:34 -0500

If you get an ‘invalid format’ error when trying to SSH in to a remote server using a private key file that you know is valid, it may be because the key was generated with PuTTY.

If the key begins with PuTTY-User-Key-File and you are using SSH/openSSH (ie. command line SSH) to connect to your server, you will need to first convert the key file using the puttygen tool that comes with PuTTY.

Enable OCI Thick Client Connections in SQL Developer on Windows

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 17:37:14 -0500

Jeff Smith has an excellent article on how to enable OCI Thick Client connections in SQL Developer, and all the reasons you might want to. For me, it all comes down to the ability to cancel a running query or process in a timely manner. The “hang” normally associated with canceling JDBC-based thin client connections is pretty unacceptable. With thick client you get the same level of responsiveness as you would in a console SQL*Plus session.

TIL: How to Replace Newline in Atom

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 17:23:31 -0500

Newline characters are matched as \r\n in Atom. To remove all newlines from a file or selection of text, do a regex search for \r\n and replace with nothing.

How to Share Files Between a Photon OS VM and the VM Host

Fri, 29 May 2020 13:41:02 -0500

(The following is adapted from the official Photon OS FAQ.)

Use vmhgfs-fuse to transfer files between Photon and your host machine:

Enable Shared folders in the Workstation or Fusion UI (edit the VM settings and choose Options->Enabled shared folders).
Make sure open-vm-tools is installed (it is installed by default in the Minimal installation and OVA import).

Translating Teradata's MDIFF Function to Oracle SQL

Wed, 27 May 2020 10:22:08 -0500

Teradata defines its MDIFF function as follows:

MDIFF

Returns the moving difference between the specified value expression for the current row and the preceding width rows for each row in the partition.

Here “the preceding width rows” means something like the preceding n rows, where n is sometimes interpreted as the sum of all of the preceding rows, but generally as the value of the last row.

Teradata’s docs also has this to say about MDIFF:

An Example of Dynamic SQL Using a CLOB

Fri, 22 May 2020 13:28:39 -0500

You might not know this, but you can use the EXECUTE IMMEDIATE command with a CLOB, the same as with a VARCHAR2 variable.

declare
 l_sql clob;
 l_str1 varchar2(32767);
 l_str2 varchar2(32767);
begin
 dbms_lob.createtemporary(l_sql, false);

 l_str1 := 'some large SQL chunk';
 l_str2 := 'and the rest of large SQL chunk';

 l_sql := l_str1;
 dbms_lob.writeappend(l_sql, length(l_str2), l_str2);

 execute immediate l_sql;

 dbms_lob.freetemporary(l_sql);

end;

How to Configure Static Networking in a Linux VM

Wed, 20 May 2020 16:36:06 -0500

I originally had this requirement after creating a new persistent linux virtual machine in OVM that needed static addressing. This is just standard linux setup, though, and can be adapted to both virtual and physical machines.

Turn on Networking Link to heading

# sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network

Make sure networking is enabled and configure the hostname.

NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=myhost.mycompany.local

Configure the Network Interface Link to heading

# sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

Here is a sample config for static IPs.

How to Restore Files From a Previous Version in Git/Github

Tue, 19 May 2020 17:09:28 -0500

Get the hash of the “good” version you want to recover Link to heading

You first need to identify where things went wrong. Then get the commit identifier (also called the hash) for the version immediately prior to that. (Also make sure you’re pulling from the appropriate branch; for simplicity’s sake, this example assumes all changes are being committed to the master branch.)

# git log

commit 07c5f535743e3f70fcdf09c0d032580820ca38c9
Author: Toby Base <xxxxx@gmail.com>
Date: Tue May 19 14:33:17 2020 -0500

 Created content/post/my-newest-article.md
 (Oh no! Accidentally deleted some files after the last commit!)

commit 85add47b28670abaf99b17e010edeafb2fbb3189
Author: Toby Base <xxxxx@gmail.com>
Date: Fri Feb 7 21:04:39 2020 +0000

 Updated content/post/oracle-cloud-day-dallas.md

commit c3a520e136dc90e7982bc50d56a33aa3c3885f85
Author: Toby Base <xxxxx@gmail.com>
Date: Fri Feb 7 21:02:29 2020 +0000

 Created static/uploads/BC9419D3-B290-4CF3-845C-5C008A19419C.jpeg

In my case, I know I deleted files in the commit on May 19. So I want to restore those files from the version right before that, the one with hash 85add47b28670abaf99b17e010edeafb2fbb3189.

Oracle Cloud Day Dallas

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 21:00:00 +0000

Tobybase representing at Oracle Cloud Day in Dallas. Just another day in my so-called autonomous life…

Error in Cisco AnyConnect Client: "Cannot Confirm it is Connected"

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 15:20:10 -0600

[NOTE: problem identified on my personal laptop with macOS 10.15.2, Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.6.03049]

What to Do When You Encounter This Error Link to heading

AnyConnect cannot confirm it is connected to your secure gateway. The local network may not be trustworthy. Please try another network.

This is a potentially misleading explanation, as the problem in my case was due to a corrupted VPN certificate.

Connect to Autonomous Database in the Cloud with Oracle Instant Client

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:08:16 -0600

The easiest and fastest way to query and create data in your new cloud database is with SQL Developer Web, provided free with every new instance of Autonomous Database and Autonomous Data Warehouse in the Cloud. Second fastest would be with a local installation of SQL Developer or SQLcl. But if you want an authentic SQL*Plus environment, then you’ll need Oracle Instant Client.

You have two options for running SQL*Plus under Instant Client: download and install a platform-native version, or else run Instant Client in a Docker container. Your database Service Console has instructions and download links for whichever approach you choose.

Connect to Autonomous Database in the Cloud with SQL Developer and SQLcl

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:59:40 -0600

Connect with SQL Developer Web Link to heading

If you don’t have SQL Developer installed, or you just want a quick and easy way to work with your new autonomous database, you can get started right away with SQL Developer Web, available from the Service Console. SQL Developer Web is a scaled down version of the desktop tool that allows you to query and enter data, run scripts, compile database objects, and monitor and administrate your database.

Get Up and Running Fast On Oracle Autonomous Database in the Cloud

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 16:58:15 -0600

Provision Your New Autonomous Database in Minutes Link to heading

With Autonomous Database and Autonomous Data Warehouse, Oracle is promising to leverage the power of AI and machine learning to automate upgrade, maintenance, and tuning operations in the database - vastly reducing the drudgery of DBA work and freeing up human minds to add more value to their companies. As a developer, you don’t have to wait to start experimenting with these exciting new features. They are available now for free on Oracle Cloud for small-scale testing and learning.

3 Tips for Running SAS Queries on Oracle

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 13:54:50 -0500

I don’t know a whole lot about SAS, but on my current gig I am frequently called upon to tune queries that run in that environment. Here are three things I have learned to keep in mind as a SAS developer when running against Oracle database.

Use PRESERVE_COMMENTS Link to heading

This is most critical. In Oracle, SQL hints are specified in a specially formatted inline comment. Running a query or DML statement without those hints could be detrimental to performance.

Fix High CPU Usage / Memory Leak in SQL Developer 18+ for Windows

Wed, 01 May 2019 16:47:39 -0500

If you run SQL Developer on Windows and experience high CPU usage and/or memory leak issues that freeze your PC, then you might want to try disabling some features that are likely causing the problem.

I have personally observed this behavior on every version of SQL Developer since 18.2. Only my PC laptop is affected; my Macbook installation runs fine. I use the prepackaged Java 8 JDK. I have several colleagues who run the same configuration on Windows with no issues at all, so go figure.

They Don't Need ML

Tue, 01 May 2018 09:05:54 -0500

I will write a query like select from order table where last shop date is 3 or greater months. When we get this information, we will send a nice “we miss you, come back and here’s X Naira voucher” email. The conversation rate for this one was always greater than 50%.

So-called artificial intelligence and machine learning tools are in fashion these days, and the impetus is to apply them to all problem sets. It would be a mistake to think that they should, or even could, substitute for rational thought and human insight. Most problems are simple, and do not require complex systems to solve. (I’ve been surprised upon learning how commonsensical are the actual rules that inform predictive analyses, recommendation engines, and relationship graphs.) Good business analysis yields teachable results, not “magic” numbers or inscrutable algorithms. Human intelligence should not be set aside when pursuing the benefits of machine intelligence.

Finland is killing its world-famous basic income experiment

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 15:18:45 -0500

In recent years, a growing number of tech entrepreneurs have endorsed universal basic income (UBI), a system system in which every individual receives a standard amount of money, simply for being alive.

And…

These tech moguls recognize that UBI, as well as combatting poverty, could also help solve the problem of increased robotization in the workforce, a problem they are very much part of creating.

This will be interesting. Official results of the experiment are to be published in 2019.

Oracle Sees Autonomous Database Changing DBA Roles for the Good

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:47:23 -0500

If the tactical tasks are reduced – or even eliminated – DBAs will have more time to spend on higher level tasks, like data security, data lifecycle management, data architecture and data modeling, Colgan said.

I can’t be too worried about automation replacing the need for database professionals. The first time I recall hearing such claims was in 1999 with the advent of Oracle 9i. If what Colgan says is true, and there is every reason to believe it is, then the day to day work of DBAs and consultants like myself is only bound to become more interesting and productive. All of those things she mentions — particularly security — deserve far more attention than they receive in most organizations, as underfunded and overwhelmed as they are with routine operational tasks.

Access Denied Attaching Block Volume to Windows VM in OCI

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

If you are getting the above error when trying to add a block volume to a Windows VM in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, the solution is quite simple.

2017 Was Bad for Facebook. 2018 Will Be Worse.

Fri, 15 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

While Facebook remains the biggest platform, Google and Twitter are facing similar pressure from governments in the U.S. and in Europe. Germany enacted a law requiring the social networks to remove hate speech promptly or face fines. In the U.S., the activities of a Russian troll farm during the 2016 election campaign prompted scrutiny of Facebook’s ad selling practices and a (rather ham-handed) legislative attempt to force some transparency.

The government has an incentive for fostering the growth and continued success of big social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, because they operate essentially as large data warehouses on social thought, connections and behavior — supplying information that might be difficult or illegal to collect otherwise. Because of the monopoly these companies have on online self expression, and the potentially large and instantaneous impact of that form of expression, they serve as easy chokepoints for controlling the dissemination of ideas.

Infolob on YouTube

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

If you find this content helpful, do the “like and subscribe” thing to stay informed.

Move Your VM to Oracle Cloud - Part 4

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:56:00 +0000

In the last of a four-part video series, our Director of Cloud Services Brian Hill creates a new compute instance in Oracle Cloud Compute Services based on his custom Windows virtual machine image.

Move Your VM to Oracle Cloud - Part 3

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:53:00 +0000

In part three of a four-part video series, our Director of Cloud Services Brian Hill creates a bootable storage volume in Oracle Cloud Compute Services with his new Windows image.

Move Your VM to Oracle Cloud - Part 2

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:47:00 +0000

In part two of a four-part video series, our Director of Cloud Services Brian Hill creates an image in Oracle Cloud Compute Services based on a Windows virtual machine.

Move Your VM to Oracle Cloud - Part 1

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:41:00 +0000

In part one of a four-part video series, our Director of Cloud Services Brian Hill demonstrates how to prepare your virtual machine for upload to the cloud.

Announcing the Infolob YouTube Channel

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I am honored to work with some wonderful and truly smart folks over at Infolob in Irving, Texas. The company recently started a YouTube channel and we are looking to add lots of great videos soon for your enjoyment and education.

Check us out!

In this short Oracle Platinum Partner Spotlight video, our Chief Technologist Tim Fox explains what we do as a company and the kinds of services we provide.

License Statement

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:32:23 -0600

Database graphic by Freepik from Flaticon is licensed under CC BY 3.0. Made with Logo Maker.

Announcing… tobybase.com

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 22:58:59 -0600

Welcome one and all to my new professional blog, tobybase.com. My name is Toby Marks and I work as a Oracle Consultant at Infolob Solutions in Irving, Texas. My old blog is still up on Tumblr, and there are a few items there that folks still find useful. Most of the content is a bit dated, though, as I’ve been out of the blogging game for a while.

What to do when the Juniper Network Connect app on OS X does not connect

Thu, 04 Feb 2016 22:50:09 +0000

If you use Juniper’s Network Connect app to connect to your office VPN over HTTPS, you might occasionally experience strange errors like “A software error caused the Network Connect tunneling service to terminate.” Shortly after that, the application may either crash or prompt you for login credentials again.

The solution involves removing all of the Network Connect files and allowing your browser to download and install the app all over again, as it did the first time you tried to connect to your office VPN.

How to Use ps to List Top Memory, CPU Eating Processes

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:42:00 +0000

The ps command is a versatile and configurable way to look at the processes running on your system, though I’ve generally gotten by with a lazy ps -ef to find out whatever I needed to know. Recently, though, a client’s server began running out of memory, and as a number of processes were running on the server, the culprit was not immediately clear. I wanted to provide them with a quick, simple diagnostic tool they could use the next time they received an alert.

Use Preview to View Formatted man Pages

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This is an elegant solution for viewing, searching, and archiving man pages that eliminates the necessity for third party apps.

Update: still works in macOS Sierra.

How to Fix SQL Developer on a Retina Display Mac(book)

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 22:32:00 +0000

I just purchased a new Macbook Pro 13-inch with Retina Display and was horrified to see how fuzzy SQL Developer looked on the high-res screen. Thanks to Thunderforge on the Stack Overflow forums for this tip:

Java 7u40 Early Access now supports HiDPI (Retina) displays, as shown by this changelog. So retina support is now available on Java 6, Java 7u40 or higher, and Java 8.

I am currently running the Early Adopter release of SQL Developer 4.0 which requires JDK 1.7. I’m not sure what the state of Java 8 is on the Mac, so I opted to upgrade my JDK from 1.7.0_25 to 1.7.0_40. After that I had nice, sharp lines back in SQL Developer and all my other Java apps.

How To Reset Page Numbering Between Document Sections in BI Publisher's Template Builder for Word

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:47:00 +0000

Under normal circumstances, it is fairly easy in Microsoft Word to reset page numbering when starting a new section of your document. However, such a simple thing can be non-trivial when dealing with the BI Publisher Template Builder plugin for Microsoft Office (available from Oracle — see BI Publisher Desktop).

In short, doing this the normal way did not work for me, and in researching the issue I ran across a number of folks who were having the same problem. Page numbering was simply not being reset between sections, or worse, did not take into account a fluid document size based upon available data.

Button Hotkeys in SQL Developer on OS X

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:09:45 +0000

In Windows, most applications provide menu and button accelerator keys that allow you to control the application without having to use a mouse. Java Swing apps like SQL Developer allow you to do the same, ostensibly in a cross-platform compatible manner.

One place I use this frequently is the Enter Binds dialog window that pops up when running a query using bind variables.

In Java 6 on OS X, the hotkey for pressing the Help and Apply buttons was OPTION-H and OPTION-A, respectively.

Generate PDF Reports for Free in Oracle Apex Using PL-JRXML2PDF and iReport Designer

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Using Jaspersoft’s free iReport Designer tool and the open source PL-JRXML2PDF project, you can generate PDF reports from Oracle Apex for free, without having to install the JasperReports and JasperReports Server components. Watch my video tutorial to find out how.

How To Use SQL to Query an XML Document Using Oracle External Tables

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Oracle’s external table feature allows you to treat structured files on the database server as tables for query and DML purposes. To use an example from the linked documentation, a tab-delimited file like this:

56 november, 15, 1980 baker mary alice 09/01/2004
87 december, 20, 1970 roper lisa marie 01/01/1999

…could be queried like this:

SELECT employee_number,
 employee_first_name,
 substr(employee_middle_name, 1, 1),
 employee_last_name,
 employee_hire_date,
 to_date(employee_dob,'month, dd, yyyy')
 FROM employees;

After defining the external table like this:

How To Restrict Access to BI Publisher Reports

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:12:00 +0000

In my last post I described how to configure BI Publisher to authenticate against an LDAP server, typically a corporate Active Directory server. Aside from authentication, you can also use LDAP group membership to determine who has access to a given report. Here’s how you do it.

Create a group in your LDAP/AD directory and assign your target users to that group.
Revisit your LDAP authentication settings. These are located on the Admin Tab, on the Security Configuration page. In particular, look at the value for Group Search Filter.

How To Configure Oracle BI Publisher to Authenticate With Active Directory

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:32:00 +0000

Log in to BI Publisher as an administrator.
Click on the Admin tab.
Click on Security Configuration.

For Security Model, choose LDAP and enter the following parameters:

Setting	Example Value
URL	ldap://ad.mycompany.com:389 Your company’s LDAP server and port.
Administrator Username	CN=ADMIN,OU=Users,OU=Shared Services,DC=mycompany,DC=com The fully qualified DN of the account you use to sign in to LDAP.
Administrator Password	myxlplyx The password for the above account.
Distinguished Name for Users	DC=mycompany,DC=com The “root” level at which to search for users.
Distinguished Name for Groups	OU=Global Groups,DC=mycompany,DC=com The “root” level at which to search from groups.
Group Search Filter	(&(objectClass=group)(
Group Attribute Name	cn
Group Member Attribute Name	member
Member Of Group Attribute Name
Group Description Attribute Name	description
JNDI Context Factory Class	com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory
Group Retrieval Page Size
attribute used for RDN	sAMAccountName Allows users to log in to BI Publisher using their corporate AD account name.
Automatically clear LDAP cache	Checked
Ldap Cache Interval	1
Ldap Cache Interval Unit	Hour
Default User Group Name
Attribute Names for Data Query Bind Variables

Bounce BI Publisher.
Try logging in with your corporate AD credentials. Remember, you need to be assigned to one of the following special groups in Active Directory if you want developer or admin privileges in BI Publisher:

XMLP_ADMIN
XMLP_DEVELOPER
XMLP_SCHEDULER
XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL
XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE
XMLP_TEMPLATE_DESIGNER

Use Firebug's console.debug Command to Analyze Javascript, DOM Objects

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 21:09:00 +0000

Occasionally when debugging my Javascript code I need to be able to analyze the properties of an unknown object; for instance, an unexpected DOM object passed to an event handler. How do you analyze the properties of an object when you don’t know what the object is? I was looking for a way to list all the properties of a generic Javascript or DOM object when I stumbled across this blog post by Andrew Peters. In it, he very clearly outlines two ways of doing this, but the one I found most useful was Firebug’s console.debug command. You’ll need to use Firefox with the Firebug extension for this, but the results are impressive.

How to Avoid the "Job scheduling failed because the user has no permission to access this report" Error in BI Publisher

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:48:08 +0000

You can get this error if you are trying to schedule a report and your BI Publisher installation uses LDAP authentication.

To avoid it, make sure that the “Administrator” account you use to connect to your LDAP server is in the XMLP_ADMIN group. The LDAP settings are located on the Admin tab, under Security Settings / Security Configuration.

Safari 5.1.7 on my MacBookPro OSX 10.7.4 freezes unexpectedly

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Lately I’ve been experiencing strange problems when clicking on links in Safari 5.1.7. Usually the progress indicator would either flash momentarily and do nothing, or else it would never appear at all. Pages would sometimes load, but after an unusual delay and with no indication that the browser was actually doing anything. I switched to Chrome as my default browser for a few days, but that was about all I could stand. A little research on the forums showed this fix, which appears to have worked for me.

How To Fix High CPU Usage by SQL Developer on OS X

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:32:00 +0000

I’ve been fighting for a couple of years now with an annoying performance bug in SQL Developer for OS X. After using the application for a while CPU usage would spike to around 100%, even when idle. This is a known issue associated with the “Look and Feel” preference.

Basically, don’t use the “Mac OS X” setting. Instead, use the “Oracle” setting. The theme doesn’t matter.

That fixes the CPU issue, but somewhat annoyingly moves the menu out of the menu bar at the top of the screen and into the application window, a la Windows, making the interface inconsistent with pretty much every other app I use on my Mac. Until recently, that is. The big news is that as of SQL Developer 3.1, the menu is restored to the top of the screen when using the Oracle Look and Feel. So for those who had been holding out (like myself) with the more native LaF, you can make the switch now and avoid the most annoying part of the performance/usability compromise.

How To Run Oracle Forms 11g Applications on OS X Lion

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:28:24 +0000

Need to run your company’s Oracle Forms application from your Mac, and can’t? Annoyed with having to crank up a virtual machine for just that one task? Even with the latest published Java version for OS X (1.6.0_33, as of today), you may find that some of the newer Forms applications just won’t run. Well, fret no longer. A solution may already be here, at least for Safari and Firefox.

How To Use a Perl CGI Script to Show Real Web Server Host Name

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:40:00 +0000

Here is a short and simple Perl CGI script that you can use to expose the hostname of your web server, as opposed to just the server/domain portion of the URL string:

 #!/usr/bin/perl
 
 print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
 print `hostname`;
 
 1;

Name the file something like hostname.cgi and place it in your web server’s /cgi-bin/ directory, or if your web server is configured appropriately, just name it hostname.pl and drop it wherever you like.

OS X Software for Oracle Developers

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:39:00 +0000

One of the great things about working for Enkitec is that it’s a very Mac-friendly shop. When I arrived there in 2007 there were a handful of us running Macs and the attitude at the top seemed to be respectful, but skeptical. They allowed me to use my own laptop, which at the time was a 15-inch Intel Core2 Duo Macbook Pro, with the understanding that I could request a standard-issue Dell laptop at any time should the need arise. It never did. Since that time a large number of my coworkers have made the switch, abandoning their bulky, slow Dell Latitude laptops for 13-inch Macbook Pros, as have both owners of the company.

Use DML Error Logging

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:04:00 +0000

Introduced with Oracle 10gR2, DML Error Logging allows you to make standard SQL INSERT, UPDATE, and MERGE statements behave more like the SQL*Loader utility, logging errors to a table rather than failing and rolling back the first time an error condition is encountered.

The syntax is the same for all DML statements. Just add the following clause to the end of your DML:

 LOG ERRORS

The database will automatically create an error log table for you. Per the documentation (11g, 11gR2):

Let the Database Do the Work

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re writing database-driven reports for the web, Craig Shallahamer shows why you should let the (Oracle) database handle as much of your selection and transformation logic as possible.

Use SQLFiddle to Test New Features, Run Demos

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Build your own mini-schema and run queries against it
Publish your experiments for your friends to tweak
Try out examples from your favorite SQL book without having to create your a database
Works for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server flavors

All in all, a pretty cool. Very useful for bloggers or teams.

ODBC Connection Fails for MS Access App on Citrix

Fri, 11 May 2012 20:54:00 +0000

I ran into an interesting problem recently when attempting to publish an MS Access application with Citrix XenApp. The application pulled data from an Oracle database, so an ODBC connection was created on the Citrix server. What we found was that when a non-privileged user tried to run the application, the connection failed. When the Citrix server admin ran it, however, it worked. Furthermore, as long as the admin was logged in, anybody else could run the application successfully; when he logged out, the users’ connections broke again.

Discovering Command-line Java Profiling Tools

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:41:00 +0000

At my current client I am responsible for administering a third-party Java appplication that unfortunately generates a lot of performance complaints. It’s a multi-tiered system with the middle-tier running on Oracle Appication Server 10.1.3. I am already familiar with GUI profiling tools like jconsole and jvisualvm, both of which are included with Oracle’s JDK, and I have played around with the profiling capabilities in NetBeans. All of these profiling tools are fairly similar to one another in look and functionality.

Table Functions: 9i Feature Worth Revisiting (Part 2)

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:35:00 +0000

In part one of this series I showed a simple example of how table functions can be used to treat PL/SQL collection types as tables in a SQL query. We used a nested table collection type to which we manually added a few entries. In this example, I intend to show a more practical use of table functions using all three PL/SQL collection types: associative arrays, nested tables, and VARRAYs.

Table Functions: 9i Feature Worth Revisiting (Part 1)

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:27:00 +0000

Yes, they’ve been around for a while, but if you haven’t made use of table functions lately you might want to reacquaint yourself with this old gem. Table functions allow you to query the contents of PL/SQL collection types using SQL’s TABLE operator. Here is a simple example.

 CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE example AS

 TYPE nested_table_typ IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(100);

 FUNCTION get_nested_table_data RETURN nested_table_typ PIPELINED;

 END example;
 /

 CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY example AS

 FUNCTION get_nested_table_data RETURN nested_table_typ PIPELINED IS
 BEGIN
 PIPE ROW ('one');
 PIPE ROW ('two');
 PIPE ROW ('three');
 RETURN;
 END get_nested_table_data;

 END example;
 /

The package function example.get_nested_table_data returns a PL/SQL collection — in this case, a nested table. The PIPELINED directive instructs the function to return data to the calling query as rows are populated by the PIPE ROW command. That way, you don’t need to wait for the function to finish before you get results from your query.

How To Make Bash Scripts crontab-Compatible

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:19:05 +0000

When writing shell scripts in bash, consider whether your script can be automated in a batch scheduler like cron. If you reference any external resources in your script relative to the directory in which it resides, those references may break when running your script through cron.

By default, crontab runs scripts in the user’s home directory, as specified in /etc/passwd. For user “Tim” with home directory /home/tim, a sample crontab might look something like the following:

Invalidating Toplink Session Cache To Avoid Stale Data

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Toplink is a Java framework that maps objects to database tables. It is the reference implementation for the Java Persistence Architecture, or JPA. Developers use Toplink to manage data persistence (storage), queries, and transactions in an Oracle database. By default, Toplink makes use of a special cache called a Session Cache, maintained on the server, which is meant to speed up performance. Queried data is stored in the Session Cache and used in subsequent queries to reduce or eliminate calls to the database.

About Me

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, I’m Toby, and Tobybase is my professional blog. I update from time to time when I run across problems or solutions that I think might be of interest to people. I try not to keep too much of the good stuff to myself. I’m an Oracle developer and database performance analyst by trade, and for the last few years I’ve been working primarily on the Exadata platform, a specialty database machine developed by Oracle that changes the ordinary rules of the game for performance tuning. I enjoy exploring new technologies and learning new things. I work at Infolob, an Oracle consultancy and Platinum Partner in Irving, Texas, with some of the best folks in the business. I love my job and my work. Who knows, maybe I can help you someday.