1

What are the Back ground processes in Oracle and what are they?
This is one of the most frequently asked question. There are basically 9 Processes
but in a general system we need to mention the first five background processes.
They do the house keeping activities for the Oracle and are common in any system.
The various background processes in oracle are
a) Data Base Writer (DBWR): Data Base Writer Writes Modified blocks from
Database buffer cache to Data Files. This is required since the data is not written
whenever a transaction is committed.
b)LogWriter (LGWR) : LogWriter writes the redo log entries to disk. Redo Log data
is generated in redo log buffer of SGA. As transaction commits and log buffer fills,
LGWR writes log entries into a online redo log file.
c) System Monitor(SMON) : The System Monitor performs instance recovery at
instance startup. This is useful for recovery from system failure
d)Process Monitor(PMON) : The Process Monitor performs process recovery when
user Process fails. Pmon Clears and Frees resources that process was using.
e) CheckPoint(CKPT) : At Specified times, all modified database buffers in SGA are
written to data files by DBWR at Checkpoints and Updating all data files and control
files of database to indicate the
most recent checkpoint
f)Archieves(ARCH) : The Archiver copies online redo log files to archival storal
when they are busy.
g) Recoveror(RECO) : The Recoveror is used to resolve the distributed transaction
in network
h) Dispatcher (Dnnn) : The Dispatcher is useful in Multi Threaded Architecture
i) Lckn : We can have upto 10 lock processes for inter instance locking in parallel
sql.
2
How many types of Sql Statements are there in Oracle?
There are basically 6 types of sql statements. They are
a) Data Definition Language (DDL): The DDL statements define and maintain
objects and drop objects.
b) Data Manipulation Language (DML): The DML statements manipulate
database data.
c) Transaction Control Statements : Manage change by DML
d) Session Control : Used to control the properties of current session enabling and
disabling roles and changing .e.g : Alter Statements, Set Role
e) System Control Statements : Change Properties of Oracle Instance .e.g: Alter
System
f) Embedded Sql : Incorporate DDL, DML and T.C.S in Programming Language. e.g:
Using the Sql Statements in languages such as 'C', Open, Fetch, execute and close
3
What is a Transaction in Oracle?
A transaction is a Logical unit of work that compromises one or more SQL
Statements executed by a single User. According to ANSI, a transaction begins with
first executable statement and ends when it is explicitly committed or rolled back.
4
List some Key Words Used in Oracle.
The Key words that are used in Oracle are
a) Committing: A transaction is said to be committed when the transaction makes
permanent changes resulting from the SQL statements.
b) Rollback A transaction that retracts any of the changes resulting from SQL
statements in Transaction.
c) SavePoint : For long transactions that contain many SQL statements,
intermediate markers or savepoints are declared. Savepoints can be used to divide a
transaction into smaller points.
d) Rolling Forward : Process of applying redo log during recovery is called rolling
forward.
e) Cursor : A cursor is a handle ( name or a pointer) for the memory associated with
a specific statement. A cursor is basically an area allocated by Oracle for executing
the Sql Statement. Oracle uses an implicit cursor statement for Single row query and
Uses Explicit cursor for a multi row query.
f) System Global Area (SGA): The SGA is a shared memory region allocated by
the Oracle that contains Data and control information for one Oracle Instance. It
consists of Database Buffer Cache and Redo log Buffer.
g) Program Global Area (PGA): The PGA is a memory buffer that contains data
and control information for server process.
g) Database Buffer Cache: Database Buffer of SGA stores the most recently used
blocks of database data. The set of database buffers in an instance is called
Database Buffer Cache.
h) Redo log Buffer: Redo log Buffer of SGA stores all the redo log entries.
i) Redo Log Files: Redo log files are set of files that protect altered database data in
memory that has not been written to Data Files. They are basically used for backup
when a database crashes.
j) Process : A Process is a 'thread of control' or mechanism in Operating System
that executes series of steps.
5
What are Procedure, functions and Packages?
Procedures and functions consist of set of PL/SQL statements that are grouped
together as a unit to solve a specific problem or perform set of related tasks.
Procedures do not Return values while Functions return one One Value
Packages: Packages Provide a method of encapsulating and storing related
procedures, functions, variables and other Package Content
6
What are Database Triggers and Stored Procedures?
Database Triggers : Database Triggers are Procedures that are automatically
executed as a result of insert in, update to, or delete from table.
Database triggers have the values old and new to denote the old value in the table
before it is deleted and the new indicated the new value that will be used. DT are
useful for implementing complex business rules which cannot be enforced using the
integrity rules. We can have the trigger as Before trigger or After Trigger and at
Statement or Row level.
e.g: operations insert, update ,delete 3
before ,after 3*2 A total of 6 combinations
At statement level (once for the trigger) or row level( for every execution ) 6 * 2 A
total of 12.
Thus a total of 12 combinations are there and the restriction of usage of 12 triggers
has been lifted from Oracle 7.3 Onwards.
Stored Procedures : Stored Procedures are Procedures that are stored in Compiled
form in the database. The advantage of using the stored procedures is that many
users can use the same procedure in compiled and ready to use format.
7
How many Integrity Rules are there and what are they?
There are Three Integrity Rules. They are as follows :
a) Entity Integrity Rule : The Entity Integrity Rule enforces that the Primary key
cannot be Null
b) Foreign Key Integrity Rule : The FKIR denotes that the relationship between
the foreign key and the primary key has to be enforced. When there is data in Child
Tables the Master tables cannot be deleted.
c) Business Integrity Rules : The Third Integrity rule is about the complex
business processes which cannot be implemented by the above 2 rules.
8
What are the Various Master and Detail Relation ships?
The various Master and Detail Relationship are
a) NonIsolated : The Master cannot be deleted when a child is existing
b) Isolated : The Master can be deleted when the child is existing
c) Cascading : The child gets deleted when the Master is deleted.
9
What are the Various Block Coordination Properties?
The various Block Coordination Properties are
a) Immediate
Default Setting. The Detail records are shown when the Master Record are shown.
b) Deferred with Auto Query
Oracle Forms defer fetching the detail records until the operator navigates to the
detail block.
c) Deferred with No Auto Query
The operator must navigate to the detail block and explicitly execute a query
10
What are the Different Optimization Techniques?
The Various Optimization techniques are
a) Execute Plan : we can see the plan of the query and change it accordingly based
on the indexes
b) Optimizer_hint :
set_item_property('DeptBlock',OPTIMIZER_HINT,'FIRST_ROWS');
Select /*+ First_Rows */ Deptno,Dname,Loc,Rowid from dept
where (Deptno > 25)
c) Optimize_Sql :
By setting the Optimize_Sql = No, Oracle Forms assigns a single cursor for all SQL
statements. This slow downs the processing because for evertime the SQL must be
parsed whenever they are executed.
f45run module = my_firstform userid = scott/tiger optimize_sql = No
d) Optimize_Tp :
By setting the Optimize_Tp= No, Oracle Forms assigns separate cursor only for each
query SELECT statement. All other SQL statements reuse the cursor.
f45run module = my_firstform userid = scott/tiger optimize_Tp = No
11
How do u implement the If statement in the Select Statement?
We can implement the if statement in the select statement by using the Decode
statement.
e.g select DECODE (EMP_CAT,'1','First','2','Second'Null);
Here the Null is the else statement where null is done .
12
How many types of Exceptions are there?
There are 2 types of exceptions. They are
a) System Exceptions
e.g. When no_data_found, When too_many_rows
b) User Defined Exceptions
e.g. My_exception exception
When My_exception then
13
What are the inline and the precompiler directives?
The inline and precompiler directives detect the values directly
14
How do you use the same lov for 2 columns?
We can use the same lov for 2 columns by passing the return values in global values
and using the global values in the code
15
How many minimum groups are required for a matrix report?
The minimum number of groups in matrix report are 4
16
What is the difference between static and dynamic lov?
The static lov contains the predetermined values while the dynamic lov contains
values that come at run time
17
What are snap shots and views?
Snapshots are mirror or replicas of tables. Views are built using the columns from
one or more tables. The Single Table View can be updated but the view with multi
table cannot be updated
18
What are the OOPS concepts in Oracle?
Oracle does implement the OOPS concepts. The best example is the Property
Classes. We can categorize the properties by setting the visual attributes and then
attach the property classes for the
objects. OOPS supports the concepts of objects and classes and we can consider the
property classes as classes and the items as objects
19
Privileges and Grants
Privileges are the right to execute a particular type of SQL statements.
e.g : Right to Connect, Right to create, Right to resource
Grants are given to the objects so that the object might be accessed accordingly. The
grant has to be
given by the owner of the object.
20
What is the difference between candidate key, unique key and primary key?
Candidate keys are the columns in the table that could be the primary keys and the
primary key
is the key that has been selected to identify the rows. Unique key is also useful for
identifying the distinct rows in the table.

21
What is concurrency?
Concurrency is allowing simultaneous access of same data by different users. Locks
useful for accessing the database are
a) Exclusive
The exclusive lock is useful for locking the row when an insert, update or delete is
being done. This lock should not be applied when we do only select from the row.
b) Share lock
We can do the table as Share_Lock as many share_locks can be put on the same
resource.
22
Table Space, Data Files, Parameter File, Control Files
Table Space : The table space is useful for storing the data in the database. When a
database is created two table spaces are created.
a) System Table space : This data file stores all the tables related to the system and
dba tables
b) User Table space : This data file stores all the user related tables
We should have separate table spaces for storing the tables and indexes so that the
access is fast.
Data Files : Every Oracle Data Base has one or more physical data files. They store
the data for the database. Every datafile is associated with only one database. Once
the Data file is created the size cannot change. To increase the size of the database
to store more data we have to add data file.
Parameter Files : Parameter file is needed to start an instance. A parameter file
contains the list of instance configuration parameters e.g.:
db_block_buffers = 500
db_name = ORA7
db_domain = u.s.acme lang
Control Files : Control files record the physical structure of the data files and redo log
files
They contain the Db name, name and location of dbs, data files ,redo log files and
time stamp.
23
What is Row Chaining?
The data of a row in a table may not be able to fit the same data block. Data for row
is stored in a chain of data blocks .
24
What are the Pct Free and Pct Used?
Pct Free is used to denote the percentage of the free space that is to be left when
creating a table. Similarly Pct Used is used to denote the percentage of the used
space that is to be used when creating a table
eg.: Pctfree 20, Pctused 40
25
Physical Storage of the Data
The finest level of granularity of the data base are the data blocks.
Data Block : One Data Block correspond to specific number of physical database
space
Extent : Extent is the number of specific number of contiguous data blocks.
Segments : Set of Extents allocated for Extents. There are three types of Segments
a) Data Segment : Non Clustered Table has data segment data of every table is
stored in
cluster data segment
b) Index Segment : Each Index has index segment that stores data
c) Roll Back Segment : Temporarily store 'undo' information

26 What is a 2 Phase Commit?

Two Phase commit is used in distributed data base systems. This is useful to
maintain the integrity of the database so that all the users see the same values.
It contains DML statements or Remote Procedural calls that reference a remote
object. There are basically 2 phases in a 2 phase commit.
a) Prepare Phase : Global coordinator asks participants to prepare
b) Commit Phase : Commit all participants to coordinator to Prepared, Read only
or abort Reply
27 What is the difference between deleting and truncating of tables?
Deleting a table will not remove the rows from the table but entry is there in the
database dictionary and it can be retrieved But truncating a table deletes it
completely and it cannot be retrieved.
28 What are mutating tables?
When a table is in state of transition it is said to be mutating. eg : If a row has
been deleted then the table is said to be mutating and no operations can be
done on the table except select.
29 What are Codd Rules?
Codd Rules describe the ideal nature of a RDBMS. No RDBMS satisfies all the 12
codd rules and Oracle Satisfies 11 of the 12 rules and is the only Rdbms to
satisfy the maximum number of rules.
30 What is Normalisation?
Normalisation is the process of organising the tables to remove the
redundancy.There are mainly 5 Normalisation rules.
a) 1 Normal Form : A table is said to be in 1st Normal Form when the attributes
are atomic
b) 2 Normal Form : A table is said to be in 2nd Normal Form when all the
 candidate keys are dependant on the primary key
c) 3rd Normal Form : A table is said to be third Normal form when it is not
dependant transitively
31 What is the Difference between a post query and a pre query?
A post query will fire for every row that is fetched but the pre query will fire only
once.
32 Deleting the Duplicate rows in the table?
We can delete the duplicate rows in the table by using the Rowid
33 Can U disable database trigger? How?
Yes. With respect to table
ALTER TABLE TABLE
[[ DISABLE all_trigger ]]
34 What is pseudo columns ? Name them?
A pseudocolumn behaves like a table column, but is not
actually
stored in the table. You can select from pseudocolumns, but
you
cannot insert, update, or delete their values. This section
describes these pseudocolumns:
* CURRVAL
* NEXTVAL
* LEVEL
* ROWID
* ROWNUM
35 How many columns can table have?
The number of columns in a table can range from 1 to 254.
36 Is space acquired in blocks or extents ?
In extents .
37 what is clustered index?
In an indexed cluster, rows are stored together based on their
cluster key values .
Can not applied for HASH.
38 what are the datatypes supported By oracle (INTERNAL)?
Varchar2, Number,Char , MLSLABEL.
39 What are attributes of cursor?
%FOUND , %NOTFOUND , %ISOPEN,%ROWCOUNT
40 Can you use select in FROM clause of SQL select ?
Yes.
41 What are the various types of Exceptions ?
 User defined and Predefined Exceptions.
42 Can we define exceptions twice in same block ?
No.
43 What is the difference between a procedure and a function ?
Functions return a single variable by value whereas procedures do not return any
variable by value. Rather they return multiple variables by passing variables by
reference through their OUT parameter.
44 Can you have two functions with the same name in a PL/SQL block ?
Yes.
45 Can you have two stored functions with the same name ?
Yes.
46 Can you call a stored function in the constraint of a table ?
No.
47 What are the various types of parameter modes in a procedure ?
IN, OUT AND INOUT.
48 What is Over Loading and what are its restrictions ?
OverLoading means an object performing different functions depending upon the
no. of parameters or the data type of the parameters passed to it.
49 Can functions be overloaded ?
Yes.
50 Can 2 functions have same name & input parameters but differ only by return
datatype
No.

51

What are the constructs of a procedure, function or a package ?

The constructs of a procedure, function or a package are :
variables and constants
cursors
exceptions
52

Why Create or Replace and not Drop and recreate procedures ?

So that Grants are not dropped.
53

Can you pass parameters in packages ? How ?

Yes. You can pass parameters to procedures or functions in a package.
54
What are the parts of a database trigger ?
The parts of a trigger are:
A triggering event or statement
A trigger restriction
A trigger action
55

What are the various types of database triggers ?

There are 12 types of triggers, they are combination of :
Insert, Delete and Update Triggers.
Before and After Triggers.
Row and Statement Triggers.
(3*2*2=12)
56

What is the advantage of a stored procedure over a database trigger ?

We have control over the firing of a stored procedure but we have no control over
the firing of a trigger.
57

What is the maximum no. of statements that can be specified in a trigger

statement ?
One.
58

Can views be specified in a trigger statement ?

No
59

What are the values of :new and :old in Insert/Delete/Update Triggers ?

INSERT : new = new value, old = NULL
DELETE : new = NULL, old = old value
UPDATE : new = new value, old = old value
60
What are cascading triggers? What is the maximum no of cascading triggers at a
time?
When a statement in a trigger body causes another trigger to be fired, the triggers
are said to be cascading. Max = 32.

61

What are mutating triggers ?

A trigger giving a SELECT on the table on which the trigger is written.
62

What are constraining triggers ?

A trigger giving an Insert/Updat e on a table having referential integrity constraint on
the triggering table.
63

Describe Oracle database's physical and logical structure ?

Physical : Data files, Redo Log files, Control file.
Logical : Tables, Views, Tablespaces, etc.
64

Can you increase the size of a tablespace ? How ?

Yes, by adding datafiles to it.
65

Can you increase the size of datafiles ? How ?

No (for Oracle 7.0)
Yes (for Oracle 7.3 by using the Resize clause ----- Confirm !!).
66

What is the use of Control files ?

Contains pointers to locations of various data files, redo log files, etc.
67

What is the use of Data Dictionary ?

Used by Oracle to store information about various physical and logical Oracle
structures e.g. Tables, Tablespaces, datafiles, et
68

What are the advantages of clusters ?

Access time reduced for joins.
69

What are the disadvantages of clusters ?

The time for Insert increases.
70

Can Long/Long RAW be clustered ?

No.
71

Can null keys be entered in cluster index, normal index ?

Yes.
72

Can Check constraint be used for self referential integrity ? How ?

Yes. In the CHECK condition for a column of a table, we can reference some other
column of the same table and thus enforce self referential integrity.
73

What are the min. extents allocated to a rollback extent ?

Two
74

What are the states of a rollback segment ? What is the difference between partly
available and needs recovery ?
The various states of a rollback segment are :
ONLINE, OFFLINE, PARTLY AVAILABLE, NEEDS RECOVERY and INVALID.
75

What is the difference between unique key and primary key ?

Unique key can be null; Primary key cannot be null.
76
An insert statement followed by a create table statement followed by rollback ? Will
the rows be inserted ?
No.
77
Can you define multiple savepoints ?
Yes.
78
Can you Rollback to any savepoint ?
Yes.
79
What is the maximum no. of columns a table can have ?
254.
80
What is the significance of the & and && operators in PL SQL ?
The & operator means that the PL SQL block requires user input for a variable. The
&& operator means that the value of this variable should be the same as inputted by
the user previously for this same variable.
If a transaction is very large, and the rollback segment is not able to hold the
rollback information, then will the transaction span across different rollback
segments or will it terminate ?
It will terminate (Please check ).
81
Can you pass a parameter to a cursor ?
Explicit cursors can take parameters, as the example below shows. A cursor
parameter can appear in a query wherever a constant can appear.
CURSOR c1 (median IN NUMBER) IS
SELECT job, ename FROM emp WHERE sal > median;
82
What are the various types of RollBack Segments ?
Public Available to all instances
Private Available to specific instance
83
Can you use %RowCount as a parameter to a cursor ?
Yes
84
Is the query below allowed :
Select sal, ename Into x From emp Where ename = 'KING'
(Where x is a record of Number(4) and Char(15))
Yes
85
Is the assignment given below allowed :
ABC = PQR (Where ABC and PQR are records)
Yes
86
Is this for loop allowed :
For x in &Start..&End Loop
Yes
87
How many rows will the following SQL return :
Select * from emp Where rownum < 10;
9 rows
88
How many rows will the following SQL return :
Select * from emp Where rownum = 10;
No rows
89
Which symbol preceeds the path to the table in the remote database ?
@
90
Are views automatically updated when base tables are updated ?
Yes
91
Can a trigger written for a view ?
No
92
If all the values from a cursor have been fetched and another fetch is issued, the
output will be : error, last record or first record ?
Last Record
93
A table has the following data : [[5, Null, 10]]. What will the average function
return ?
7.5
94
Is Sysdate a system variable or a system function?
System Function
95
Consider a sequence whose currval is 1 and gets incremented by 1 by using the
nextval reference we get the next number 2. Suppose at this point we issue an
rollback and again issue a nextval. What will the output be ?

96
Definition of relational DataBase by Dr. Codd (IBM)?
A Relational Database is a database where all data visible to the user is organized
strictly as tables of data values and where all database operations work on these
tables.
97
What is Multi Threaded Server (MTA) ?
In a Single Threaded Architecture (or a dedicated server configuration) the database
manager creates a separate process for each database user. But in MTA the database
manager can assign multiple users (multiple user processes) to a single dispatcher
(server process), a controlling process that queues request for work thus reducing
the databases memory requirement and resources.
98
Which are initial RDBMS, Hierarchical & N/w database ?
RDBMS - R system
Hierarchical - IMS
N/W - DBTG
99
Difference between Oracle 6 and Oracle 7
ORACLE 7 ORACLE 6
Cost based optimizer ? Rule based optimizer
Shared SQL Area ? SQL area allocated for each user
Multi Threaded Server ? Single Threaded Server
Hash Clusters ? Only B-Tree indexing
Roll back Size Adjustment ? No provision
Truncate command ? No provision
Database Integrity
Constraints ? Provision at Application Level
Stored procedures, functions
packages & triggers ? No provision
Resource profile limit. It
prevents user from running
away with system resources ? No provision
Distributed Database ? Distributed Query
Table replication & snapshots? No provision
Client/Server Tech. ? No provision
100
What is Functional Dependency
Given a relation R, attribute Y of R is functionally dependent on attribute X of R if and
only if each X-value has associated with it precisely one -Y value in R

101
What is Auditing ?
The database has the ability to audit all actions that take place within it.
a) Login attempts, b) Object Accesss, c) Database Action
Result of Greatest(1,NULL) or Least(1,NULL)
NULL
102
While designing in client/server what are the 2 imp. things to be considered ?
Network Overhead (traffic), Speed and Load of client server
103
What are the disadvantages of SQL ?
Disadvantages of SQL are :
? Cannot drop a field
? Cannot rename a field
? Cannot manage memory
? Procedural Language option not provided
? Index on view or index on index not provided
? View updation problem
104
When to create indexes ?
To be created when table is queried for less than 2% or 4% to 25% of the table
rows.

105
How can you avoid indexes ?
TO make index access path unavailable
? Use FULL hint to optimizer for full table scan
? Use INDEX or AND-EQUAL hint to optimizer to use one index or set to
indexes instead of another.
? Use an expression in the Where Clause of the SQL.
106
What is the result of the following SQL :
Select 1 from dual
UNION
Select 'A' from dual;
Error
107
Can database trigger written on synonym of a table and if it can be then what would
be the effect if original table is accessed.
Yes, database trigger would fire.
108
Can you alter synonym of view or view ?
No
109
Can you create index on view
No.
110
What is the difference between a view and a synonym ?
Synonym is just a second name of table used for multiple link of database. View can
be created with many tables, and with virtual columns and with conditions. But
synonym can be on view.
111
What is the difference between alias and synonym ?
Alias is temporary and used with one query. Synonym is permanent and not used as
alias.
112
What is the effect of synonym and table name used in same Select statement ?
Valid
113
What's the length of SQL integer ?
32 bit length
114
What is the difference between foreign key and reference key ?
Foreign key is the key i.e. attribute which refers to another table primary key.
Reference key is the primary key of table referred by another table.
115
Can dual table be deleted, dropped or altered or updated or inserted ?
Yes
116
If content of dual is updated to some value computation takes place or not ?
Yes
117
If any other table same as dual is created would it act similar to dual?
Yes
118
For which relational operators in where clause, index is not used ?
<> , like '% ...' is NOT functions, field +constant, field || ''
119
Assume that there are multiple databases running on one machine. How can you
switch from one to another ?
Changing the ORACLE_SID
120
What are the advantages of Oracle ?
Portability : Oracle is ported to more platforms than any of its competitors, running
on more than 100 hardware platforms and 20 networking protocols.
Market Presence : Oracle is by far the largest RDBMS vendor and spends more on R
& D than most of its competitors earn in total revenue. This market clout means that
you are unlikely to be left in the lurch by Oracle and there are always lots of third
party interfaces available.
Backup and Recovery : Oracle provides industrial strength support for on-line backup
and recovery and good software fault tolerence to disk failure. You can also do point-
in-time recovery.
Performance : Speed of a 'tuned' Oracle Database and application is quite good, even
with large databases. Oracle can manage > 100GB databases.
Multiple database support : Oracle has a superior ability to manage multiple
databases within the same transaction using a two-phase commit protocol.
121
What is a forward declaration ? What is its use ?
PL/SQL requires that you declare an identifier before using it. Therefore, you must
declare a subprogram before calling it. This declaration at the start of a subprogram
is called forward declaration. A forward declaration consists of a subprogram
specification terminated by a semicolon.
122
What are actual and formal parameters ?
Actual Parameters : Subprograms pass information using parameters. The variables
or expressions referenced in the parameter list of a subprogram call are actual
parameters. For example, the following procedure call lists two actual parameters
named emp_num and amount:
Eg. raise_salary(emp_num, amount);

Formal Parameters : The variables declared in a subprogram specification and

referenced in the subprogram body are formal parameters. For example, the
following procedure declares two formal parameters named emp_id and increase:
Eg. PROCEDURE raise_salary (emp_id INTEGER, increase REAL) IS current_salary
REAL;
123
What are the types of Notation ?
Position, Named, Mixed and Restrictions.
124
What all important parameters of the init.ora are supposed to be increased if you
want to increase the SGA size ?
In our case, db_block_buffers was changed from 60 to 1000 (std values are 60, 550
& 3500) shared_pool_size was changed from 3.5MB to 9MB (std values are 3.5, 5 &
9MB) open_cursors was changed from 200 to 300 (std values are 200 & 300)
db_block_size was changed from 2048 (2K) to 4096 (4K) {at the time of database
creation}.
The initial SGA was around 4MB when the server RAM was 32MB and The new SGA
was around 13MB when the server RAM was increased to 128MB.
125
If I have an execute privilege on a procedure in another users schema, can I execute
his procedure even though I do not have privileges on the tables within the
procedure ?
Yes
126
What are various types of joins ?
Equijoins, Non-equijoins, self join, outer join
127
What is a package cursor ?
A package cursor is a cursor which you declare in the package specification without
an SQL statement. The SQL statement for the cursor is attached dynamically at
runtime from calling procedures.
128
If you insert a row in a table, then create another table and then say Rollback. In this
case will the row be inserted ?
Yes. Because Create table is a DDL which commits automatically as soon as it is
executed. The DDL commits the transaction even if the create statement fails
internally (eg table already exists error) and not syntactically.
129
What are the various types of queries ?
Normal Queries
Sub Queries
Co-related queries
Nested queries
Compound queries
130
What is a transaction ?
A transaction is a set of SQL statements between any two COMMIT and ROLLBACK
statements.
131
What is implicit cursor and how is it used by Oracle ?
An implicit cursor is a cursor which is internally created by Oracle. It is created by
Oracle for each individual SQL.
132
Which of the following is not a schema object : Indexes, tables, public synonyms,
triggers and packages ?
Public synonyms
133
What is PL/SQL?
PL/SQL is Oracle's Procedural Language extension to SQL. The language includes
object oriented programming techniques such as encapsulation, function overloading,
information hiding (all but inheritance), and so, brings state-of-the-art programming
to the Oracle database server and a variety of Oracle tools.
134
Is there a PL/SQL Engine in SQL*Plus?
No. Unlike Oracle Forms, SQL*Plus does not have a PL/SQL engine. Thus, all your
PL/SQL are send directly to the database engine for execution. This makes it much
more efficient as SQL statements are not stripped off and send to the database
individually.
135
Is there a limit on the size of a PL/SQL block?
Currently, the maximum parsed/compiled size of a PL/SQL block is 64K and the
maximum code size is 100K. You can run the following select statement to query the
size of an existing package or procedure.
SQL> select * from dba_object_size where name = 'procedure_name'
136
Can one read/write files from PL/SQL?
Included in Oracle 7.3 is a UTL_FILE package that can read and write files. The
directory you intend writing to has to be in your INIT.ORA file (see UTL_FILE_DIR=...
parameter). Before Oracle 7.3 the only means of writing a file was to use
DBMS_OUTPUT with the SQL*Plus SPOOL command.
DECLARE
fileHandler UTL_FILE.FILE_TYPE;
BEGIN
fileHandler := UTL_FILE.FOPEN('/home/oracle/tmp', 'myoutput','W');
UTL_FILE.PUTF(fileHandler, 'Value of func1 is %sn', func1(1));
UTL_FILE.FCLOSE(fileHandler);
END;
137
How can I protect my PL/SQL source code?
PL/SQL V2.2, available with Oracle7.2, implements a binary wrapper for PL/SQL
programs to protect the source code. This is done via a standalone utility that
transforms the PL/SQL source code into portable binary object code (somewhat
larger than the original). This way you can distribute software without having to
worry about exposing your proprietary algorithms and methods. SQL*Plus and
SQL*DBA will still understand and know how to execute such scripts. Just be careful,
there is no "decode" command available.
The syntax is:
wrap iname=myscript.sql oname=xxxx.yyy
138
Can one use dynamic SQL within PL/SQL? OR Can you use a DDL in a procedure ?
How ?
From PL/SQL V2.1 one can use the DBMS_SQL package to execute dynamic SQL
statements.
Eg: CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE DYNSQL
AS
cur integer;
rc integer;
BEGIN
cur := DBMS_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR;
DBMS_SQL.PARSE(cur,'CREATE TABLE X (Y DATE)', DBMS_SQL.NATIVE);
rc := DBMS_SQL.EXECUTE(cur);
DBMS_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(cur);
END;