All articles have been reprinted with the written consent of their respective authors.

Truncate Tables in Schema Script
By Brian Peasland, Pipeline SYSOP

This script can be used to go into a schema and truncate tables that have ANY rows. The owner of the table doesn't need any specific privileges to truncate their own tables. But if you want someone else to be able to truncate another user's table, then they will need delete privileges on that table.

Click Here for the script.
  

The SPFILE
By Venu Gopal, ORAMASTERS, Inc.

For quite some time, Oracle has been maintaining a text file called the pfile to store the database initialization parameters, which would be read at the time of instance startup to get the characteristics of the instance that has to be created by Oracle for the specified database. Any changes made to this pfile would only take effect when you restart the database; however, parameters that were dynamically alterable could be changed using the appropriate ALTER SYSTEM or ALTER SESSION statement, which would take effect immediately. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that these parameters would need to be set every time you restarted the instance, because parameters altered in this process would be lasting for the lifetime of the instance or the session depending on the type of the statement issued. To overcome this limitation, Oracle has come up with a new feature called the spfile (server parameter file). The spfile can be thought of as a control file that is used by Oracle to store the initialization parameters.  Click Here for the paper.  

Interpreting Wait Events to Boost System Performance
By Roger Schrag, Database Specialists, Inc.

A few years back, cache hit ratios were thought by some to be the ultimate indicator of database performance. "You cannot survive in an e-commerce environment with a buffer cache hit ratio of less than 99.9%!" exclaimed some. More recently, the wait event interface has come into vogue. Many DBAs have heard about wait events, and many know which v$ views to look at, but few resources are available that discuss techniques for using the wait event interface and even fewer walk through concrete examples of how to use wait event information in order to boost system performance.

In this paper we will first define what wait events are and how to collect wait event information. Then we'll move on to examples of how wait event information paved the way to solving real-world performance problems. The material in this paper is based on my real-life experience. I've been working with Oracle databases for over twelve years, and tuning problem systems is what I do for a living (and what I enjoy most about being a DBA).  Click Here for the paper.
 

Considerations for E-Business on DB2 for OS/390
Extracted from the IBM White Paper "Value of S/390 for E-Business"

Presented in this paper are several considerations for e-business applications implementation on the S/390 platforms. While the specific considerations differ for every e-business scenario, some requirements, such as those dictated by security concerns, or such as the pervasive need for some logical and physical components, can be said to form a common base on which all e-business solutions stand. This paper discusses some of these considerations.  Click Here for the paper.
 

What's Wrong with this Code?
By Steven Feuerstein, Quest Software

Have you ever looked at a section of PL/SQL code and wondered "What's wrong with this?  How can I make this code better?"  This PowerPoint presentation highlights key areas of PL/SQL code that can often be changed to enhance the overall functionality of the code.  In this presentation, you will see several code examples and learn ways to identify and correct problem areas.  Click Here for the presentation.
 

The Explicit Mode of FOR XML
By Vakhtang Pavliashvili 

My previous article gave you a quick introduction to XML support in SQL Server 2000 and examined the details of AUTO and RAW modes of the FOR XML clause. Recall from that article that neither of those modes offers you full control over your XML output. The EXPLICIT mode, on the other hand, allows you to customize your output according to your needs. At the first glance FOR XML EXPLICIT might seem extremely difficult to learn and master. I won’t say that it is trivial, but it’s not rocket science either. This article will teach you how to customize your output using FOR XML EXPLICIT.  Click Here for the article.  
 

Managing Issues
Tom Mochal, www.tenstep.com 
Each month, Tom Mochal presents a set of project management tips and techniques for handling various aspects of planning and managing a project.  Tom as over 23 years of IT experience.  He has developed a comprehensive, scalable project management process called TenStep, which can be viewed at www.tenstep.com

An issue is a problem that will impede the progress of the project and cannot be resolved by the project manager and project team without outside help. Issues management is one of the skills that all project managers must master. Most projects of any size have to deal with issues. They cannot be ignored and they cannot be deferred to some later time. Issues must be resolved quickly and effectively.  Click Here for this month's article.
 

The Pipetalk Boards are Moving!

On June 1, 2002, all three of the Quest Pipeline's Pipetalk discussion boards will be moved to a new location on the web. The purpose of this paper is to explain why this is happening, outline what the move means for the Pipeline's many faithful participants, and provide a brief overview of the user-related enhancements in the new version of WebBoard software to which we are migrating.  Click Here for the paper. 

TOAD User Groups in 20 Cities - Sign Up Today!
 

Quest Software is proud to present the 2002 TOAD User Groups, where TOAD and his entourage are hitting the road and coming to a city near you.  That's right, we are bringing you a series of free, full-day local user groups to help you get more out of your favorite development tool and exchange ideas with the real TOAD experts -- users like you!  Click Here to register.

Free e-Seminars
For detailed information on these free e-Seminars, please visit our News and Events page.

• Effectively Monitoring Your Oracle E-Business Suite Environment
  Thursday, May 16, 2002
  2:00 - 300 pm PST
  Register Today!
   
• Diagnose & Resolve Active Directory Issues
  Wednesday, May 15, 2002
  9:00 - 10:00 am PST
  Register Today!
   
• One Step Ahead of the Curve
  Wednesday, May 22, 2002
  9:00 - 10:00 pm PST
  Register Today!
   

Visit the e-Seminar Archives

Interactive Crossword Puzzle: "DBA Glossary"   

1 Down - Oracle, for Example

Test your knowledge with the Pipeline Newsletter's Monthly Crossword Puzzle.  Click Here to Play!

We love getting white papers, tips, articles, and code examples/archives from our readers around the world.  Send your submission to newsletter@quest-pipelines.com.  If your article is published, we will mail you a FREE gift from Quest as a gesture or our appreciation.

Our mission at Quest Software - RevealNet Labs is to anticipate the daily responsibilities and challenges faced by database professionals.  Our products help thousands of people solve problems and implement solutions every day.  This newsletter is designed to help facilitate the sharing of information among database professionals.  It is currently circulated to 25,000 readers.

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