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

Get Working Days without Using the WORK_DAYS Function
By Michael Selvaggio, Orsel Consulting Inc.

This function allows users to calculate the working days between two dates when they are unable to create the Oracle function WORK_DAYS.  The same logic is implemented in a SELECT statement.

Click Here for the function.  

Using LDAP as an Oracle Professional - Part II
By Bill Coulam, New Global Telecom

It often seems that new Oracle releases include features you’re not likely to use in the near future, like AQ, Oracle Wallet, iFS, analytics, etc.  You make a mental note and move on.  One new feature, LDAP integration, should not be dismissed so quickly.  In part I of this paper, we looked at how LDAP began, its best qualities, basic terminology, LDAP URLs, searches and filters, as well as where Oracle is headed with LDAP. 

In Part II, a case study is presented where the author converts a custom, table-based, web security framework to one using an LDAP directory server.  

Click Here for Part II of the paper.  
 

Oracle allocates logical database space for all data in a database. The units of database space allocation are data blocks (also called logical blocks, Oracle blocks, or pages), extents, and segments. The next level of logical database space is an extent. An extent is a specific number of contiguous data blocks allocated for storing a specific type of information. The level of logical database storage above an extent is called a segment. The high water mark is the boundary between used and unused space in a segment.

Click Here for the paper.  

Connectionless Logging to Oracle on Unix 
By James Thorby, Delinea

For Unix based console applications it is sometimes important to log messages to Oracle as well as to log files. Long running processes may require real-time logging for meaningful feedback and, with the prevalence of web applications against Oracle databases it is a convenient way of storing these messages for easy client access. This example demonstrates a method of allowing Unix applications to log to Oracle without incurring the time penalty of repeated connect/disconnects or the complexity of writing custom ProC/Java Daemons (i.e. a program running in the background that would handle all database logging requests for the application).

Click Here for the paper.
 

A Security Roadmap
By Morris Lewis, Holistech Incorporated

This article is an excerpt from "SQL Server Security Distilled", Curlingstone Publications.

Quite often, people are overwhelmed at the sheer number of details to be managed when making sure that database users get the permissions they deserve, and do not get permissions they do not deserve. Let's face it – securing SQL Server is not a simple task. The process starts by trying to determine the identity of a user who wants to log in. Then SQL Server has to decide whether the user has permission to perform a very large list of activities at the server level. Finally, SQL Server has to decide whether the user can access a database, what identity he will have within that database, and what he can do with the data stored there. To add to the complexity, the user could be logging in with a Windows account instead of an account managed by SQL Server and, in SQL Server 7.0 and 2000, he could receive both server and database permissions by being a member of a Windows group. If you look at each individual piece of the process to the exclusion of the others, providing appropriate access to data does seem to be easy; but, when you put all the pieces together, the total picture can be quite intimidating.

Click Here for the sample chapter.  
 

Meeting Fundamentals Tom Mochal, www.tenstep.com

In general, all meetings should have an agenda. The creation of the agenda takes a little extra work, but it can be as simple as writing it in an email and sending it to the meeting participants. Regularly scheduled meetings do not need a published agenda every week, if they stick to the same agenda format. In those cases, the agenda is of value while the team is first meeting. Once everyone understands the purpose and standard agenda, a basic model can be reused every time. 

Click Here for tips and techniques on Meeting Fundamentals.
 

• Introduction to Data Modeling
  Tuesday, February 11, 2003
  8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. PST
  Presented by Bert Scalzo, Product Architect, Oracle Solutions for Quest Software

  
   

Visit the e-Seminar Archives

Interactive Crossword Puzzle: "Name That Face II"
 

1 Down - Oracle, for Example

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

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