February, 2004  

  In This Issue

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

Free Oracle Utilities

Script to Catch Sample Wait Parameters
By Steve Adams, Ixora

It is difficult to catch buffer busy waits and in particular the wait parameters, when querying V$SESSION_WAIT because the waits are sometimes transient despite being very frequent. One approach is to query V$SESSION_WAIT multiple times within a single query. This prolongs the query execution time and greatly increases your chances of catching sample wait parameters without resorting to tracing. The following script illustrates this technique, which is of general usefulness in quite a number of situations.

Click Here for the script.
 
Oracle Administration

Writing Better SQL Using Regular Expressions
By Alice Rischert

A new feature of Oracle Database 10g vastly improves your ability to search and manipulate character data. This feature, regular expressions, is a notation for describing textual patterns. It has long been available in many programming languages and a number of UNIX utilities.

Oracle's implementation of regular expressions comes in the form of various SQL functions and a WHERE clause operator. If you are unfamiliar with regular expressions, this article can give you a glimpse into this new and extremely powerful yet seemingly cryptic capability. Readers already familiar with regular expressions can gain an understanding of how to apply this functionality within the context of the Oracle SQL language.

Click Here for the article.
  
DB2

Comparing Query Performance: MDC vs. Non-MDC Tables
By Robert Welgan, IBM

IBM says the new multidimensional clustering feature in DB2 UDB for Linux, Unix, and Windows will speed complex queries. And they put the new feature to the test. Here's what tests revealed about when MDC really helps (and why).

Click here for the article.  
  
Oracle Development

Transaction, Heal Thyself!  Part 1
By Darryl Hurley

Oracle 9i introduces a long awaited feature that suspends certain transactions instead of failing them straight away. Starting with this article, Darryl will discuss how you can take advantage of resumable transactions to support sophisticated transaction processing requirements. He will also highlight shortcomings and remedy them with his custom-built solutions.

This article was originally published in the May, 2003 issue of Oracle Professional.

Click Here for the paper.  


Quest ScriptRunner

Quest ScriptRunner (QSR) is the industry's most compatible SQL*Plus script execution utility -- including native SQL*Plus support for report writing. QSR's in-depth support for SQL*Plus, combined with its flexible script execution options, make a powerful new platform for running SQL*Plus DDL and DML scripts.

Quest ScriptRunner can be run from the executable or from the command line, giving you flexibility in how you schedule and run scripts.

Quest ScriptRunner V2.0.3 is included with the TOAD 7.6 Release. However, the link below will allow you to download the latest Beta version of Quest Script Runner. The link will also provide you with information about the significant enhancements in this Beta release as well as support information and plans for future releases. Quest ScriptRunner is a work in progress - please check frequently for updates. http://www.quest-pipelines.com/qsr/quest_script_runner.htm

 

Have you written a Users Group paper or presentation that you would like to share with your colleagues around the world?  Send your paper to newsletter@quest-pipelines.com for possible publication in the Pipeline Newsletter.  If your article is accepted, it will be mailed to over 28,000 readers!
Microsoft SQL Server

A Methodology for Determining Fill Factors
By Jeff Weisbecker

Are Fill Factor settings important? I believe so. Although I have read from many sources that mention the default value is generally good enough. I have also read that you shouldn't change the Fill Factor value unless you know what your doing. As with everything else in the world of Database Administration it is a good idea not to change anything unless you understand what you are doing. This is great, but how do you determine the value for a Fill Factor and know what your doing? I have searched for this answer and was hoping to find a nice easy formula to set my values. Guess what? I didn't find it.

Click here for the article.  

This article was previously published by SQL Server Central.
 

Project Management Tips & Techniques
How to Define Project Scope
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 has over 23 years of IT experience. He has developed a comprehensive, scalable project management process called TenStep (www.TenStep.com). He has also developed PMOStep (www.PMOStep.com), which is focused on building, implementing and supporting project management methodology through a Project Management Office. Tom also has a comprehensive application support methodology called

Defining scope is perhaps the most important part of the upfront definition and planning process. If you don't know for sure what you are delivering and what the boundaries of the project are, you have no chance for success. If you have not done a good job of defining scope, managing scope will be almost impossible.

The purpose of defining scope is to clearly describe and gain agreement on the logical boundaries of your project. Scope statements are used to define what is within the boundaries of the project and what is outside those boundaries. The more aspects of scope you can identify, the better off your project will be. The following types of information can be helpful in defining scope.

Click here for more information on project scopes.
 

News & Events

Free Webcasts
For detailed information on these free webcasts, please visit our News and Events page.

Tips of the Month
Oracle DBA Tip of the Month:  Data Proximity for Data Warehousing Performance
PL/SQL Tip of the Month:  Override Default Optimizer Behavior for SQL in PL/SQL Blocks
DB2 Tip of the Month:  Drop a Specific Stored Procedure When There are Other Procedures with the Same Name
SQL Server Tip of the Month: Row/Page Limitations in SQL Server
Puzzle

Interactive Crossword Puzzle: "The Oscars"
 

 
1 Down - Oracle, for Example		 Test your knowledge with the Pipeline Newsletter's Monthly Crossword Puzzle. 

Click here to Play!
Regular Features

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