SQLPlus, PL/SQL, and National language Support

SQLPlus, PL/SQL, and National language Support

SQL*Plus for Database Management
SERVER MANAGER is being phased out. Future releases will not support SERVER MANAGER. Start using SQL*Plus for all database administration tasks. CONNECT INTERNAL is also going away; can use CONNECT / AS SYSDBA as a possible alternative.
Can use SQLPLUS /nolog to enter SQL*Plus for DBA mgmt tasks and not be connected to a database.
SQL*Plus will not allow the # comment symbol or blank lines, which were both allowed in SERVER MANAGER. Use REM or -- (double dash) as comment char in SQL*Plus.
PL/SQL - Event Triggers
Triggers in 8i can now be written for dml, ddl, User, or database events.
ddl events include:
CREATE - trigger fires when CREATE adds a new object to data dictionary
ALTER - trigger fires when ALTER modifies object in data dictionary
DROP - trigger fires when DROP removes object from data dictionary.
Database events include:
SERVERERROR - trigger fires when server error msg is logged
LOGON - trigger fires when a client app logs into the database
LOGOFF - trigger fires when a client app logs off the database
STARTUP - trigger fires when the database is opened
SHUTDOWN - trigger fires when an instance is shutdown
Event triggers are classified into 2 levels, database and schema. Database level event triggers will fire for all users while schema level triggers will fire for the specified schema or user only.
The DBMS_STANDARD can be used by database event triggers to obtain various bits of information. An example would be to call the DATABASE_NAME function before a database shutdown to get obtain the name of the database being shutdown.
PL/SQL - Additional Enhancements
Invoker Rights - A new invoker rights clause has been added to allow PL/SQL programs to execute under various authorities.
New API’s that allow for monitoring and analysis of PL/SQL applications:
DBMS_TRACE, DBMS_DEBUG and DBMS_PROFILER.
NLS Enhancements
The NVARCHAR2 is a variable length national language support character datatype. Max value 4000.
NCHAR and NCLOB are fixed width datatypes that support national character set values.
The new NLS_UNION_CURRENCY parameter supports the EURO currency when set to a value of “Y”.
Use the NLS_COMP parameter to indicate that comparison operations should use linguistic ordering. DEFAULT value is binary. Makes it so you don’t have to use the NLSSORT function within the where clause.