Nested Tables – Flat-packed data in an Oracle Table
In the aftermath of the holiday season, there follows the inevitable January sales. This year, I have been spared the inevitable trudge around the stores. Deb has hurt her knee and has therefore been...
View ArticleGetting APEX to play with Ref Cursors
It’s that time of year again. Things are a bit tense around the house. The other morning, I woke up to find that someone had placed a leek in my slippers. Yes it’s Six Nations time again. England are...
View ArticleV$SGA_TARGET_ADVICE – The Need for Speed
My brother Steve lives near Brands Hatch in Kent. This is quite appropriate really. He’s always been a bit of a thrill-seeker. After his motorbike accident a few years back, he seems to have decided to...
View ArticleImplicit Cursors are from Venus, Explicit Cursors are from Mars
Domestic bliss. There’s nothing like it. There’s certainly nothing like it in our house, particularly when I indulge in one of my endearing little foibles that is guaranteed to get Deb pouting like...
View ArticleJust because you’re Paranoid…
…it doesn’t mean they’re not all out to get you ! No, this isn’t sage advice for the new manager of the England Football Team ( although Mr Hodgson will surely come to appreciate it’s wisdom in the...
View ArticleCouncil Tax and calling functions from SQL in 11g
There is a frisson of excitement in our household at the moment. It’s not simply because the mighty Hammers on their way to Wembley. Oh no. It’s not even that Luton will be making the same journey with...
View ArticleRunning a Windows Batch file from DBMS_SCHEDULER
In an ideal world …. Luton would have won the play-off final I would have won the lottery by now …and Oracle databases would run on Linux. Out in the real world however, there are times when Oracle...
View ArticleLeading Zeros…the bleeding edge of TO_CHAR format masks
We’ve been busy playing with our new house. Deb has re-arranged the furniture about three times since we moved in. Well, she’s actually just specified where she wants the furniture, it’s me who has...
View ArticleTime travel with fixed_date
My Dad is a bit of a clever-clogs at the moment. When he confidently predicted that Chelsea would beat Barcelona in the Champions League back in April, I put this down to an affinity with the Chelsea...
View ArticleThe CASE against DECODE and the Misery of Penalties
Euro2012 has come and gone. That sigh of relief is the sound of Deb reclaiming the TV remote and banning me from watching any more sport for the rest of the summer. Spain have confirmed themselves as...
View ArticleWindows batch scripting and learning to love German footballers
Windows scripting – the computing equivalent of the German football team. I suppose I should qualify that statement, if only to avoid irate comments from any German readers. The German National side...
View ArticlePlaying with CLOBs – and a simple way of rolling back database changes
Deb finally agreed to make an honest man of me and we tied the knot last month. This happy event coincided with the Olympics, during which I noticed my new bride taking an unusual interest in various...
View ArticleOracle Batch Job Logging – a framework for domestic harmony
Like most men, I have a standard of tidiness and cleanliness that I think of as “Bloke Clean”. Deb’s standards are rather higher ( she would say normal). The difference can occasionally be a source of...
View ArticleBorn Before Computers – fogey foibles and forsight for the humble insert
Apparently, I am considered by some to be stuck in my ways. For example, Deb now refuses to stand with me in the supermarket queue because of my tendency to argue with the automated checkout. This even...
View ArticleOracle Schema Differences – keeping up with the Prefix Pixie
Saturday 11th September 1976. That was the day that my Dad first took me to see the (occasionally) mighty West Ham United. The opponents, the rather more often mighty Arsenal. I still have vivid...
View ArticleORACLE Transactions and Fishing on the Underground
It’s that time of year again. Yes, it is the season to be snotty. “Man-flu”, was Nurse Debbie’s considered medical opinion. Admittedly, she’s feeling a bit under the weather herself and, as we all...
View ArticleDBMS_FEATURE_USAGE_REPORT and The Phantom AFTER SELECT Trigger
Splat ! Darth Debbie has just launched a surprise attack using her current favourite weapon. Never get into a snowball fight with that woman. Milton Keynes, like much of the UK at the moment, looks...
View ArticleOracle Database Diagnostic and Tuning Packs – exactly what are you not...
It’s that time of year. The expense of Christmas is becoming apparent and January payday has seemed to be forever in arriving. “…and I need a crown !”, said Deb. This caused me to pause for a moment....
View ArticleSQLDeveloper and a very expensive query
The magic of the FA Cup. It’s one of those cliches that you are brought up to believe as an article of faith if you’re English. It is supposed to refer to the glorious unpredictability in a knockout...
View ArticleDisabling the Oracle Diagnostic and Tuning Pack APIs – If you want something...
At last, we have reached the final episode of the Star Wars themed odyssey through the tangled web that is Oracle’s Diagnostic and Tuning Pack licensing. Just as well really, Deb has flatly refused to...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....