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How long is a (piece of) String. Cricketing Greats and the length function
My Dad gave me a book recently – the 100 Greatest Cricketers. As well as selecting what – in his opinion at least – were the 100 finest exponents of the game, the author also decided to rank them in...
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ORA-02030 and invisible objects. The database bites back !
Being Luis Suarez’s agent must be an interesting job right now. Maybe the man was a bit peckish. Alternatively, maybe he’s resigned to the FA’s reluctance to introduce a mid-season break and was simply...
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Old Dog, New Phone – Insert into multiple tables in a single statement
I got a new ( and possibly new-fangled) phone recently. Having spent a suitably geeky amount of time exploring the new features of this slab of Android lovliness I did come across something which left...
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Oracle Float to Integer fun and Sachin Tendulkar
I recently spent some time working with Venkata, an Oracle programmer and keen cricket fan : Venkata smiling the smile of a man whose team have won the cricket world cup twice more than…er…Wales. This...
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Simple Pleasures…rlwrap and SQL*Plus Command Line editing on Linux
Fat, bald, likes a drink and a smoke. No, not me. That’s a description of Darren Lehman, the new coach of the Australian Cricket Team. Sounds like a good bloke to me. As a cricket fan, with the Ashes...
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Native Dynamic SQL – Dodgy Code and DRS
Dynamic. That’s a positive word if ever there was one. Ascribing this adjective to anything would convey an image of energy and forward momentum. On the question of Dynamic SQL, the images are rather...
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Mama Mia ! Oracle Database Password Complexity and Seventies Euro-Pop
Recently, Deb got tickets for us to go to an outdoor cinema. “It’ll be lovely”, she said, “we can have a picnic on a warm summer’s evening whilst watching a film”. “Sounds good”, I said, trying hard to...
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Re-structuring data for Hierarchical Queries – or (Tree) Walking With Big Macs
Steve McNulty. Even the name sounds a bit hard. This is not the hero in Jason Statham’s latest celluloid exploit. Neither is it the central character in a hard-bitten cop drama. Steve McNulty is, in...
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How Oracle uses Space, sort of.
Space. The Final Frontier. My long-suffering Mrs does enjoy a bit of sci-fi especially if some hunky all-action type is wandering around with his shirt off. “That man has such a nice personality”, she...
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Going Green with the Oracle Recyclebin
I’ve been seeing rather a lot of Chris Hemsworth lately…in more ways than one. My most recent trip to the local Cinema saw him reprising the role of Thor, or “Phwoarrr !” as Deb insists on calling him....
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The Anti-Pattern – EAV(il) Database Design ?
Early evening TV in our house is Soap time. Deb annexes the remote control, after which we are treated to an assortment of angry women being angry with each other in a variety of accents originating...
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PL/SQL is faster than SQL – Just ask Mitch.
After their comprehensive defeat at Lord’s back in June, some experts were confidently predicting that Australia would be on the wrong-end of a clean sweep in both of the back-to-back Ashes series....
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Speed Isn’t Everything – LOG ERRORS, SAVE EXCEPTIONS and Fun in the Snow
Before the fourth one-day international, Mitchell Johnson decided to shave off his moustache. During the fourth one-day international, Mitchell returned the less than impressive figures of 0-72 off 10...
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Oracle External Table Pre-processing – Soccer Super-Powers and Trojan Horses
The end of the European Football season is coming into view. In some leagues the battle for the title, or against relegation is reaching a peak of intensity. Nails are being bitten throughout the...
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Tracing for fun and (tk)profit
If you ever wanted proof that time is relative, just consider The Good Old Days. Depending on your age, nationality, personal preferences etc, that time could be when rationing finally ended; or when...
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Long to CLOB conversion – Constraint Conditions and Database D.I.Y
DIY on a public holiday is something akin to a Great British tradition. Unfortunately, my DIY skills can best be summed up as being able to move heavy stuff about and do a bit of light destruction....
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Putting the Plus into SQL*Plus – describing a Package member (with added...
Deb’s been on about getting another cat recently. “Absolutely not !”, I said, putting my foot down very firmly. Oh yes, we all know who wears the trousers in this house thank you very much. So…Cleo the...
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Oracle’s hidden documentation – Commenting the Data Model in Oracle
The Football (or Soccer, if you prefer) World Cup is almost upon us. England have absolutely no chance so even the false hope that traditionally accompanies major tournaments won’t be around to spoil...
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ANSI Joins and Uppercase Keywords – making PL/SQL look less like COBOL
The month-long festival of football has finally come to an end. A tournament that was supposed to be about “No 10s” and the coronation of the host nation has lived up to expectations. Ironically, by...
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Sayonara to Sequences and Trouble for Triggers – Fun and Games in Oracle 12c
Ah, Nostalgia. Not only can I remember the Good Old Days, I also remember them being far more fun than they probably were at the time. Oh yes, and I was much younger….and had hair. Yes, the Good Old...
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