Preface

This chapter describes the types of relational data that can be stored in an Oracle database table, such as fixed- and variable-l ength character strings, numbers, dates, and binary large objects (BLOBs).

This chapter gives an overview of the object extensions that Oracle provides.

The glossary defines terms used in this manual.

Related Documentation

For m ore information, see these Oracle resources:

• Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for information about upgrading a previous release of Oracle

• Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for informa tion about how to administer the Oracle database server

• Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals for information about developing Oracle da tabase applications

• Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for information about optimizing performance of an Oracle database

• Oracle Data Warehousing Guide for information about data warehousing and business intelligence

Many books in the documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed databas e, which is installed by default when you install Oracle. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or ot her collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/



If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site
 at
http://otn.oracle.com/documentation/




Conventions

This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this documentation set. It describes:


Conventions in Text

Conventions in Code Ex
amples

Conventions for Windows Operating Systems


Conventions in Text


We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms. The following table describes those conventions a
nd provides examples of their use.




Con
vention
Meaning
Example



Bol
dtbl
Bold typeface indicates terms that are defined in the text or terms tha
t appear in a glossary, or both.
When you specify this clause, you create an 
index-organized table.

Italics<
/em>
Italic typeface indicates book titles or emphasis.
Oracle Database Concepts 
Ensure that the recovery catalog and target database do not reside
on the same disk.

UPPERCASE monosp
ace (fixed-width) font
Uppercase monospace typeface indicates elements supplie
d by the system. Such elements include parameters, privileges, datatypes, RMAN keywords, SQL keywords, SQL*Plus or utility commands,
packages and methods, as well as system-supplied column names, database objects and structures, user names, and roles.
You can specify this clause only for a NUMBER column. 
You can back up the database
 by using the BACKUP command.
Query the TABLE_NAME column in the USER_TABLES data dicti
onary view.
Use the DBMS_STATS.GENERATE_STATS procedure.

lowercase monospace (fixed-width) font
Lowercase monospace typeface indicates executables, filenames, directory names, and sample user-supplied elements. S
uch elements include computer and database names, net service names, and connect identifiers, as well as user-supplied database objec
ts and structures, column names, packages and classes, user names and roles, program units, and parameter values. 
Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.
Enter sqlplus to open SQL*Plus. 
The password is specified in the orapwd file
.
Back up the datafiles and control files in the /disk1/oracle/dbs directory.
The department_id, department_name, and location_id columns are in the hr.departments table.

Set the <
code>QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED initialization parameter to true.
Connect as oe user.
The <
code>JRepUtil class implements these methods.

lowercase italic monospace (fixed-width) font
Lowe
rcase italic monospace font represents placeholders or variables.
You can specify the
 parallel_clause. 
Run Uold_release.SQL where old_
release refers to the release you installed prior to upgrading.





Convention
s in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They ar
e displayed in a monospace (fixed-width) font and separated from normal text as shown in this example:
SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';



The following table describes typographic conventions used in
code examples and provides examples of their use.




Convention
M
eaning
Example



[ ]


Brackets enclose one or more optional items. Do not enter t
he brackets.

DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ])




{ }



Braces enclose two or more items, one of which is required. Do not enter the
 braces.

{ENABLE | DISABLE}




|




A vertical bar represents a choice of two or more options within brackets or braces. Enter one of the optio
ns. Do not enter the vertical bar.

{ENABLE | DISABLE}
[COM
PRESS | NOCOMPRESS]




...


Horizontal ellipsis points indicate either: 


That we have omitted parts of the code that are not directly related to the example

That you can
 repeat a portion of the code

CREATE TABLE .
.. AS subquery;

SELECT col1, col2, ... , coln FROM employees;




.
 .
 .


Vertical ellipsis points indicate that we have omitted several lines of code not directly related to the example
.

SQL> SELECT NAME FROM V$DATAFILE;
NAME
--------------
----------------------
/fsl/dbs/tbs_01.dbf
/fs1/dbs/tbs_02.dbf
.
.
.
/fsl/dbs/tbs_09.dbf
9 rows selected.



Other notation

You must enter symbols other than brackets, braces, vertical bars, and ellipsis points as shown.

acctbal NUMBER(11,2);
acct    CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3;




Italics


Italicized text indicates placeholders or variables for which you must supply particular values.

CONNECT SYSTEM/system_password
DB_NAME = database_name




UPPER
CASE


Uppercase typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. We show th
ese terms in uppercase in order to distinguish them from terms you define. Unless terms appear in brackets, enter them in the order a
nd with the spelling shown. However, because these terms are not case sensitive, you can enter them in lowercase.

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;
DROP
 TABLE hr.employees;




lowercase


Lowercase typeface indicates programmatic elements th
at you supply. For example, lowercase indicates names of tables, columns, or files. 
Note: Some programmatic elem
ents use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.

<
pre xml:space="preserve">SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
sqlplus hr/hr
CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;







Conventions for Windows Operating Systems

The following table de
scribes conventions for Windows operating systems and provides examples of their use.




Convention
Meaning
Example


Choose Start >
How to start a program.
To start the Database Configuration Assistant, choose Start > Programs > Oracle - HOME_NAME > Configuration and Migration Tools > Database Configuration Assistant.

File and directory names
File and directory names
 are not case sensitive. The following special characters are not allowed: left angle bracket (<), right angle bracket (>), col
on (:), double quotation marks ("), slash (/), pipe (|), and dash (-). The special character backslash (\) is treated as an element s
eparator, even when it appears in quotes. If the file name begins with \\, then Windows assumes it uses the Universal Naming Conventi
on.

c:\winnt"\"system32 is the same as C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32
<
/pre>


C:\>
Represents the Windows command prompt of the current hard disk drive. The escape character in a comma
nd prompt is the caret (^). Your prompt reflects the subdirectory in which you are working. Referred to as the command prompt in this manual.

C:\oracle\oradata>



Special characters
The backslash (\) special character is sometimes required as an escape character for the double quotation mark (") speci
al character at the Windows command prompt. Parentheses and the single quotation mark (') do not require an escape character. Refer t
o your Windows operating system documentation for more information on escape and special characters.

C:\>exp scott/tiger TABLES=emp QUERY=\"WHERE job='SALESMAN' and sal<1600\"
C:\>im
p SYSTEM/password FROMUSER=scott TABLES=(emp, dept)




HOME_NAME


Repres
ents the Oracle home name. The home name can be up to 16 alphanumeric characters. The only special character allowed in the home name
 is the underscore.

C:\> net start OracleHOME_NAME<
/em>TNSListener



ORACLE_HOM
E and ORACLE_BASE
In releases prior to Oracle8i
 release 8.1.3, when you installed Oracle components, all subdirectories were located under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory that by default used one of the following names: 


C:\orant for Windows NT

C:\orawin98 for Windows 98
This release complies with Optimal Flexible Arch
itecture (OFA) guidelines. All subdirectories are not under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory. There is a top l
evel directory called ORACLE_BASE that by default is C:\oracle. If you install the latest Oracle r
elease on a computer with no other Oracle software installed, then the default setting for the first Oracle home directory is C
:\oracle\orann, where nn is the latest release number. The Oracle home directory i
s located directly under ORACLE_BASE.
All directory path examples in this guide follow OFA conventions.<
/p>
Refer to Oracle Database Platform Guide for Windows for additional information about OFA compliances and for informat
ion about installing Oracle products in non-OFA compliant directories.
Go to the
ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\rdbms\admin directory.



 
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Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

JAWS, a Windows screen reader, may not always correctly
 read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise
empty line; however, JAWS may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.


Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

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ation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluate
s nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.