APEX 4 for download

Oracle Technology Network now has the new APEX version 4 available for download.

The documentation and installation guides can be found here. 

The Advanced Tutorials Guide contains up-to-date How-Tos including:

• Create a Tabular Form
• Create a Parameterized Report
• Create a Drill Down Report
• Control Form Layout
• Work with Check Boxes
• Implement a Web Service
• Create a Stacked Bar Chart
• Upload and Download Files in an Application
• Incorporate JavaScript into an Application
• Build an Access Control Page
• Review a Packaged Application
• Create a Master Detail PDF Report
• Design an Issue Tracking Application
• Build and Deploy an Issue Tracking Application

The new features are documented here.

I will now update my courseware with the new features and deliver my courses as of August with the new version.

Arab Oracle User Group is online

I have just found the website of the Arab Orcale Usergroup

I was not aware that they are already online.

Congratulations!!!

=;-)

LH

APEX 4.0 for Early Adopters in phase II

Today I have received a notification from OTN that APEX 4 for Early Adopters is in testing phase II now.

It is possible to request a workspace now.

The documentation is still not available yet, instead the online docs for APEX 3.2 are linked.

Let’s test it.

=;-)

LH

Microsoft-Server-2008-Administration-Oracle

This week I deliver an 11g course in London downtown for a training partner of Oracle Education UK.

It is a very fun class and I have some very interesting people in the course.

 Mark Anderson
is a highly skilled trainer and delivers the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for the Experienced Oracle Database Administrator course for internal Microsoft staff and is responsible for the high end Microsoft customers. This course is definitely one I would like to attend!

He is about to publish his latest  book on SQL SERVER for ORACLE DBAs shortly. I am pretty shure that this will be another candidate for my BOOKS WORTH THEIR MONEY category  and I will definitely get a copy ASAP..

=;-)

sysdba

Apex 4.0 available for testing

The new version of APEX is available for testing by early adopters.

Use this link to request a workspace as hosted environment:

I will post about my first impressions soon.

=;-)

Dropping composite Primary Key does not drop the index

Today I have encountered a surprising fact:

Scenario is 10.2.0.1  Express Edition on Win32.

I have a table called job_history in the HR scheme which has a composit primary key : and there is an index for the primary key:

SQL> select index_name from user_indexes where table_name=’JOB_HISTORY’;

INDEX_NAME

Does the following info help to explain?

——————————
JHIST_EMP_ID_ST_DATE_PK
JHIST_JOB_IX
JHIST_EMPLOYEE_IX
JHIST_DEPARTMENT_IX

This is my constraint in the data dictionary:

SQL> select column_name , position
  2   from user_cons_columns
  3  where constraint_name=’JHIST_EMP_ID_ST_DATE_PK’;

COLUMN_NAME      POSITION
———————–    ———————————
EMPLOYEE_ID        1

START_DATE          2

 

Now I drop the primary key constraint

SQL> alter table job_history drop constraint
  2  JHIST_EMP_ID_ST_DATE_PK including indexes;

Table altered.

And here is the surprise:

SQL> select index_name from user_indexes where table_name=’JOB_HISTORY’;

INDEX_NAME
——————————
JHIST_EMP_ID_ST_DATE_PK
JHIST_JOB_IX
JHIST_EMPLOYEE_IX
JHIST_DEPARTMENT_IX

I do not see the point here. Why is the index still there?

Evern though I have explicitly written INCLUDING INDEXES.

BUG or Feature?!

Can anyone explain?

BUG with Bind Variables in Labeled Block in 10gR2

Yesterday in my course I ran into a strange BUG in Oracle Express (XE) on WIN32 and Linux 32 bit, in fact one of my students,  Ralf Spiwoks, found it:

I have tried to run a  top level anonymous block in which assigned a value to a BIND variable and got kicked out of my session with an ORA-03113.

SQL> VAR lname VARCHAR2(4)

SQL> <<my_lable>>
 BEGIN
    :lname:=’LUTZ’;
   end;
/

ERROR:
ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLE
 <<my_lable>>
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-03113: end-of-file on communication channel

THIS IS A BUG which exists in 10gR2.

Only top level blocks are affected by this BUG.
 After I wrapped the block into another block it worked.

Here is the workaround:

BEGIN
  <<my_lable>>
 BEGIN
 :lname:=’LUTZ’;
 END;
END;
/

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

 I have tested only WIN 32 and LINUX32 =>  XE and Enterprise Edition on Win32.  It has been fixed in the meentime, but I am not sure with which patch.
In EE 11gR1  it works.

Oracle Exadata Storage unvailed

A few days ago Larry Ellison has unvailed Oracle Exadata Storage, a family of software and hardware products including a hardware product which has been designed specially for large Data Warehouses in cooperation with HP, HP Oracle Database Machine.

The Database Machine runs Oracle Database 11g and Real Application Clusters, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and includes all the required Infiniband infrastructure and related hardware.

This is the first hardware product ever Oracle marketed under its own name.
It integrates Oracle Database Software with highly suffisticated hardware using Linux and ASM to build a very fast database maschine.

You can find more detailed information on Kevin Closson’s blog where he maintains an FAQ page.
Kevin is Performance Architect in Oracle’s Systems Technology Group which is a part of Server Technologies.

A few impressions from OOW by Tim Hall can be found on his blog.

 

 

يا القاهرة! عملة اي؟

A few days ago I arrived in Cairo again.

I will deliver a series of 11g Administration Courses for Oracle again.

One day after I arrived the there was a a big fire which burned down the house of the maglis ash-shura,  consultative councel    completely.

I was lucky enough to have my new camera with me to take some exciting shots.

 

It looked to me as if there were multiple fires burning at the same time.

Article on HOW TO Handle Block Corruption in Oracle 11g published

Today I have reveived a parcel from IOUG containing five copies of the current SELECT magazine.

Plus a sweater with the SELECT Journal Contributer logo:

Additionally I was granted a one year free membership for Independent Oracle User Group (IOUG) for my article on DETECTING AND REPAIRING CORRUPT BLOCKS IN ORACLE DATABASE 11g WITH THE DATA RECOVERY ADVISER which is included in the curernt issue Volume 15 Number 3/2008.

Thanks IOUG and SELECT, this was a nice surprise.

=;-)