Category Archives: sqlplus

Oracle 12c – DBMS_SPM – Creating SQL Plan

Oracle 12c provides the DBMS_SPM package for managing plan evolution.   This article demonstrates the creation of SQL Plan using the DBMS_SPM package.

 

 

  1. Logon to you database server as the oracle software owner and connect to SQLPLUS as sysdba.

 

[root@linux2 ~]# su – oracle

Last login: Tue Dec 27 07:53:43 EST 2016 on pts/2

Enter database to use:

1 – ORCL

2 – CDB1

Option >

1

[oracle@linux2 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba

 

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Wed Dec 28 11:06:31 2016

 

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

 

 

Connected to:

Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 – 64bit Production

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics, Real Application Testing

and Unified Auditing options

 

SQL>

  1. Create test table for SPM test and populate with values.

 

create table test_spm(val_1 number, val_2 char(1));

 

insert into  test_spm

select level, ‘a’ from dual connect by level <=100;

 

 

SQL> create table test_spm(val_1 number, val_2 char(1));

 

Table created.

 

SQL> insert into  test_spm

  2  select level, ‘a’ from dual connect by level <=100;

 

100 rows created.

 

SQL> commit;

 

Commit complete.

 

  1. Get the SQL PLAN name by setting the AUTOTRACE to TRACE and executing query against test table. SQL PLAN NAME in this example is SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae.

SET AUTOTRACE TRACE

select * from test_spm;

 

SET AUTOTRACE TRACE

select * from test_spm;SQL> SQL>

 

100 rows selected.

 

 

Execution Plan

———————————————————-

Plan hash value: 1145642998

 

——————————————————————————

| Id  | Operation         | Name     | Rows  | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |

——————————————————————————

|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT  |          |   100 |   500 |     2   (0)| 00:00:01 |

|   1 |  TABLE ACCESS FULL| TEST_SPM |   100 |   500 |     2   (0)| 00:00:01 |

——————————————————————————

 

Note

—–

   – dynamic statistics used: dynamic sampling (level=AUTO)

   – SQL plan baseline “SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae” used for this statement

 

 

Statistics

———————————————————-

          0  recursive calls

          0  db block gets

         10  consistent gets

          0  physical reads

          0  redo size

       2816  bytes sent via SQL*Net to client

        617  bytes received via SQL*Net from client

          8  SQL*Net roundtrips to/from client

          0  sorts (memory)

          0  sorts (disk)

        100  rows processed

 

SQL>

 

  1. Set autotrace off.

 

set autotrace off;

SQL> set autotrace off;

 

  1. Get the SQL_HANDLE from PLAN_NAME out of the dba_sql_plan_baselines table.

 

SELECT sql_handle, plan_name, enabled, accepted

FROM   dba_sql_plan_baselines

WHERE  plan_name = ‘SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae’;

 

 

SELECT sql_handle, plan_name, enabled, accepted

FROM   dba_sql_plan_baselines

WHERE  plan_name = ‘SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae’;SQL> SQL>   2    3

 

SQL_HANDLE           PLAN_NAME                      ENA ACC

——————– —————————— — —

SQL_8486fd694099fea3 SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae YES YES

 

SQL>

 

  1. Create an evolve task using the function CREATE_EVOLVE_TASK function with SQL_HANDLE from above.

 

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return VARCHAR2(32767);

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.create_evolve_task(sql_handle => ‘SQL_8486fd694099fea3’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Task Name: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/

SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return VARCHAR2(32767);

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.create_evolve_task(sql_handle => ‘SQL_8486fd694099fea3’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Task Name: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/SQL>   2    3    4    5    6    7

Task Name: TASK_1049

 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

 

SQL>

 

  1. Execute the evolve task using the DBMS_SPM.execute_evolve_task function and the TASK_NAME from above.

 

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return VARCHAR2(32767);

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.execute_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Execution Name: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/

 

SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return VARCHAR2(32767);

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.execute_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Execution Name: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/SQL>   2    3    4    5    6    7

Execution Name: EXEC_1082

 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

 

SQL>

 

  1. Report on the task outcome using the DBMS_SPM.report_evolve_task function and the TASK_NAME and EXECUTION_NAME from above.

 

SET LONG 1000000 PAGESIZE 1000 LONGCHUNKSIZE 100 LINESIZE 100

 

SELECT DBMS_SPM.report_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’, execution_name => ‘EXEC_1082’) AS output

FROM   dual;

 

SQL>

SET LONG 1000000 PAGESIZE 1000 LONGCHUNKSIZE 100 LINESIZE 100

 

SELECT DBMS_SPM.report_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’, execution_name => ‘EXEC_1082’) AS output

FROM   dual;SQL> SQL> SQL>   2

 

OUTPUT

—————————————————————————————————-

GENERAL INFORMATION SECTION

———————————————————————————————

 

 Task Information:

 ———————————————

 Task Name            : TASK_1049

 Task Owner           : SYS

 Execution Name       : EXEC_1082

 Execution Type       : SPM EVOLVE

 Scope                : COMPREHENSIVE

 Status               : COMPLETED

 Started              : 12/28/2016 15:07:14

 Finished             : 12/28/2016 15:07:14

 Last Updated         : 12/28/2016 15:07:14

 Global Time Limit    : 2147483646

 Per-Plan Time Limit  : UNUSED

 Number of Errors     : 0

———————————————————————————————

 

SUMMARY SECTION

———————————————————————————————

  Number of plans processed  : 0

  Number of findings         : 0

  Number of recommendations  : 0

  Number of errors           : 0

———————————————————————————————

SQL>

 

  1. Implement the recommendations in the task with the DBMS_SPM.implement_evolve_task function and the TASK_NAME from above.

 

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return NUMBER;

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.implement_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Plans Accepted: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/

SQL>

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON

DECLARE

  l_return NUMBER;

BEGIN

  l_return := DBMS_SPM.implement_evolve_task(task_name => ‘TASK_1049’);

  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(‘Plans Accepted: ‘ || l_return);

END;

/SQL> SQL>   2    3    4    5    6    7

Plans Accepted: 0

 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

 

SQL>

 

  1. Verify the change by querying the DBA_SQL_PLAN_BASELINES table witht eh SQL_HANDLE from above.

 

SELECT sql_handle, plan_name, enabled, accepted

FROM   dba_sql_plan_baselines

WHERE  sql_handle = ‘SQL_8486fd694099fea3’;

 

 

 

SQL> SELECT sql_handle, plan_name, enabled, accepted

FROM   dba_sql_plan_baselines

WHERE  sql_handle = ‘SQL_8486fd694099fea3’;

  2    3

SQL_HANDLE           PLAN_NAME                      ENA ACC

——————– —————————— — —

SQL_8486fd694099fea3 SQL_PLAN_891rxd509mzp3eb1890ae YES YES

 

SQL>

 

  1. This complets use of DBMS_SPM for creating SQL plan.

 

 

Larry Catt

OCP

Currently executing SQL in Oracle database

I was just asked by a junior administrator, how to determine what SQL is currently executing against her database. While this may seem a trivial task for those in the industry for some time, I thought it a very good question. The below SQL will display currently executing SQL within an Oracle RDBMS.

1. Logon to SQL*PLUS with dba privileges.

2. Execute the following SQL block against the v$sql and v$session tables. NOTE: in a grid environment, use the gv$ views.

select sql_text from v$sql where sql_id in
(select sql_id from v$session where status=’ACTIVE’);

3. Displayed results show currently executing SQL blocks.

SQL> select sql_text from v$sql where sql_id in
2 (select sql_id from v$session where status=’ACTIVE’);

SQL_TEXT
——————————————————————————–
select sql_text from v$sql where sql_id in (select sql_id from v$session where s
tatus=’ACTIVE’)

Larry Catt, OCP

Oracle – Determining Local Host name and IP address with UTL_INADDR procedure

Oracle – Determining Local Host name and IP address with UTL_INADDR procedure

Oracle provides the procedure UTL_INADDR to retrieve your server’s host name and IP address from within the Oracle RDBMS. In this article we will demonstrate the retrieval of host name and IP address from within the RDBMS.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Logon to SQLPLUS with SYSDBA privileges.

mylinux:> sqlplus ‘/ as sysdba’

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Sat May 22 07:18:39 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

3. Execute the following PL/SQL block to retrieve the local hosts name and IP address.

SET serveroutput on
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(UTL_INADDR.GET_HOST_NAME); — get local host name
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(UTL_INADDR.GET_HOST_ADDRESS); — get local IP addr
END;
/

Output from SQL*PLUS

SQL> SET serveroutput on
SQL> BEGIN
2 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(UTL_INADDR.GET_HOST_NAME); — get local host name
3 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(UTL_INADDR.GET_HOST_ADDRESS); — get local IP addr
4 END;
5 /
mylinux
192.168.0.110

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

This completes retrieval of local host name and IP address of your Oracle RDBMS server.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Oracle – SQL*PLUS does not show the SQL being executed from a script file.

Oracle SQL*PLUS utility provides several options to customize the display of information from your database session. In this article we will review how to display the DML and DDL statements which are stored in an OS layer file upon execution. By default SQL*PLUS will not display the DML or DDL statement from a script file.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Create a file called test.sql with the following SQL.

select * from v$instance;

3. Logon to SQLPLUS with SYSDBA privileges.

mylinux:> sqlplus ‘/ as sysdba’

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Fri Apr 23 22:00:09 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

4. Execute the SQL file test.sql with the SQL*PLUS command: @./test.sql

SQL> @./test.sql

INSTANCE_NUMBER INSTANCE_NAME
————— —————-
HOST_NAME
—————————————————————-
VERSION STARTUP_T STATUS PAR THREAD# ARCHIVE LOG_SWITCH_WAIT
—————– ——— ———— — ———- ——- —————
LOGINS SHU DATABASE_STATUS INSTANCE_ROLE ACTIVE_ST BLO
———- — —————– —————— ——— —
1 orcl
mylinux
10.2.0.4.0 23-APR-10 OPEN NO 1 STOPPED
ALLOWED NO ACTIVE PRIMARY_INSTANCE NORMAL NO

SQL>

NOTE: The SQL contained within the file test.sql is not displayed, thus the end user executing such a file may not be aware of the output they are looking at.

5. To remedy this situation we will have to setup our SQL*PLUS environment to display the commands within our file. To do this we will have to turn two options on: ECHO and FEEDBACK.

SQL> set echo on
SQL> set feedback on
SQL>

6. Now re-execute the file test.sql with the SQL*PLUS command: @./test.sql.

SQL> @./test.sql
SQL> select * from v$instance;

INSTANCE_NUMBER INSTANCE_NAME
————— —————-
HOST_NAME
—————————————————————-
VERSION STARTUP_T STATUS PAR THREAD# ARCHIVE LOG_SWITCH_WAIT
—————– ——— ———— — ———- ——- —————
LOGINS SHU DATABASE_STATUS INSTANCE_ROLE ACTIVE_ST BLO
———- — —————– —————— ——— —
1 orcl
mylinux
10.2.0.4.0 23-APR-10 OPEN NO 1 STOPPED
ALLOWED NO ACTIVE PRIMARY_INSTANCE NORMAL NO

1 row selected.

SQL>
SQL>

As show above, SQL*PLUS is now displaying the SQL contained within our file, before the output. This will allow the end user to know exactly how the output of our script file was produced, thus turning our script into more usefully information.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Oracle – Viewing errors generated when writing a PL/SQL program unit.

When you create a PL/SQL block of code within Oracle in the form of a procedure, function, or package and a compilation error occurs; Oracle will not immediately give you the error details. This article details the procedure to view errors generated by a PL/SQL block within SQL*PLUS.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Create a file called create_file.sql with the following SQL.

create or replace procedure test_file
is

v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
v_write utl_file.file_type;
begin

v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);

utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);

utl_file.fclose(v_write);

end test_file;
/

3. Logon to SQLPLUS with SYSDBA privileges.

mylinux:> sqlplus ‘/ as sysdba’

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Thu Apr 22 19:00:09 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

4. Set FEEDBACK and ECHO to on and execute the file create_file.sql.

SQL> set echo on
SQL> set feedback on
SQL> @./create_file.sql
SQL> create or replace procedure test_file
2 is
3
4 v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
5 v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
6 v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
7
8 begin
9
10 v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);
11
12 utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);
13
14 utl_file.fclose(v_write);
15
16 end test_file;
17 /

Warning: Procedure created with compilation errors.

SQL>

5. The procedure was created with compilation errors, however it does not show you the errors. To see the errors generated in your procedure creation statement, use the SQL*PLUS command: show errors

SQL> show errors
Errors for PROCEDURE TEST_FILE:

LINE/COL ERROR
——– —————————————————————–
10/1 PL/SQL: Statement ignored
10/1 PLS-00201: identifier ‘V_WRITE’ must be declared
12/1 PL/SQL: Statement ignored
12/19 PLS-00201: identifier ‘V_WRITE’ must be declared
14/1 PL/SQL: Statement ignored
14/17 PLS-00201: identifier ‘V_WRITE’ must be declared
SQL>

6. Now you can see that the procedure creation statement is missing the definition for the variable V_WRITE. To correct this error replace the contents of your create_file.sql file with the following text, where the variable v_write is defined as utl_file.file_type.

create or replace procedure test_file
is

v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
v_write utl_file.file_type;
begin

v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);

utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);

utl_file.fclose(v_write);

end test_file;
/

7. Re-enter SQL*PLUS, set ECHO and FEEDBACK to on, and execute the file create_file.sql.

Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>sqlplus ljcatt

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Thu Apr 22 19:43:17 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL> set feedback on
SQL> set echo on
SQL>@./create_file.sql
SQL> create or replace procedure test_file
2 is
3
4 v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
5 v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
6 v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
7 v_write utl_file.file_type;
8 begin
9
10 v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);
11
12 utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);
13
14 utl_file.fclose(v_write);
15
16 end test_file;
17 /

Procedure created.

SQL>

The procedure now compiles without error, through the use of the SQL*PLUS command ‘show errors’ which allowed us to see the detailed error message provided by the Oracle RDBMS.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Oracle – Use of UTL_FILE to read external OS file into Oracle RDBMS.

Oracle – Use of UTL_FILE to read external OS file into Oracle RDBMS.

Oracle provides the procedure UTL_FILE to allow for the reading of external OS layer files from within the Oracle RDBMS. This article will give an example of how to read the contents of an external OS file and display it in the Oracle database.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Create a file called read.txt with the following text.

This is line one.

3. Logon to SQL*PLUS with an account which has DBA privileges. In this example we are using the account LJCATT.

mylinux:> sqlplus ljcatt

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Thu Jan 29 23:28:23 2009

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

4. Create the procedure read_file as detailed below.

create or replace procedure read_file
is

v_record varchar2(50);
v_file varchar2(30) := ‘read.txt’;
v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lufsora’;
v_write utl_file.file_type;
begin

v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘r’, 2000);

utl_file.get_line(v_write,v_record, v_record);

dbms_output.put_line(v_record);

utl_file.fclose(v_write);

end read_file;
/

5. Execute the procedure read_file with the command execute and the test within the OS file will be display.

SQL> execute read_file;
This is line one.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

This completes the use of UTL_FILE to read OS level files into your Oracle RDBMS.

Larry J. Catt, OCP9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Oracle – ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1 and revoking a user privileges.

A schema is considered all of the objects owned by a single user within the Oracle database. When a user has a privilege revoked in the database, but owns a particular object which requires that privilege, errors will result. This article will recover an error which will result from a user having a privilege revoked which is require by one of the objects he owns.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Logon to SQLPLUS with SYSDBA privileges.

mylinux:> sqlplus ‘/ as sysdba’

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Sat Jan 17 11:00:09 2009

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

3. Create the user LJCATT and grant him the DBA role and create procedure privileges.

SQL> create user ljcatt identified by password10;

User created.

SQL> grant dba to ljcatt;

Grant succeeded.

SQL> grant execute on utl_file to ljcatt;

Grant succeeded.

4. Connect as the user ljcatt and create a procedure named test_file.

SQL> connect ljcatt
Enter password:
Connected.

SQL> create or replace procedure test_file
is
2 3 v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
4 v_file varchar2(30) := ‘testfile’;
5 v_dir varchar2(100) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
6 v_write utl_file.file_type;
7 begin
8
9 v_write := utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 4000);

10 11 –utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 100);
12
13 utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);

14 15 utl_file.fclose(v_write);
16
17 end test_file;
/ 18

Procedure created.

5. Reconnect to the database with SYSDBA privileges and revoke the DBA from ljcatt and grant the create session privilege. Then attempt to reconnect as the user LJCATT.

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> revoke dba from ljcatt;

Revoke succeeded.

SQL> grant create session to ljcatt;

Grant succeeded.

SQL> connect ljcatt
Enter password:
ERROR:
ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1
ORA-00900: invalid SQL statement
ORA-06512: at line 8

Warning: You are no longer connected to ORACLE.

6. NOTE: The error is received due to this user owning objects which he does not have privileges to create or access. This is shown below by reconnecting as SYSDBA and displaying objects owned by the user LJCATT.

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.

SQL> select owner, object_name from dba_objects where object_name like ‘TEST_F%’
and owner=’LJCATT’

OWNER OBJECT_NAME
————————- ————————–
LJCATT TEST_FILE

7. As SYSDBA, re-grant the DBA role to LJCATT and attempt to reconnect.

SQL> grant dba to ljcatt;

Grant succeeded.

SQL> connect ljcatt
Enter password:
Connected.
SQL>

Now that the user LJCATT has the specific privileges required by the objects he owns, he is able to connect without error.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Oracle – ORA-29280: invalid directory path when using UTL_FILE

Oracle provides the package UTL_FILE to produce OS layer files from within the Oracle RDBMS. This article will describe the common error of ORA-29280 which maybe received when using the UTL_FILE procedure and how to resolve it.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Create a file called create_file.sql with the following SQL.

create or replace procedure test_file
is

v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
v_write utl_file.file_type;
begin

v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);

utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);

utl_file.fclose(v_write);

end test_file;
/

3. Enter SQL*PLUS, set ECHO and FEEDBACK to on, and execute the file
create_file.sql as a user with DBA privileges. In this example we are using the account LJCATT.

Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>sqlplus ljcatt

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Sat Jan 10 10:43:17 2009

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL> set feedback on
SQL> set echo on
SQL>@./create_file.sql
SQL> create or replace procedure test_file
2 is
3
4 v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
5 v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
6 v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
7 v_write utl_file.file_type;
8 begin
9
10 v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);
11
12 utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);
13
14 utl_file.fclose(v_write);
15
16 end test_file;
17 /

Procedure created.

SQL>

4. Use the SQL*PLUS command show to display the initialization parameter utl_file_dir and ensure that the directory /home/lcatt is not present.

SQL> show parameter utl_file_dir

NAME TYPE VALUE
———————————— ———– ——————————
utl_file_dir string /home/lcatt/output
SQL>

5. If the directory is present, remove it with the following command:

SQL> alter system set utl_file_dir=” scope=spfile;

System altered.

SQL>

6. Logon to the database as sysdba and restart your oracle instance.

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL>
SQL> shutdown immediate
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup open
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1207959552 bytes
Fixed Size 2068728 bytes
Variable Size 654315272 bytes
Database Buffers 503316480 bytes
Redo Buffers 48259072 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL>

7. Now logon as the user LJCATT and execute the package test_file with the command execute.

SQL> execute test_file
BEGIN test_file; END;

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-29280: invalid directory path
ORA-06512: at “SYS.UTL_FILE”, line 29
ORA-06512: at “SYS.UTL_FILE”, line 448
ORA-06512: at “LJCATT.TEST_FILE”, line 10
ORA-06512: at line 1

SQL>

8. NOTE: The error produced is a result of no reference to the defined directory structure in the initialization parameter UTL_FILE_DIR. This parameter is used to allow the database access to OS layer directories. To resolve this error, connect to the database as sysdba and place the directory path in the initialization parameter UTL_FILE_DIR with the command alter system and restart the database.

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> alter system set utl_file_dir=’/home/lcatt’ scope=spfile;

System altered.

SQL> shutdown immediate
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1207959552 bytes
Fixed Size 2068728 bytes
Variable Size 654315272 bytes
Database Buffers 503316480 bytes
Redo Buffers 48259072 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> show parameter utl_file_dir

NAME TYPE VALUE
———————————— ———– ——————————

utl_file_dir string /home/lcatt

9. Connect back to the database as the user LJCATT and re-execute the procedure test_file.

SQL> connect ljcatt
Enter password:
Connected.
SQL> execute test_file

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

10. Exit out of SQL*PLUS, change directories to the location of your output file, and perform an ls command to display the file generated.

SQL> exit
Disconnected from Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 –
64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>cd /home/lcatt
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>ls testfile
testfile
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>

The file was produced under the directory defined by the initialization parameter utl_file_dir and the error ORA-29280 has been resolved.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com

Creating an external file from within the Oracle RDBMS.

Oracle provides the package UTL_FILE to produce OS layer files from within the Oracle RDBMS. This article will show a basic procedure for the producing an OS layer file from within the Oracle RDBMS.

1. Logon to your Oracle database server as the Oracle software owner.

2. Create a file called create_file.sql with the following SQL.

create or replace procedure test_file
is

v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
v_write utl_file.file_type;
begin

v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);

utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);

utl_file.fclose(v_write);

end test_file;
/

3. Enter SQL*PLUS, set ECHO and FEEDBACK to on, and execute the file
create_file.sql.

Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>sqlplus ljcatt

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.4.0 – Production on Sat Jan 03 09:43:17 2009

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 – 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL> set feedback on
SQL> set echo on
SQL>@./create_file.sql
SQL> create or replace procedure test_file
2 is
3
4 v_record varchar2(50) := ‘Testing file creation’;
5 v_file varchar2(30) := ‘test_file.txt’;
6 v_dir varchar2(512) := ‘/home/lcatt’;
7 v_write utl_file.file_type;
8 begin
9
10 v_write:=utl_file.fopen(v_dir, v_file, ‘w’, 2000);
11
12 utl_file.put_line(v_write, v_record);
13
14 utl_file.fclose(v_write);
15
16 end test_file;
17 /

Procedure created.

SQL>

4. Ensure that the system initialization parameter for utl_file_dir contains the directory to which utl_file is going to write with the command show utl_file_dir.

SQL> show parameter utl_file_dir

NAME TYPE VALUE
———————————— ———– ——————————
utl_file_dir string

SQL>

5. If it does not contain the directory, as is the case in step 4, logon to your Oracle database as sysdba and add the directory structure and bounce the database, as seen below:

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> alter system set utl_file_dir=’/home/lcatt’ scope=spfile;

System altered.

SQL> shutdown immediate
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1207959552 bytes
Fixed Size 2068728 bytes
Variable Size 654315272 bytes
Database Buffers 503316480 bytes
Redo Buffers 48259072 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> show parameter utl_file_dir

NAME TYPE VALUE
———————————— ———– ——————————

utl_file_dir string /home/lcatt

SQL>

6. Execute the newly create procedure with the SQL*PLUS command; execute test_file

SQL> execute test_file

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

7. Exit out of SQL*PLUS and change directory to where you wrote your file.

SQL> exit
Disconnected from Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 –
64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>cd /home/lcatt
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>

8. Execute the ls and more command on the file testfile.

Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>ls testfile
testfile
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>more testfile
Testing file creation
Mylinux:/home/lcatt:>

This completes the creation of external OS layer file from within the Oracle RDBMS.

Larry J. Catt, OCP 9i, 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com