Last week we’ve encountered the archived-log-gap-missing issue on Oracle 10.2.0.3 physical standby. Looking from V$MANAGED_STANDBY, it showed waiting for gap of the archived log sequence #53713.

SQL>  SELECT PROCESS, STATUS, THREAD#, SEQUENCE#, BLOCK#, BLOCKS
FROM  V$MANAGED_STANDBY;

PROCESS   STATUS          THREAD#   SEQUENCE#     BLOCK#     BLOCKS
--------- ------------ ----------  ---------- ---------- ----------
ARCH      CONNECTED              0          0          0          0
ARCH      CLOSING                2      58067     102401       1360
ARCH      CONNECTED              0          0          0          0
ARCH      CONNECTED              0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
RFS       IDLE                   2      58068          2       1823
RFS       IDLE                   0          0          0          0
MRP0      WAIT_FOR_GAP           1      53713          0          0

The alert log showed similarly with additional information saying that it was trying to open the missing log and the Fetch Archive Log (FAL) was requesting the gap sequence from primary, but all failed.

Media Recovery Log  /opt/oracle/admin/PROD/standby/arch_1_53713_645984751
Error opening  /opt/oracle/admin/PROD/standby/arch_1_53713_645984751
Attempting  refetch
Media Recovery Waiting for thread 1 sequence 53713
Fetching  gap sequence in thread 1, gap sequence 53713-53713
FAL[client]:  Error fetching gap sequence
Wed May 12 15:26:44 2010
FAL[client]:  Failed to request gap sequence
GAP - thread 1 sequence 53713-53713
DBID  2748812654 branch 645984751
FAL[client]: All defined FAL servers  have been attempted.

Interestingly, the specific archived log file (arch_1_53713_645984751) existed already on the standby server with proper permission. Not only that, Data Guard was aware of it when querying the v$archived_log.

select sequence#, name, archived, applied from  v$archived_log
where sequence# like '%53713%';

SEQUENCE#  NAME                                                    ARC APP
---------- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ---
53713      /opt/oracle/admin/PROD/standby/arch_3_53713_645984751   YES NO

An attempt to register it again obviously failed.

SQL> ALTER DATABASE REGISTER LOGFILE '/opt/oracle/admin/PROD/standby/arch_1_53713_645984751';
ALTER DATABASE REGISTER LOGFILE '/opt/oracle/admin/PROD/standby/arch_1_53713_645984751'
*
ERROR  at line 1:
ORA-16089: archive log has already been registered

At this point, it did not seem like anything we could do. Even trying to copy the archived file to another location and re-register with a different path did not help either.

Reading blog post by Jason, this might be a bug as described in the document ID 5576816.8 – “Bug 5576816  FAL gap resolution does not work with max_connection set in some scenario.” The bug’s description says that “Gap resolution appears to hang after exhausting disk space on the standby system. The hang persists even after additional disk space is made available.” This seems to fit our incident because before having this issue, the disk space on the standby was filled up. And even after cleanup, the gap resolution appeared to hang.

The suggested workaround from the document is to disable parallel archival and bounce the primary instance. Um…

The restart of the primary instance was something we’re hesitant to do especially when without a clear description of what it will do. Even though a suggestion of using “kill -9″ on the archiver (ARC) OS processes in the post’s comments with no downtime was very temping, it was still obviously too risky to do in the production environment.

Fortunately, while looking into other options, we’ve found this blog from Andy. It’s interesting that once we tried “alter database register” again but now with “or replace” keyword, it immediately fixed this issue.

ALTER DATABASE REGISTER OR REPLACE PHYSICAL LOGFILE '/opt/oracle/admin/BMCPD/standby/arch_1_53713_645984751';

Oracle 11g Release 2 for Windows was just released this month. With the availability of the grid infrastructure in this version, I plan to install it on my Windows 7 desktop to see what it can do even if it is just on stand alone environment.

In order for database to use Automatic Storage Management (ASM), it requires the Grid Infrastructure. In addition to ASM, Grid Infrastructure will also provide Oracle Restart to manage the Oracle processes (database, listener, and ASM).

One of the first issues I’ve encountered is the new requirement that the clusterware files (OCR & Voting) must be on ASM. I have to admit even though I’ve done ASM on Solaris and Linux before, but never on Windows. Since this is mandatory, I will give it a try. And since I will use ASM for clusterware files, I plan to use it for database data files as well.

In order to use ASM, I’m required to provide the unformatted (raw) basic disks. I plan to use the existing disks without adding new physical ones. Fortunately in Windows 7, I can use the disk management (diskmgmt.msc) tool to shrink volume and create a new logical disk from claimed space. Note that you may have multiple physical disks on your machine, but ASM supports and recognizes only logical drives on the Basic disk (not Dynamic disk). Click here if you’re interested in differences between Basic and Dynamic disks.

Once data volume is shrunk, I can create a new volume and then a logical drive. The new drive must not be formatted or having a drive letter assigned to it. Here is the guidelines from Oracle document on “create disk partitions”.

To use ASM with direct attached storage or SAN, the disks must be stamped with a header. This can be accomplished by using either asmtool (command-line version) or asmtoolg (GUI version). Since we will install Oracle grid infrastructure in interactive mode, the asmtoolg will be called during the configuration. Somehow, if I tried to launch the asmtoolg outside Oracle grid infrastructure installation, I always encountered error with no disks found. However, within the Oracle grid infrastructure installation, there is no issue.

In general, the installation went well. I’ve encountered few issues which I’ve documented them in the documents below. The snapshots of steps here are for educational purpose only.

Windows 7 – Disk Preparation for ASM

Oracle 11g R2 Grid Infrastructure for Standalone Server Installation on Windows

Oracle 11g R2 Software Installation for Single Instance Database on Windows

Oracle 11g R2 Database Creation using ASM on Windows

I found this tip from Oracle document while looking for a solution for session hung at the SQL prompt after issuing “alter tablespace read only”. Usually “alter tablespace read only” executes very quickly. However, the likelihood cause of waiting for tablespace to become read-only is due to existing in-flight transactions started before “alter tablespace read only” are still running.

To identify these transactions that are preventing the read-only tablespace is to first identify the “alter tablespace read only” session.

SELECT SQL_TEXT, SADDR
FROM V$SQLAREA,V$SESSION
WHERE V$SQLAREA.ADDRESS = V$SESSION.SQL_ADDRESS
AND SQL_TEXT LIKE 'alter tablespace%';

SQL_TEXT                                 SADDR
---------------------------------------- ----------------
alter tablespace tbs_tts1 read only      0000040634C0D8B8

Based on the identified session address and start SCN number, we can find the earlier executions before the read-only statement by querying the v$TRANSACTION order by ascending start SCN.

SELECT SES_ADDR, START_SCNB
FROM V$TRANSACTION
ORDER BY START_SCNB;

SES_ADDR         START_SCNB
---------------- ----------
0000040634C254F8 2976616884    --> Waiting on this transaction
0000040634C0D8B8 2980274305    --> alter tablespace read only
0000040634C53858 2980283454

From the session address of the blocking transaction, we then can find information about that session.

SELECT T.SES_ADDR, S.USERNAME, S.MACHINE
FROM V$SESSION S,  V$TRANSACTION T
WHERE T.SES_ADDR = S.SADDR
ORDER BY T.SES_ADDR

SES_ADDR          USERNAME              MACHINE
----------------  --------------------  ------------------
0000040634C254F8  RT_ADMIN              isdweb1

Once the session is identified, an appropriate action whether to terminate this session can be decided. In our case, it was just a run-away session. Once terminated, alter tablespace read only completed right away.

Reference: Oracle Database Administrator’s Guide 11g Release 1 (11.1) -  Making a Tablespace Read-Only

I must admit that I rarely use the Oracle SQL Developer because I’m using SQL*Plus, Toad from Quest and PL/SQL Developer from Allround Automations as primary tools for database administration and PL/SQL programming. They’re already providing all functionalities I need. I have nothing against Oracle SQL Developer. Actually it is quite opposite. I really want to try it, but I always find lame excuses not to. One of the excuses is that I thought this is just another new tool doing the same things other tools already could do. We’ll find out at the end of this post that I was wrong. Please read on.

Few weeks ago, I’ve received a non-compensated book review offer from Packt Publishing on Oracle SQL developer 2.1 by Sue Harper, who is currently product manager for Oracle SQL Developer. I’m really excited about this opportunity to explore this tool by reading through this book. No more procrastination! I’m approaching this book as an eager learner who would like to know more the tool and plan for a long-term use.

Let’s get started.

This book is very well organized introducing Oracle SQL Developer from installation to having sufficient information to use the tool right away after only few chapters. Personally I feel you can skip them if you’ve been using other database tools before. The tool is intuitive enough. Having said that if you’re a novice to Oracle database concept, the first four chapters are excellent resources for you to get acquainted with some basic concepts.

Chapter 1 – Getting Started with SQL Developer
The first chapter focuses mainly on the installation, initial configuration, migration from previous version and updates. Interesting information is with the XML configuration files. The chapter continues with showing how to connect and make queries to database. It ends with walking you through the navigation of the tool.

Chapter 2 – Browsing and Editing Database Objects and Data
This chapter extends from the first showing how to browse database objects. Many tips on data display, e.g., data highlighting or filtering are interesting. It goes on explaining some of Oracle database features such as Flashback and Recycle Bin which may be helpful for non-DBAs. The chapter ends with demonstrating how to create different types of database objects.

Chapter 3 – Working with the SQL Worksheet
This chapter goes in detail with tool’s main interface, SQL Worksheet. It starts with comparing Worksheet capabilities with more commonly-known SQL tools such as SQL*Plus. I think it is a good idea to show many command-line folks including myself to see that this tool is capable of doing the same things and even more. It guides you through other nifty features such as drag-and-drop query builder, formatting code, code completion, etc., though they are available in other tools as well. One of interesting features is the Code Snippets which are commonly-used codes that can be quickly added.

Chapter 4 – The Power of SQL Reports
Most of the canned/shipped reports may initially look not that useful. But if you look at them closely, some categories/reports are very interesting because they provide very useful information without writing custom queries thus saving your time. Samples are as follow:

• Table with Unindexes Foreign Keys (under Quality Assurance)
• Search Source Code (under Data Dictionary Reports > PLSQL)
• ASH and AWR Reports (under Data Dictionary Reports)
• Grants and Privileges (under Data Dictionary Reports > Security)

The user-defined report section is very helpful as well if you plan to write your own custom reports.

Chapters 5 until 8 are intended for developers because they talk about working with database objects or features for development process.

Chapter 5 – Working with PL/SQL
This section explains how to work with PL/SQL code. It includes working with triggers, functions, procedures and packages. It might not be appealing for those who have been working with other tools before. But the book explains this topic very well for those you’ve not experienced working with them before. The feature like Refractoring Code, which is to restructure code for performance improvement without impacting its original behavior, is very cool. The chapter ends with explaining how to use the tool for code debugging.

Chapter 6 – SQL and PL/SQL Tuning Tools
This chapter talks about the ability of the tool to use with the standard database tuning tools such as use of EXPLAIN PLAN, Auto Trace and other canned report for Top SQLs. The book also highlights new 11g’s PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler feature which records not only the time spent in each sub program, but also number of calls to the subprogram.

Chapter 7 – Managing Files
This is one of strengths of Oracle SQL Developer over others because it integrates with open source version control system. I’m really glad that author covers this topic in detail. The version control integration is very nice to have if your organization does not have a dedicated source control system. This chapter will show you how to check in/out your code and work in team development with code comparison and merging.

Chapter 8 – Importing, Exporting and Working with Data
This chapter may be beneficial to many developers who need to perform data movement. SQL Developer can perform data export and import in various formats including CSV, Fixed, HTML, DML statements, and SQL Loader. Using wizard such as database copy allows to move data without using database utilities like imp/exp or data pump.

The remaining sections are considered to be topic-specific. This means that you can choose to read only what interests you.

Chapter 9 -  Database Connections and JDBC Drivers
Great section hightlights the advantages of this tool because Oracle SQL Developer can also connect to non-Oracle databases including MySQL, Sybase, DB2, Teradata, Microsoft Access via 3rd-party JDBC drivers. This is tremendously beneficial when there is a need to migrate data from the 3rd-party database to Oracle.

Chapter 10 – Introducing SQL Developer Data Modeler
Even though Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is a priced independent product (SQL Developer has a SQL Data Model Viewer extension), this book showcases Data Modeler tool by going into detail of its features including connecting to database, importing dictionary, working with model, creating ERD, and so on. The chapter ends with showing the integration of the Data Modeler within SQL Developer.

(More information about Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler can be found on its site.)

Chapter 11 – Extending SQL Developer
Personally I think this feature sets this tool apart from others. With capability of supporting XML and Java extensions, you can create custom features to plug-in to the tool and share them with others. This chapter shows some good samples of using XML extensions in the tool.

Chapter 12 -  Working with Application Express
As an APEX developer, the integration with APEX in Oracle SQL developer is a hidden gem. Now all APEX objects can be easily viewed at our finger tips. There is no need to jump into many pages back and forth. This book explains clearly on how to use SQL Developer to work with APEX objects including LOVs, Pages, Items, etc. Tuning application’s SQL and PL/SQL codes which are visible through the tool becomes much easier. One of the nice features is an ease of refracting PL/SQL code (e.g., from anonymous block) to a compiled procedure which is much more efficient. The chapter ends with showing us how to manage applications including importing and exporting applications.

Chapter 13 – Working with SQL Developer Migration
This chapter extends its feature of this tool connecting to non-Oracle database for data migration purpose. The Oracle SQL Developer Migration is an integrated feature of Oracle SQL Developer. The book shows technical aspect of using the tool for data migration. This includes migration repository preparation and database connection.

Summary
After reading through this book and following most of samples, I’m impressed with varieties of unique features (such as integration with APEX, version control, Data Modeler, etc.) this tool offers. As a matter of fact, I’m already using it in our current APEX development project, and plan to extend its usage more in other areas. The flow and layout of this book really helps me understand and appreciate SQL Developer tool. The book covers some basic concepts filling up the gap for those who are new to accessing Oracle database. But in general, I agree with author that those who are already familiar with Oracle database concepts will get more out of this book.

Thanks to Packt Publishing for book review offer.

References:

Oracle SQL Developer 2.1 by Sue Harper on Packt Publishing site

Oracle SQL Developer page on Oracle site

I must admit that I rarely use the Oracle SQL Developer because the primary tools – Quest Toad and Automation PL/SQL Developer, I’m using for database administration and PL/SQL programming seem to provide all functionalities I need. I have nothing against Oracle SQL Developer. Actually it is quite opposite. I really want to try it out. But I always find lame excuses not to start.

A month ago, I’ve received a book review offer from Packt Publishing on Oracle SQL developer 2.1 by Sue Harper, who is currently product manager for Oracle SQL Developer. I’m really excited about this great opportunity to explore this tool by reading through this book. I’m approaching this book as an eager learner who would like to know the tool better for a long-term use.

Let’s get started.

This book is very well organized introducing the tool from installation to having sufficient information to use the tool right away after only few chapters. Personally I feel you can skip them if you’ve been using other database tools before. The tool is intuitive enough. Having said that if you’re a novice to Oracle database concept, the first four chapters are excellent resources for you to get acquainted with some basic concept.

Chapter 1 – Getting Started with SQL Developer
The first chapter focuses mainly on installation, initial configuration, migration from previous version and updates. Interesting information is with the XML configuration files. The chapter continues with showing how to make the connection and making queries to database. It ends with walking you through navigation of the tool.

Chapter 2 – Browsing and Editing Database Objects and Data
This chapter extends from the first showing how to browse database objects. Many tips on data display, e,g, data highlighting or filtering are interesting. It goes on explaining some Oracle database features such as Flashback and Recycle Bin which may be helpful for non-DBAs. The chapter ends with showing how to create different types of database objects.

Chapter 3 – Working with the SQL Worksheet
This chapter goes in details with tool’s main interface, SQL Worksheet. It starts with compare Worksheet capabilities with more commonly-known SQL tools such as SQL*Plus. I think it is a good idea to show many command-line folks including myself to see that this tool is capable of doing the same things and even more. It guides you through other nifty features, for example, drag-and-drop query builder, formatting code, code completion, etc. even though they are available in other tools as well. One of interesting features is the Code Snippets which are commonly-used codes that can be quickly added.

Chapter 4 – The Power of SQL Reports
Most of the canned/shipped reports may initially look not that useful. But you can look at them closely, some categories/reports are very interesting because they provide very useful information without writing custom queries, thus saving your time. Sample are as follow:

Table with Unindexes Foreign Keys (Quality Assurance)

Search Source Code (from Data Dictionary Reports > PLSQL)

ASH and AWR Reports (from Data Dictionary Reports)

Grants and Privileges (from Data Dictionary Reports > Security)

The user-defined report section is very helpful as well if you plan to write your own custom reports.

Chapters 5 until 8 are intended for developers because they talk about working with database objects or features for development process.

Chapter 5 – Working with PL/SQL
This section explains how to work with PL/SQL codes. It includes working with triggers, functions, procedures and packages. It might not be appealing for those who have been working in other tools before. But the book explains well for those you’ve not experienced working with those objects before. Feature like Refractoring Code, which is to restructure code for performance improvement without impacting its original behavior, is very interesting. This chapter ends with explaining how to use the tool for code debugging.

Chapter 6 – SQL and PL/SQL Tuning Tools
This chapter talks about the ability of the tool to use with the standard tuning tool such as use of EXPLAIN PLAN, Auto Trace and other canned report for Top SQLs. The book also highlights new 11g’s PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler which records not only the time spent in each sub program, but also number of calls to the subprogram.

Chapter 7 – Managing Files

This is one of strengths of the tools over others because it integrates with open source version control system. I’m really glad the author covers this in details. This version control integration is very nice if your organization does not have a dedicated source control system. This chapter will show you how to check in/out your code and work as a team with code comparison and merging.

Chapter 8 – Importing, Exporting and Working with Data
This chapter may be beneficial to many developers who need to perform data movement. SQL Developer provides many ways to perform data export and import in a various formats including CSV, Fixed, HTML, DML statements, SQL Loader, etc. Using wizard such as database copy allows to move data without using database utilities like imp/exp or data pump.

The remaining sections are considered topic-specific. This means that you can choose to read only what interests you.

Chapter 9 -  Database Connections and JDBC Drivers
Great section hightlights the advantages of this tool because it also can connect to non-Oracle databases including MySQL, Sybase, DB2, Teradata, Microsoft Access via 3rd-party JDBC drivers. This is tremendous beneficial when there is a need to migrate data from the 3rd-party database to Oracle.

Chapter 10 – Introducing SQL Developer Data Modeler
Even though Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is a priced independent product (SQL Developer has a SQL Data Model Viewer extension), this book showcases Data Modeler tool by going into details of its features including connecting to database, importing dictionary, working with model, creating ERD, and so on. The chapter ends with showing the integration of the Data Modeler with SQL Developer.

(more information about SQL Developer Data Modeler at http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/sql/datamodeler.html)

Chapter 11 – Extending SQL Developer
Personally I feel this feature might set this tool apart from others. With capability of supporting XML and Java extension, you can create custom features to plug-in to the tool and share them with others. This chapter shows some good samples of using XML extensions in the tool.

Chapter 12 -  Working with Application Express
As a APEX developer, the integration with APEX in SQL developer is a gem. Now all APEX objects can be viewed at our finger tips. There is no need to jump into many pages back and forth. This book explains well on how to use SQL Developer to work with APEX objects including LOVs, Pages, Items, etc. Tuning SQL and PL/SQ which are visible through the tool becomes a lot easier. One of the nice features is an ease to refract PL/SQL code (e.g., from anonymous block) to a compiled procedure which is much more efficient. The chapter ends with showing  to manage applications including importing/exporting applications.

Chapter 13 – Working with SQL Developer Migration
This chapter extends its feature of the tool connecting to non-Oracle database for data migration purpose. The Oracle SQL Developer Migration is an integrated feature of Oracle SQL Developer. The book shows technical aspect of using the tool for migration including migration repository preparation and database connection.

After reading through this book and following most of samples, I’m impressed with varieties of features (APEX integration, version control, Data Modeler, etc.) this tool offers. The flow and layout of this book really helps me understand and appreciate SQL Developer tool. Even though some basic concept sections are not brief, those who are new to accessing Oracle database will benefit from those sections. In general, I agree with author that you will get more out of this book if you’re already familiar with Oracle database concepts.

Detail about Oracle SQL Developer 2.1 by Sue Harper

http://www.packtpub.com/oracle-sql-developer-2-1/book

Oracle SQL Developer page on Oracle OTN site http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/sql/index.html

Thanks to Packt Publishing for book review offer.

www.PacktPub.com

===========================================================

http://www.oracleapplicationexpress.com/tutorials/65-jquery-datepicker

I remembered not quite a long time ago, in order to find out any technical information, it seems like you can to go through a bunch of technical books.

You must subscribe to

But now many technical blog sites pop

This is to programmatically generate a CSV file when a button is clicked
The custom export to CSV

http://spendolini.blogspot.com/2006/04/custom-export-to-csv.html

Session timeout in release 3.1

http://andrew.tulley.co.uk/?p=50

jQuery Calendar Date Picker

http://jqueryui.com/demos/datepicker/

Good document on its configuration

http://docs.jquery.com/UI/Datepicker

How to replace the default APEX calendar with jQuery calendar…

http://roelhartman.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-replace-default-apex-calendar.html

jQuery Masked Input
This is a masked input plugin for the jQuery javascript library. It allows a user to more easily enter fixed width input where you would like them to enter the data in a certain format (dates,phone numbers, etc). I

http://digitalbush.com/projects/masked-input-plugin/

jQuery Impromptu is an extention to help provide a more pleasant way to spontaneously prompt a user for input. More or less this is a great replacement for an alert, prompt, and confirm. Not only does it replace these but it also allows for creating forms within these controls. This is not intended to be a modal replacement, just a quick tool to prompt user input in a fashionable way.

jQuery Impromptu

http://trentrichardson.com/Impromptu/index.php

—————————-

Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) did not start when installing OAS 10.1.3.1 on Windows 2003

Last week we installed the OAS 10.1.3.1 on multiple Windows 2003 servers on the VM farm. All went well except the last one. When double-clicking on the setup.exe file, the system verification window popped up. Next I expected the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) window, but nothing happened. The same installation files and procedure have been used on different Windows systems and have worked fine before. The installation log doesn’t seem to be much help either. We’ve tried all tricks including using a local administrative account, rebooting, etc., but none worked.

After looking through the Oracle support site (using Internet Explorer because the some contents don’t display properly on Fire Fox 3.6), I found this solution in the document ID 308705.1 – OUI Does Not Start After Running Setup.exe Installing OAS On Windows 2003 which says that the root cause is because the Application Experience Lookup” Service is not started. Once started, the installation proceeds without any issues. The strange thing is that those servers we’ve previously installed it successfully did not have this service up either.

(

OUI Does Not Start After Running Setup.exe Installing OAS On Windows 2003 [ID 308705.1]
	Modified 04-JUN-2009     Type PROBLEM     Status PUBLISHED

In this Document
Symptoms
Cause
Solution

Applies to:

Oracle Application Server 10g Enterprise Edition – Version: 9.0.4.0.0 to 10.1.2.3.0
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit)
Checked for relevance on 04-Jun-2009

Symptoms

When attempting to install Oracle Application Server 10g on Windows 2003, the setup.exe appears to quit even before launching the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI).

Cause

The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) is not able to start because the “Application Experience Lookup” Service is not started.

Solution

Start the “Application Experience Lookup Service” and then relaunch the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI)

<< OLE Object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) >> Related Products · Middleware > Application Servers > Oracle Application Server > Oracle Fusion Middleware Keywords OAS; ORACLE UNIVERSAL INSTALLER; SETUP.EXE; OUI

I’ve been having issue with WordPress automatic upgrade for quite awhile. It never make any progress after download completes. This upgrade issue applies to both WordPress itself and its plug-ins. But at that time I’ve never bothered trying to find a solution for it. My WordPress version 2.6 was so far behind.

After searching on internet, the issue seems to relate to the PHP version. The service provider I using, 1and1, provides both PHP4 and PHP5. And WordPress seems to be confused when both are present. With a quick modification in the .htaccess file as shown below to make it use PHP5, the automatic upgrade for both WordPress and plug-ins are working again. Now I’m on the latest version.

AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
AddHandler x-mapp-php5 .php

Reference: http://paheli.net/blog/2009/07/22/solved-wordpress-automatic-upgrade-problem/

I wrote in my previous post about the Access Control Lists to Network Services (e.g., UTL_HTTP, UTL_SMTP, UTL_TCP, etc.) in Oracle 11g. However, it did not cover another PL/SQL network utility package named UTL_INADDR which retrieves host names and IP addresses of local and remote hosts.

You can read some usage samples of the UTL_INADDR from Eddie Awad’s blog.

Similar to those UTL_ packages, in 11g, you will be required to configure the access control list in order to use the UTL_INADDR. Otherwise, by default, you will receive errors as follows:

TEST_USER @DB11> SELECT utl_inaddr.get_host_name FROM dual;
SELECT utl_inaddr.get_host_name FROM dual
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-24247: network access denied by access control list (ACL)
ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 4
ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 35
ORA-06512: at line 1

Two simple steps to configure are:

1. Create an access control list and its privilege definition.

SQL> connect / as sysdba

begin
dbms_network_acl_admin.create_acl (
acl             => 'Resolve_Access.xml',      -- Name of the access control list XML file
description     => 'Resolve Network Access using UTL_INADDR',  -- Brief description
principal       => 'TEST_USER',               -- First user account or role being granted or denied permission
                                              --   this is case sensitive,
                                              --   but typically user names and roles are stored in upper-case letters
is_grant        => TRUE,                      -- TRUE = granted, FALSE = denied
privilege       => 'resolve',                 -- connect or resolve, this setting is case sensitive,
                                              --   so always enter it in lowercase
                                              --    connect if user uses the UTL_TCP, UTL_HTTP, UTL_SMTP, and UTL_MAIL
                                              --    resolve if user uses the UTL_INADDR
start_date      => null,                      -- optional, null is the default
                                              --   in format of timestamp_with_time_zone (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.FF TZR)
                                              --   for example, '2008-02-28 06:30:00.00 US/Pacific'
end_date        => null                       -- optional, null is the default
);

commit;
end;
/

Note that the privilege used for UTL_INADDR is resolve in lowecase.

You can add more users or roles using DBMS_NETWORK_ACL_ADMIN.ADD_PRIVILEGE.

To verify a newly-created ACL.

SQL> SELECT any_path
FROM resource_view
WHERE any_path like '/sys/acls/Resolve%.xml';

ANY_PATH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/sys/acls/Resolve_Access.xml

2. Assign the the access control list to one or more network hosts.

begin
dbms_network_acl_admin.assign_acl (
acl           => 'Resolve_Access.xml', -- Name of the access control list XML file to be modified
host          => '*',                   -- Network host to which this access control list will be assigned
                                        -- This a host name or IP address or wild card name
lower_port    => null,                  -- (optional)
upper_port    => null);                 -- (optional)

commit;
end;
/

TEST_USER @DB11> SELECT utl_inaddr.get_host_name FROM dual;

GET_HOST_NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname1

Reference: Oracle document on Managing Fine-Grained Access to External Network Services

Last week we installed the OAS 10.1.3.1 on multiple Windows 2003 servers on the VM farm. All went well except the last one. When double-clicking on the setup.exe file, the system verification window popped up. Next I expected the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) window, but nothing happened. The same installation files and procedure have been used on different Windows systems and have worked fine before. The installation log doesn’t seem to be much help either. We’ve tried all tricks including using a local administrative account, rebooting, etc., but none worked.

After looking through the Oracle support site (using Internet Explorer because the some contents don’t display properly on Fire Fox 3.6 ), I found this solution in the document ID 308705.1: OUI Does Not Start After Running Setup.exe Installing OAS On Windows 2003, which says that the root cause is because the Application Experience Lookup Service is not started.  Once started, the installation proceeds without any issues. The strange thing is that those servers we’ve previously installed it successfully did not have this service up either.

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1.0) for Solaris (SPARC) (64-bit) platform is now available for download.

Our organization requires a regular password change on some database accounts for security compliance. If this account is used in the database link in other database, that database link has to be dropped and recreated with an updated password.

This changes in 11gR2 because it now offers the alter database link to change password. No more drop and recreate database link!

Sample here is on the database where database link is located:

The password of the database link’s account has just been changed.

db11gr2 SQL> select count(*) from tb_test@DL_TEST;
select count(*) from tb_test@DL_TEST
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied
ORA-02063: preceding line from DL_TEST

db11gr2 SQL> alter database link DL_TEST connect to dblink_test identified by dblink_test;

Database link altered.

db11gr2 SQL> select count(1) from tb_test@DL_TEST;

COUNT(1)
----------
6304

This option is not available in the pre-11gR2.

db11gr1 SQL > alter database link DL_TEST connect to dblink_test identified by dblink_test;
alter database link DL_TEST connect to dblink_test identified by dblink_test
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02231: missing or invalid option to ALTER DATABASE

Oracle is working toward having the first certification exam for Oracle APEX. This “Oracle Application Express Developer Certified Expert” pilot program is intended for intermediate and advanced APEX developers. You will have to indicate the relevant APEX trainings you’ve completed, years of APEX experiences and, of course, the agreement to provide feedback in order to participate. You can see details about this from Joel Kallman’s blog.

I think this is a good thing for APEX community because it shows Oracle’s commitment to this tool.

BTW, I’m very curious about how the tests will be conducted. Personally I think there should be more of actual development hands-on works rather than doing multiple choices.