Steve Callan

In the world of Business Intelligence, the day has arrived. Oracle recently announced the release of Oracle Business Intelligence 11g, and the goods are now available. Steve Callan provides a history, tracing the software back to its origins, comparing the 10g with the 11g version. In the world of Business Intelligence, the day has arrived. […]

Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB) has seen many changes lately. Keeping up with new features in the Oracle RDBMS can be challenging enough, but when you add changes to products, you may have your work cut out for you. This article explores some updates in OWB for Oracle11gR2 (plus some of the changes between 10g and […]

Ever wonder what the Oracle Database Cost Based Optimizer (CBO) was doing behind the scenes or how it comes up with an execution plan? While other tools or settings show us WHAT the CBO comes up with, the 10053 trace event setting tells us HOW the CBO came to its decision (the final execution plan). […]

Oracle’s software is freely available for personal use but you’ll have to pay for access to technical notes, patches, and other specialized content. Plus, there’s a technical/legal catch; you can’t use My Own Support to find database articles under a different product license. In terms of compliance, you really need a database product. Enter Oracle […]

Having a re-usable dump file for installing Oracle Database Sample Schemas is much more convenient than the current method. Would you rather download a compressed file containing one (or several) dump files, including a parameter file suitable for use during an import session or job or use the Oracle Universal Installer? I wrote an introductory […]

It can be hard, as an Oracle Database administrator, to expand your PL/SQL skills due to a lack of good examples, not to mention that lines upon lines of syntax definitions can be somewhat of a turn-off. Steve Callan shows how using PL/SQL records can simplify what you have to code – and they’re easy […]

Steve Callan walks through some Oracle Text setup steps and working examples of different index types used by Oracle Text. Oracle Text – Expanding Your String Searching Capabilities in Oracle Database discussed some of Oracle Text’s features and functionality. In this article, Steve Callan goes through some setup steps and worked examples. First of all, […]

Searching for text within a database can be like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Users depend on the database administrator to solve complex text search requirements. Do you respond with clever methods such as LIKE, regular expressions and function-based indexes? Is there something more available to you and your users? As a […]

The usefulness and utility of the SQL Server Agent cannot be overstated. Oracle Database supports the automatic starting of an instance, so whatever is associated with the Oracle instance can also be started along with the instance. The same holds true with the SQL Server instance and its agent service. Notification Services SQL Server Notification […]

DBAs often need to learn where features of their system can be found on other systems. Steve Callan explores mapping SQL Server replication and management features back into Oracle Database. Oracle as a Data Source, Setting up Oracle as a Data Source for SQL Server and Configuring Oracle as a Data Source for SQL Server […]

Database administrators are often faced with the need to learn where features of his/her system live or reside on a less familiar system. Steve Callan approaches this need by mapping SQL Server features back into Oracle Database. Database Security This category includes three child items: Logins, Server Roles, and Credentials. Logins in SQL Server can […]

One of the initial obstacles a database administrator encounters is learning where features of his/her system live or reside on a less familiar system. Steve Callan approaches this feature comparison by taking SQL Server and mapping its features back into Oracle. No, this isn’t one of those “why my RDBMS is better than your RDBMS” […]