Preface

This guide is your primary source of introductory and reference information for Oracle Database for Windows for both client and server. Differences between product versions are noted where appropriate.

This document describes the features of Oracle Database for Windows software that apply to the Windows NT Server, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

This preface contains these topics:

• Audience

• Organization

• Related Documentation

• Conventions

• Documentation Accessibility

Audience

Oracle Database Platform Guide is intended for:

• Database administrators

• Network administrators

• Security specialists

• Developers who use Oracle Database

To use this document, you need:

• Oracle-certified Windows operating system software installed and tested

• Knowledge of object-relational database management concepts

Organization

This document contains:

This chapter describes how Oracle Database architecture takes advantage of some of the more advanced services in the Windows operating system.

This chapter describes how to use multiple Oracle homes and an Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) configuration for placement of database files.

This chapter provides a list of preferred and optional tools you can use to perform common database administration tasks. It also explains how to start these tools.

This chapter explains how to create a database after installing Oracle Database, using either the Database Configuration Assistant or command-line tools.

This chapter describes some of the configuration tasks you must perform before using Oracle interMedia and other Oracle options.

This chapter explains how to administer Oracle Database for Windows.

This chapter explains how to monitor Oracle Database for Windows.

This chapter explains how to tune Windows Server operating systems to ensure that Oracle Database is running in the best possible environment.

This chapter describes authentication of Oracle Database users on Windows operating systems.

This chapter describes the administration of external users and roles.

This chapter describes the storing and retrieving of Oracle Wallets in the Windows registry.

This chapter describes the integration of Oracle public key infrastructure (PKI) with Windows 2000 public key infrastructure (Windows PKI) on Windows operating systems.

This chapter discusses initialization parameters, which Oracle Database uses on Windows to enable various features of the database every time an instance is started.

This chapter describes the use of the registry for various Oracle Database components. In addition, this chapter lists the recommended values and ranges for configuration parameters.

This chapter points to sources of information on developing applications for Windows and outlines a procedure for building and debugging external procedures.

This appendix describes the contents of your Oracle Database documentation set.

This appendix describes how to configure your system to store datafiles for tablespaces on raw partitions.

This appendix describes Oracle Net Services configuration for Windows. For an overview of Oracle Net Services configuration in general, seeOracle Net Services Administrator's Guide.

This appendix lists error messages, causes, and corrective actions that are specific to the operation of Oracle Database for Windows.

This appendix highlights differences between Windows 2000 and Windows NT, with emphasis on procedures for common database tasks.

This appendix compares features of Oracle Database for Windows and UNIX. This information may be helpful to Oracle Database developers and database administrators moving from UNIX to Windows platforms.

Related Documentation

For information on the components available in your Oracle Database installation type, see your Oracle Database Installation Guide for Windows.

For Oracle Database product information that is applicable to all operating systems, see your Oracle Database Online Documentation Library CD-ROM for Windows. Many of the examples in the documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle Database. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

For information about Oracle Database error messages, see Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle Database error message documentation is available only in HTML. If you only have access to the Oracle Database Documentation CD, you can browse the error messages by range. Once you find the specific range, use your browser's "find in page" feature to locate the specific message. When connected to the Internet, you can search for a specific error message using the error message search feature of the Oracle Database online documentation.

If you are not familiar with object-relational database management concepts, see Oracle Database Concepts.

Printed documentation is available for sale in the Oracle Store at http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other 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 Examples

• Conventions for Windows Operating Systems

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

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They are 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.

[ ]

DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ])

{ }

{ENABLE | DISABLE}

|

{ENABLE | DISABLE}
[COMPRESS | NOCOMPRESS]

...

CREATE TABLE ... AS subquery;

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

.
 .
 .

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.

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

Italics

CONNECT SYSTEM/system_password
DB_NAME = database_name

UPPERCASE

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

lowercase

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
sqlplus hr/hr
CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;

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

c:\winnt"\"system32 is the same as C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32

C:\oracle\oradata>

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

HOME_NAME

C:\> net start OracleHOME_NAMETNSListener

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For additional information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/

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.

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