Oracle8i New Features/ Upgrade FAQ

$Date: 10-Jul-2000 $
$Revision: 1.01 $
$Author: Frank Naudé $

Topics

• JServer Accelerator (Native Java compiler for each platform), Java programs can run as machine code, not interpreted as with 8.1.5.

• iFS: Internet File System (only where available)

• Native support for Java2

• New SQL*Plus command line options: sqlplus -MARKUP [HTML...] and -RESTRICT

• Mew CASE statement in SQL similar to the Decode() function

• Many new analytical functions like lag/ lead/ etc implemented in SQL

• STATSPACK that can be used for performance monitoring (much better that UTLBSTAT/UTLESTAT).

• CURSOR_SHARING parameter - optimize SHARED POOL for applications that do not use bind variables

• Block checking (DB_BLOCK_CHECKING) is automatically enabled for objects in the SYSTEM tablespace

• Integrated Java VM (called Aurora) in the database kernel allowing one to execute Java stored procedures

• Integrated support for EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans)

• Integrated Object Request Broker for standard CORBA communications between applications and the database

• JSQL: a specification for Java-based SQL database statements

• Huge improvements in Oracle Parallel Server technology

• Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) v2.0 completely rewritten in Java

• The OEM v2.0 Server will allow administration via a Web Browser or via a thick installation and allow DBA's to collaborate

• HASH based table partitioning (in conjunction with the 8.0 RANGE partitioning)

• Transportable tablespace: Put the tablespace in read-only mode, run a utility to create a dmp file. Move the dmp file and the datafiles (for that tablespace) to another database. Run another utility to read in the dmp file. And the tablespace will be "in place" in the new database!!!

• Read only database. Allow you to actually "use" the standby database

• Multiple remote archival of redo logs. Can specific up to 5 archival destination and can have up to 10 archiver processes

• Drop the column. (Jared had already mentioned this). Set the column to UNUSED: column will be inaccessible but can change it back to used anytime.

• Function based indexes (have to be row level function, can be a user defined function)

• Index Key compression: duplicate keys are combined and save space

• Secondary Index-only-table indexes

• Single table hash cluster

• Temporary tables!! Tables which will be truncated at the end of a transaction or session

• partition new features: merge partitions into one, updatable partition keys (allow movement of rows between partitions), hash partitioning (don't have to determine the partition range), can use LOBS in partitioned tables

• Composite partitioning (subpartitions using the hash method)

• More and more and more.. (run out of time..)