scott@9i > select owner,object_Name,object_type from all_objects where object_name='V$DATAFILE';

OWNER                          OBJECT_NAME                    OBJECT_TYPE
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------
PUBLIC                         V$DATAFILE                     SYNONYM

scott@9i > grant create session to public;

Grant succeeded.

scott@9i > create user x identified  by y;

User created.

scott@9i > connect x/y
Error accessing PRODUCT_USER_PROFILE
Warning:  Product user profile information not loaded!
You may need to run PUPBLD.SQL as SYSTEM
Connected.
scott@9i > show user
USER is "X"
scott@9i > select * from session_privs;

PRIVILEGE
----------------------------------------
CREATE SESSION

scott@9i > select * from user_sys_privs;

USERNAME                       PRIVILEGE                                ADM
------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- ---
PUBLIC                         CREATE SESSION                           NO

cott@9i > desc v$datafile
ERROR:
ORA-04043: object "SYS"."V_$DATAFILE" does not exist


scott@9i > !
oracle@mutation#sqlplus -s "sys/sys as sysdba" <<EOF
> grant select on v_\$datafile to public;
> EOF

Grant succeeded.

oracle@mutation#exit
exit

scott@9i > desc v$datafile
 Name                                                  Null?    Type
 ----------------------------------------------------- -------- ------------------------------------
 FILE#                                                          NUMBER
 CREATION_CHANGE#                                               NUMBER
 CREATION_TIME                                                  DATE
 TS#                                                            NUMBER
 RFILE#                                                         NUMBER
 STATUS                                                         VARCHAR2(7)
 ENABLED                                                        VARCHAR2(10)
 CHECKPOINT_CHANGE#                                             NUMBER
 CHECKPOINT_TIME                                                DATE
 UNRECOVERABLE_CHANGE#                                          NUMBER
 UNRECOVERABLE_TIME                                             DATE
 LAST_CHANGE#                                                   NUMBER
 LAST_TIME                                                      DATE
 OFFLINE_CHANGE#                                                NUMBER
 ONLINE_CHANGE#                                                 NUMBER
 ONLINE_TIME                                                    DATE
 BYTES                                                          NUMBER
 BLOCKS                                                         NUMBER
 CREATE_BYTES                                                   NUMBER
 BLOCK_SIZE                                                     NUMBER
 NAME                                                           VARCHAR2(513)
 PLUGGED_IN                                                     NUMBER
 BLOCK1_OFFSET                                                  NUMBER
 AUX_NAME                                                       VARCHAR2(513)

SQL> create table table1 (what date);

Table created.

SQL> create table table3 (what date);

Table created.

SQL> insert into table1 values (sysdate);

1 row created.

SQL> insert into table3 values (sysdate + 10000);

1 row created.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> create public synonym table1 for table1;

Synonym created.

SQL> grant select on table1 to oe;

Grant succeeded.

SQL> create public synonym table2 for table3;

Synonym created.

SQL> grant select on table2 to oe;

Grant succeeded.

SQL> conn oe/oe
Connected.
SQL> select * from table1;

WHAT
---------
25-FEB-08

SQL> select * from table2;

WHAT
---------
13-JUL-35

SQL> select * from table3;
select * from table3
                *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00942: table or view does not exist

SQL> select * from scott.table3;

WHAT
---------
13-JUL-35

SQL>