Re: using ifile in the tnsnames.ora file

BTW, for those that are interested, the SR resulted in a bug being opened: 5193734

Stefan

On 2/9/07, Stefan Knecht <knecht.stefan_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I've had the same situation a little while ago. And after tons of tests
> and a very long lasting service request with oracle - it basically comes
> down to this:
>
> I've created an enhancement request with Oracle Support, asking for this
> functionality (because it wasn't documented). Oracle then told me that this
> feature was already there. But, "2. I am not sure whether this can be
> considered as a BUG for IFILE issue as this has been used since oracle 8i.
> This is not a recommendation by oracle to use IFILE. " was the response.
>
> Basically, if you're using IFILE in tnsnames.ora, you're entering
> uncharted territory - and you won't get a lot of support if it hits the fan.
> And there's several conditions, where it won't work - apart from the one
> you've already found out, re database links.
>
> In the end, it appears to me that the problem lies in the dynamic
> reloading of the file. That mechanism seems to break once you've got an
> IFILE line in your tnsnames.ora. I've tested this on many different
> versions of oracle -- and many of them behave differently. Most of the time
> though, you can reproduce the "bug" like this:
>
> - open sql*plus
> - connect to a tns alias referenced in your tnsnames.ora (at the time of
> sql*plus startup)
> - while sql*plus is still running, change an entry in your tnsnames.ora,
> and try to connect to the new service name
> - you'll find that this works ONLY IF you dont have an IFILE entry in your
> tnsnames.ora - because once you do, you're stuck with the version of the
> tnsnames.ora you've had when you started sql*plus.
>
> Therefore, I'm guessing, that when you bounce the database containing the
> db links, you'll be able to connect to them - as the database will also
> re-read the file only on startup, once you've added an IFILE to it.
>
>
> Stefan
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2/8/07, Jacques Kilchoer <Jacques.Kilchoer_at_quest.com> wrote:
> >
> > Do you use an IFILE parameter in a network configuration file (
> > tnsnames.ora, sqlnet.ora, other) to consolidate entries in a central
> > location? I guess it's an obsolete practice and I should stop.
> >
> > I've been using IFILE parametes in the tnsnames.ora file for as long as
> > I've been using Oracle. Recently however, when creating database links, I
> > noticed that the database link was using an alias that is coming from an
> > "ifile" in the tnsnames.ora, even though SQL*Plus on the server could
> > use that entry. I've never had problems using an IFILE in the
> > tnsnames.ora except the one I recently encountered with database links.
> >
> > Imagine my surprise when I saw this on Tom Kyte's website:
> >
> >
> > http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/asktom/f?p=100:11:0::::P11_QUESTION_ID:489021635775
> >
> > Quoter: "IFILE is not supported for
> > tnsnames/listener/sqlnet/protocol.ora files."
> >
> >
> > I checked the network administration / reference manuals for 8.0.6,
> > 8.1.7, 9.0, 9.2, 10.1, the "ifile" parameter is never mentioned for the
> > network configuration files (sqlnet.ora, tnsnames.ora, listener.ora,
> > cman.ora, names.ora, ldap.ora) - but it is mentioned in the server
> > reference manual as a valid parameter for the init.ora file.
> >
> > Is this a new limitation? For example I quickly found Metalink note
> > 1017689.102 that tells me I can use ifile in the tnsnames.ora and
> > listener.ora files with an Oracle 8.0 listener.
> >
> > I found a couple of recent notes that mentioned a tnsnames.oracontaining an ifile (Notes
> > 397684.1 and 397567.1) but both of these notes had the comment "This
> > document is being delivered to you via Oracle Support's Rapid Visibility
> > (RaV) process, and therefore has not been subject to an independent
> > technical review."
> >
> >
>

--
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l