sqlnet.ora settings

For well over a year now we have been running Oracle7 with the client software located on a shared file server. In spite of Oracle's official position of not supporting such an arrangement, it has worked well for us and I can't imagine how shops with a large number of client workstations can manage any other way. (BTW, our desktops are running NT Workstation 4.0, our two Oracle DB servers are runnning NT Server 3.51, and our file and application servers are running Novell.)

While this has generally worked quite well it has presented one particular problem. Since everyone is using the same SQLNET.ORA file, if I need to trace a particular workstation, when I set TRACE_LEVEL_CLIENT to some "on" level this necessarily turns it on for everyone. If trace_directory_client is left at its default, it would mean everyone would be trying to write traces to the same file. Of course I can set trace_directory_client to point to the local C: drive (and have) but it still means everyone is tracing while it is turned on.

In my mind, the ideal situation would be if I could locate SQLNET.ORA on the local workstation and leave everything else on the server. Are there ORACLE_INI or registry settings that would allow this, or is it an all-or-nothing situation. Has anyone here ever looked at this particular situation?

• Ed Stevens Nissan Motor Mfg. Corp., USA --
• Ed Stevens