Table locked while rebuilding index

Pardon my ignorance, but:

I've just discovered I can not insert a row into a table whose index is just being created (CREATE INDEX...).

Does this mean an Oracle table is locked while its index is being created, or am I doing something terribly wrong?

Is there a way to have a table available for writing (and reading), while its index is being created? Something like CREATE INDEX IN THE BACKGROUND ... I work with Oracle 8.1.7. Received on Thu May 01 2003 - 11:38:02 CDT