Re: How to tell which PATCH I have in Oracle 8.1.7.4?

For any patch you apply, there are going to be instructions. Those instructions will tell you whether you need opatch. Also, if you look at metalink document 301046.1 (among other places) you will see
"CPUApr2005 patches now ship with installation scripts that eliminate a
number of manual steps that were required in previous Critical Patch Updates - both for applying the patch as well as in post installation steps.

This significantly simplifies the patch application process - especially for those versions that did not have Opatch support (Pre 9.2 for Oracle Database Server and all version of Oracle Application Server and Collaboration Suite).
"

As far as bashing you for patches, it is just simply necessary to know what patch level for many questions, so it is considered prerequisite for posts here. Since there can also be one-off patches, you need to post what you know. I vaguely recall there was some program you run to find versions of things on 8, like "version" or something, or I might have slipped into a parallel universe. There have been discussions about this here long ago, but I can't find them. You might also check out Oracle's RDA tool, it makes pretty reports.

If this doesn't answer all your posting questions: http://www.dbaoracle.net/readme-cdos.htm send the maintainer your suggestions.

jg

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