Re: Can't find file with a *.ora extension

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 05:57:21 -0700, Ramon F Herrera interested us by writing:

> After getting some error message I googled and found the solution:
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
> alter tablespace system add datafile 'datafile1.ora'
> size 10m autoextend on next 1m maxsize 250m;
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> The above command fixed my problem, but now I am curious about that
> 'datafile1.ora' file. As typed above, the file ended up in
> $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/. Isn't that an odd place for a data file? Should I
> place it next time in a directory such as '/u01/oracle/oradata/...'?
> Is the *.ora extension appropriate? Should I use the *.dbf extension
> instead?
>

Oracle does not care what extension is used. Over the years I have seen a few different ones, but they mainly center around .dbf and .ora

I'll take it one step further ... Oracle does not care WHETHER an extension is used. And since one should never edit an Oracle database file, and since the extension is often used to associate user programs to files, it can be argued that there should be NO extension.

As far as 'where' the data file should go - you will find the data file often is placed under the %ORACLE_HOME%/database or $ORACLE_HOME/dbs directory by default. The 'right' place depends entirely on the admininstrative standards used in the business.

Personally I've been around long enough to actually have read the Oracle/Optimal Flexible/Files Architecture/Approach (OFA) documents over the years - which are now included as an appendix in the installation documentation (for Unix).

In the more recent versions, Oracle also introduced a way of having ORacle place and create files - Oracle Managed Files - which is described in Chapter 3 of the 9iR2 Admin guide. That allows you to set patterns for the directories and file naming so all you need to do is type in SQLPlus

        CREATE TABLESPACE; and the database instance will decide where, how to name it and how big it should be.

So - the answer to your questions is "do whatever is most comfortable for you". Preferrably after reading some more in the Concepts and Administration manuaals at http://docs.oracle.com (That reading will save a lot of Google time <g>)

-- 
Hans Forbrich                           
Canada-wide Oracle training and consulting
mailto: Fuzzy.GreyBeard_at_gmail.com   
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