Dan's Oracle7 Guide - Progress Report/FAQ

From: Daniel B. Bikle <dbikle_at_cco.caltech.edu>
Date: 3 Oct 1993 06:38:10 GMT
Message-ID: <28ls0iINNnre_at_gap.caltech.edu>


Dan's Oracle7 Guide - Progress Report/FAQ Sat Oct 2 22:44:17 PDT 1993


Earlier today Dan e-mailed 340 copies of "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" to people all over the world.

Dan has updated the FAQ which is displayed below:

Frequently Asked Questions about "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"

What is "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-It is a collection of UNIX files and directories. The files have been
divided into four categories:

	-Text files full of technical writing
	-Demonstration Scripts
	-Output from Demonstration Scripts
	-Temp files created by the Demonstration Scripts
	(In a Production environment, temp files are usually removed
	after serving their purpose. They have been included in the
	guide as an aid to understanding how the Demonstration
	Scripts work.)

Where can I get a copy of "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-A public domain version of the guide is available to people who send a
request to the following email address:

        dbikle_at_alumni.caltech.edu

or snail mail:

        Dan Bikle, P.O. BOX 'D' MENLO PARK CA 94026

What is the interest level in "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-Since posting a few files to comp.databases.oracle Dan has received over
400 pieces of email.

What is the format of "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-Current format is UNIX shell archive. You will find the
following instructions in the shell archive when you receive it in your email box:

        # JUST NAME THIS FILE ARCH.SH THEN MAKE IT EXECUTABLE AND RUN IT
-An MS-DOS floppy with the shell archive on it is another
suitable format. The idea behind the floppy is a person could read the floppy into a PC, copy the shell archive to a UNIX box and unpack it. The floppy format is ready now.

-Another format is 8mm dat tape available now.

-Another format will be an MS-DOS floppy with a hierarchy of
MS-DOS files on it. This format will be ready soon.

When will "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" be ready ?
-A beta version is ready now.

How much does "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" cost?
-The public domain, email, beta version is free.
If you have an extra $20, please send it to my favorite charity: Amnesty International 322 8th ave. ny NY usa 10001.

-Other formats (floppy, tape, hardcopy) will be $60 payable to
Dan Bikle. Since the guide is public domain, you should be able to get it for much cheaper than $60 from someone besides Dan.

Will "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" be published as a book?
-Maybe, right now Dan is hard at work on the Production version
of the Guide.

Will "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" be published as a piece of affordable commercial software?
-Yes, this is Dan's chief task now. He is calling it the Production
version of "Dan's Oracle7 Guide". Not much will be said about it here though, since USENET is not a marketplace for software. You might see advertisements for it in the printed media. It will be copyrighted, not public domain software.

How will Dan create the MS-DOS version of "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-Dan needs help with this. Dan will give a free copy of the
Production version of the Guide to the first person to help him create an MS-DOS version of the Guide. It will be about a two or three hour job; we need to go through all the files in the guide and make sure the names are 8 characters or less. Then each file needs to be copied into a hierarchy on an MS-DOS machine so we can copy the hierarchy to a bunch of floppies. An ideal job for someone with a PC networked with a Sun.

Why has Dan Bikle poured hundreds of hours of effort into "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?
-Independent Oracle Consulting is a competitive business. This guide
will help Dan's Consulting/Training business grow. Also, I like to think of my self as the type of person who helps other people. But, like you, I need to buy groceries.

How is "Dan's Oracle7 Guide" organized?
-A listing of the beta version is provided below:
ava2-dan-% ls

./              INTRO           bugsfound       packages_at_       startups/
../             NO_WARRANTY     dbs_triggers/   pro_c/          tools/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS README.beta     dos_unix/       procedures/     v6to_o7/
AUTHOR          README_FIRST    init_params/    profiles/
COPYING         TRADEMARKS      install/        ref_integ/
COPYRIGHT       analyze/        mts_setup/      security/
ava2-dan-%

ava2-dan-% du

84      ./v6to_o7
38      ./mts_setup
39      ./security
15      ./ref_integ
27      ./dbs_triggers
69      ./install
10      ./startups
5       ./init_params
4       ./dos_unix
24      ./profiles
48      ./analyze
21      ./pro_c
50      ./procedures
22      ./tools
479     .

ava2-dan-%

What is said in the introduction to "Dan's Oracle7 Guide"?

INTRO


This guide is intended to be an enhancement to the documentation supplied by Oracle Corporation.

The thrust of the guide is to provide two types of information:

	-Useful examples
	-Expansion and discussion of a few ideas presented by the
	Oracle documentation

For example, when the Oracle DBA Guide covers the use of Profiles (database objects used to limit the usage of resources by users) it displays examples of how to create and assign profiles. And it provides a paragraph explaining that the DBA needs to query the Audit Trail and SQLDBA Monitor to obtain information on current resource usage. This guide goes one step further; it shows exact scripts to run against the Audit Trail and dynamic performance tables which return information about the current state of resource usage. When the Oracle DBA Guide covers the COMPOSITE_LIMIT it only describes how to set its value. This guide provides a thinking process which the DBA uses to set the COMPOSITE_LIMIT to an appropriate value.

Although this guide intends to expand on ideas presented by the Oracle documentation, it does take the liberty to skim over some topics which the Oracle documentation thoroughly explains. A good example of this is the topic "ORACLE System Architecture". The Oracle documentation provides diagrams and a thorough description of this topic. This guide just assumes the reader knows about ORACLE System Architecture.


-Dan



Daniel B. Bikle
dbikle_at_alumni.caltech.edu
415/854-9542
P.O. BOX 'D'
MENLO PARK CA 94026
Received on Sun Oct 03 1993 - 07:38:10 CET

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