OPEN_CURSORS is getting out of hand!

Hello all you Oracle geniuses!!

Recently, our users have been getting ORACLE errors in their application that indicate "max cursors exceeded" "error at recursive SQL level 1". In the last two weeks, I have had to increase the OPEN_CURSORS variable in the init.ora 3 times. Each time it seemed as though the problem was solved, but a few days later it hits us again. There is not much documentation on this variable, but it does say that its value is unlimited which tells me I can boost it as much as I want?? But my question is what is causing it all of the sudden, and if I keep boosting it up, will it degrade the system's performance?? Its current value is now 200 which seems outrageous to me, but what is the average size of this variable for large (2 G) databases??

Thanks for any responses!
please send them directly to kcarmich_at_coco.cc.az.us Kathy Carmichael
Coconino County Community College
Flagstaff, AZ Received on Wed Nov 30 1994 - 20:24:15 CET