Re: Oracle General

For some reason i missed the earlier part of this thread so I apologize if all this has been covered already.
"Sted Alana" <Sted_Alana_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:3cc7f075_1_at_news.iprimus.com.au...
> "Katherine" <ktlang_at_prodigy.com> wrote in message
> > In the early days, SQL 'standard query language' was originally intended
> as
> > ASCII standard code, independent of operating system or rdbms. however
> > over time the standards have been stretched and there are flavors of
SQL.
> > Microsoft's SQL, although similar, is different enough to need a
> conversion
> > table.

That should read ANSI standard (for A,merican National Standards Institute IIRC). There are several layers of compliance with the standard and none of the RDBMS vendors fully comply with the full standard definition.
> >
> > SQL*Plus is Oracle's extension to the standard. It applies to only
Oracle
> > rdbms .

SQL*Plus is a query tool analagous to Microsofts Query Analyzer.

> However, Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus are operating system
> independent,
> > meaning sql code written on Dynix should work on NT.

The SQL & PL/SQL will work except as far as it calls os dependent routines - think external procedures, directory paths etc.

<snip>
> One last question regarding the query tools (SQL, SQL*PLUS, SQLLOADER,
> PL/SQL etc.). To me it seems that the tools are a database itself because
> you can create tables that hold data (.sql files), so why need the
database
> part?
>

SQL & PL/SQL are not tools but languages. As to holding a 'database' in flat files I'm completely at a loss as to know what to say. Perhaps one of the educators on the group can offer a comment.

--
Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
Audit Commission UK
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