Where are Oracle database files?

[Quoted] I am new to Oracle and I am having difculties grasping the concept of their database. With desktop databases (i.e. MS Access) it was simple:there was a .mdb file and that file contained all the tables, queries, etc. complete database.

What would be the equivalent if using Oracle7 database? I figured out how to create users, tables using Navigator, and how to use SQL*Plus to interface with these. However, I can't where is the database itself. How do I name it? How do I go on about creating a brand new database.

With Access I would fire up Access for windows and pick "New->Database" fromt he menu. Then I'd add tables etc. How do I create a new database in Oracle? What if I wanted to put it on a disk?

Any help is greatly appreciated. All sources of information I had about Oracle seem to skip this part. They just go straight to using the database without mentioning how to start completely from scratch.

Thanks,

• maciej