I have been using this SQL*Plus command for a while now:

SQL> show spparameter service_names

SID      NAME          TYPE        VALUE
-------- ------------- ----------- ---------
*        service_names string      REDX

And guess what ?

• The right syntax is actually show spparameters (with a “s” at the end of it).
• It’s an 11g New Feature!

It doesn’t work with 10g:

SQL> show spparameters service_names

SP2-0735: unknown SHOW option beginning "spparamete..."
SP2-0735: unknown SHOW option beginning "service_na..."

I thought MySQL was trying to become as big as Oracle but it could be that Oracle is trying to become as cool as MySQL — it has had something like this for a long time! Now Oracle should add SHOW TABLES too.

Anyway, this is really 11g’s most useful feature so far, though. …

Welcome to the 81st edition of Log Buffer, the weekly review of database blogs. We begin this issue with some more (and probably not the last) commentary on the acquisition of MySQL AB by Sun. On rand($thoughts);, Savio Rodrigues questions the idea that MySQL are not big enough for some customers: “I’m confused that Sun, [...]

So you have created your standby database using the RMAN DUPLICATE command, you have set the ARCHIVE_LAG_TARGET to maintain a minimum lag target, and you have sorted out those nasty datafile missing errors using automatic file management. You’ve even added standby redo logs to improve the Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR). Now management are demanding [...]

I’m sorry that I haven’t commented on the BEA acquisition. It’s just been too obvious for too long, I can’t get excited even though it’s really really big. Manifest destiny manifested, that’s it. On the other hand… Tip of the hat to Lucas Jellema at AMIS who posts his own commentary on the acquisition and also provides [...]

The only criticism of the deal I could possibly give is that MySQL is still on the early phase of an exponential adoption curve and I think they’ve got lots of growth yet to come. But really, a billion dollars has a lot if not most of that growth factored into the price already. Think of what [...]

The latest release of DBD::Oracle is now ready and can be found at: CPAN DBD::Oracle. It is a Perl module that works with the DBI module to provide access to Oracle databases. It is maintained by me, John Scoles as open source/free software, under the auspices of The Pythian Group. The release has been fully tested [...]

The 79th edition of Log Buffer, the weekly review of database blogs, has been published on H. Tonguç Yilmaz Oracle Blog. Next week, LB#80 will appear on Chen Shapira’s I’m just a simple DBA on a complex production system. Have you done one yet? Publishing Log Buffer is an excellent way to introduce yourself and your [...]

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I try to do a decent job of advocating for caring about good backups and business continuity strategies in my 7 Deadly Habits article. But this one beats them all:

Just too funny and great not to share. Found via this reddit article, where there is a lively discussion underway.

The listing of Dynamic System Variables on the MySQL Reference Manual’s page is supposed to show those variables you can change on-the-fly. innodb_data_home_dir is listed there as a dynamic variable, but it is not one, and trying to change it on-the-fly doesn’t work:

mysql> set global innodb_data_home_dir="/data/mysql/data"; ERROR 1193 (HY000): Unknown system variable 'innodb_data_home_dir'

mysql> set session innodb_data_home_dir="/data/mysql/data"; ERROR [...]