Arjan's Oracle Answers is a special part of my website devoted to Oracle, maintained by "security officer" Arjan Jansen. Apart from book reviews and technical articles & tips, we present the latest Oracle news and a list of suggested reading for Oracle DBAs and Developers.

2004/01/01 - Borland JBuilder and Oracle9i Application Server
A 46-page article about EJB Development using Borland JBuilder 8 and Oracle9i Application Server covers jumpstart development, deployment, optimization, and debugging EJB (available as PDF).

2002 December - OCP: Oracle9i Certification Kit
Oracle is the leading database on the market, putting Oracle database administrators in high demand. The Oracle9i Certification Kit includes Study Guides for each of the four exams required for OCP certification-- Introduction to Oracle9i SQL (1Z1-007), Oracle9i DBA Fundamentals I (1Z1-031), Oracle9i DBA Fundamentals II (1Z1-032), and Database Performance Tuning (1Z1-033). Organized for optimal learning and retention, each Study Guide provides in-depth coverage of all exam objectives, hundreds of challenging review questions, and a searchable electronic version of the entire book.
The Training kit includes four training manuals and four CD-ROMs, and is available with a considerable discount from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

2002/11/18 - Borland and Oracle Web Seminar
EJB 2.0 provides a powerful set of server side specifications to build your J2EE Applications. With the visual EJB 2.0 designer in Borland JBuilder, developers can create session, entity and message beans easily and deploy them on Oracle9i Application Server. With the integration between Oracle9iAS and JBuilder, developers are able to seamlessly deploy, define Oracle specific deployment descriptors and administer Oracle9iAS from JBuilder.

2002/08/02 - Webinar: Borland JBuilder with Oracle9iAS
Join Borland and Oracle for an online seminar (on August 20th) and learn how enterprise applications developed using Borland Java solutions can be automatically packaged and deployed on Oracle9iAS. Oracle9i Application Server is Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) certified and is an integrated and complete platform for application developers. The Borland Java Solution including JBuilder and OptimizeIt is a comprehensive Java development solution. Combined they help developers build, optimize and deploy Java applications faster, more efficiently, with higher quality and at lower cost.

2002/07/30 - .NET Data Provider for Oracle
Connecting .NET applications to Oracle databases? On Microsoft MSDN you can read the details behind the performance and scalability boost you can get with the .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle.

2002/05/07 - Oracle9i New Releases
Oracle9i Application Server Release 2, Oracle9i Developer Suite, and Oracle9i JDeveloper have just been released for production.

2002/04/23 - JDeveloper alternative to Visual Studio.NET
PC Magazine recently reviewed JDeveloper 9i, and found JDeveloper comparable to JBuilder or Visual Studio .NET in its auto-completion aids during manual coding, with the added edge of JDeveloper's CodeCoach tool, which monitored an application session and gave suggestions for improving code structure.

2002/04/19 - Amazon.com XML interface
Amazon.com now offers an XML interface to Amazon.com associates (like me), so we now have the flexibility to display dynamic product information in any way you choose. Take a look at my example how to search Amazon.com using XML and WebSnap (implemented in Delphi 6 and Kylix 2).

2002/03/18 - Oracle 9i JDeveloper
We can now download the Oracle 9i JDeveloper Release Candidate from Oracle Technology Network. 100% written in Java for cross-platform development, Oracle9i JDeveloper is the newest release of Oracle's full-featured J2EE and XML development environment for fast and easy creation of applications and Web services.

2001/12/03 - Oracle9iAS and JBuilder 6
Oracle has just announced integration of Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle9iAS) with Borland JBuilder 6. Using the new integration plug-in for JBuilder 6, developers can realize significant timesavings when building applications for Oracle9iAS.
A free Oracle9iAS development license is included on the JBuilder 6 Companion Tools CD.

2001/10/08 - Expert one-on-one: Oracle
WROX Press has published Expert one-on-one: Oracle, which is written by Tom Kyte. Although Tom Kyte was the only author, the book is still a big 1265 pages and a bestseller at Amazon.com.

2001/09/27 - XML: What Does a Database Have to Do with It?
Listen to Database Guru Ken "Dr. DBA" Jacobs explore the origins and future of XML including its interaction with database technology on Oracle's E-Business Network.

2001/08/31 - Migrating from SQL Server to Oracle
On DevX, I found a good article that contains useful tips and techniques how to migrate from SQL Server to Oracle.

2001/08/01 - Oracle9i SQLJ Programming
A new book has been published about Oracle9i SQLJ Programming, covering the use of Oracle9i SQL in Java programming.

2001/07/10 - Oracle software vulnerability
An article on ZDNet News describes how researchers have found a security hole in Oracle's 8i database program that could let an outside attacker take over the software and--in the case of a Windows computer--the entire system.

2001/07/01 - Oracle Essentials Oracle9i, Oracle8i & Oracle8 (2nd)
Arjan Jansen has written a detailed book review of Oracle Essentials Oracle 8 & Oracle 8i. The book gives a concise description of the Oracle database architecture, and the features which are present in Oracle 8 and Oracle 8i.
Now, the second edition is out: Oracle Essentials: Oracle9i, Oracle8i and Oracle8, and again Arjan Jansen has taken this book to read and he will post a detailed review on this website in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned...

2001/06/13 - Oracle JDeveloper 9i Sneak Preview
The forthcoming Oracle JDeveloper 9i will let you deploy Business Components for Java, EJB Session Beans, and EJB Entity Beans on Oracle9i Application Server.

2001/05/05 - Oracle JDeveloper 3 Handbook
Published by Osborne, Oracle JDeveloper 3 Handbook covers Java and database development (Applets, Servlets, CORBA, JavaBeans, and Enterprise JavaBeans) using Oracle JDeveloper 3.2.

2001/04/26 - IBM to buy Informix
With IBM planning to buy Informix (the deal is expected to close in Q3), we'll have only five major DBMS vendors left: Oracle, IBM (DB2/Informix), Sybase, Microsoft (SQL Server) and Borland/InterBase.

2001/02/26 - Review: Java Enterprise CD Bookshelf
O'Reilly has done it again: The Java Enterprise CD Bookshelf contains a powerhouse of books from O'Reilly (one print and seven electronic): both electronic and print versions of Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, plus electronic versions of Java in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition; Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell; Enterprise JavaBeans, 2nd Edition; Java Servlet Programming; Java Security; and Java Distributed Computing.
Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and now reviewed in detail on this website!

2001/02/15 - Oracle PL/SQL Bookshelf
Last month, Arjan Jansen reviewed the Oracle PL/SQL bookshelf, published by O'Reilly. This CD-ROM contains seven electronic books, and one in paper format.

2001/02/01 - Get Started on Linux with Oracle
You can now download a free Oracle on Linux fast start kit, which contains a technical overview of Oracle on Linux and a free sample of Oracle9i Application Server on Linux.

2001/01/31 - Kylix Announced - support for Oracle8i
The official announcement has just been made, and the Borland Kylix website is in place! Kylix contains database support (for DB2 and Oracle8i) and web server support (for Apache). Kylix requires Red Hat 6.2 or higher, Mandrake 7.2 or higher and SuSE 7.0 or higher.

2001/01/22 - Oracle XSQL Security Problem
It seems InterBase isn't the only one with security problems (fixed), as we've just learned that the Oracle XSQL servlet allows you to specify external XSLT stylesheets which may reside anywhere and can execute Java on the web server - which may lead to compromising the server.
The Oracle XSQL is part of the default installation of Oracle8i 8.1.7 on Windows 2000 (and probably other platforms).

2001 January - Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning
This book is essential for any Oracle developer who cares about high performance (don't we all?). The author is an Oracle developer and consultant himself, and covers SQL processing and introduces guidelines to improve applications, including execution plans, work with joins, nulls and ranges search, index building, hierarchical queries, table scans, GROUP BY, updates, and distributed SQL.
The 500-page book contains practical Oracle database and SQL statement performance tuning techniques, strategies and tips, and is now available from Amazon.com and soon also from Amazon.co.uk.

2000/12/15 - Borland Application Server 4.5
Borland has announced version 4.5 of the Borland Application Server, integrating CORBA (VisiBroker for Java) and EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans).
Borland AppServer 4.5 has passed the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.2.1 Compatibility Test Suite from Sun.

2000/12/11 - Oracle Essentials Oracle 8 & Oracle 8i
Arjan Jansen has written a detailed book review of Oracle Essentials Oracle 8 & Oracle 8i. The book gives a concise description of the Oracle database architecture, and the features which are present in Oracle 8 and Oracle 8i.
Arjan would suggest this book to readers who already have some knowledge about DBMS's, as it might be a bit too concise to give it to a novice. However it is a very good starting point if you want to get a more in depth description regarding the topics discussed in this book. Read more

2000/12/07 - Oracle JDeveloper 3.2
Oracle JDeveloper 3.2, Oracle's Java and XML integrated development tool is now available with JSP1.1 compliant custom tag library to ease the development of JSPs. It also offers new wizards to create XSQL pages, local and remote debugging of Java XML applications, full J2EE support, and more.

2000 December - Oracle 8i Backup & Recovery
The Oracle book of the month December is an Oracle authorized guide (available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk) which explains in detail how to implement the new features of Oracle8i to maintain 24x7 database uptime - and protect data. Inside, you'll find complete details on Oracle8i architecture, physical and logical backup techniques, recovery and replication methods, and diagnostic practices. You'll also learn from real-world case studies. Planning and testing backup procedures for your Oracle database is the only insurance you have to protect your data in the event of system failure - this book shows you how to implement a solid backup and recovery plan.

2000 November - Building Oracle XML Applications
The Oracle book of the month November is a new book from O'Reilly about Building Oracle XML Applications - now available at Amazon.com. A sample chapter (about transforming XML with XSLT) can be read at the O'Reilly website, and more great Oracle books from O'Reilly are listed on my Oracle bookpage.

2000/10/09 - Oracle9i Partner Accelerator Kit
Oracle will provide technical information on the Oracle9i Database and Oracle9i Application Server with the Oracle9i Partner Accelerator Kit.

2000 October - Oracle8i Java Component Programming with EJB, CORBA and JSP
The Oracle book of the month October is Oracle8i Java Component Programming with EJB, CORBA and JSP. This book covers two of the most popular server-side component models: Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) with topics that include lots of details on generating Java Server Pages (JSP) with Java Servlets. Recommended for any Java developer using Oracle8i.

2000/10/02 - Oracle9i Database Announced
Oracle has just announced Oracle9i Database, the next version of their RDBMS.

2000 September - Oracle Applications Performance Tuning Handbook
The Oracle book of the month September is Oracle Applications Performance Tuning Handbook This Oracle-authorized handbook explains how to tune Oracle applications systems for maximum efficiency. Written by a Senior Principal of the Oracle Applications Performance Group, the book offers the latest expert techniques and covers Oracle Applications Smart Client through Release 11i.

2000/08/23 - Updated Oracle 8 SQL Links Driver
Available for four weeks now, an Updated Oracle 8 SQL Links Driver (197,710 bytes) from the Borland website. This update applies to BDE 5.11 only. It was created specifically to address the following problem: BLOCK FETCH

• When you have ROWSET SIZE > 1 in the BDE CFG the DBGrid was showing duplicate records.
• Sum() aggregation with a field containing NULL values caused an Access Violation.

2000 August - Oracle 8i for Linux Starter Kit
The Oracle book of the month August is Oracle 8i for Linux Starter Kit. This book/CDROM package contains everything you need to get up and running with Oracle8i on Linux. You'll get step-by-step details on installation, customization, administration, and troubleshooting. The CD-ROM contains the official version of Oracle8i for Linux and Enterprise Manager.

2000/08/06 - Oracle Application Server and Oracle8i
You would assume two complementing products of the same supplier, released during the same period, to be installation compatible. However, when installing the Oracle Application Server (I tried it in version 4.0.8.1) next to Oracle 8i (v 8.1.5), a number of problems can occur.
Read Dave Henneman's findings (including some Java tips) and save yourself some valuable time...

2000/07/28 - Oracle8i's ORB does the trick
An article on JavaWorld July 2000, providing an overview of developing server-side Java CORBA applications using Oracle8i JVM and ORB.

2000/06/26 - Oracle COM-CORBA Bridge
The Oracle JServer COM-CORBA Bridge is a development tool that provides services to access CORBA objects published by Oracle JServer from Microsoft COM environments.

2000/06/01 - Oracle 8i Books
Learn Oracle 8i is written by José Ramalho, an international consultant and journalist who is also a best-selling computer book author in Brazil. This book makes programming Oracle 8i easy, contains full source code, etc.
Apart from this book, the Oracle8i Complete Reference, published by Oracle Press is now available from Amazon.com and already becoming a bestseller. In fact, the following Oracle 8i books can be recommended (and ordered from Amazon.com):

June 2000

May 2000

Oct 1999

2000/02/22 - Oracle 8i Web Development
An Amazon.com bestseller, the book Oracle 8i Web Development is a collection of diverse overviews, specific techniques, and recommendations for the wide range of interrelated Oracle tools for creating professional Web applications. In fact, the following Oracle books can be recommended (and ordered from Amazon.com):

December 1999

November 1999

October 1999

October 1999

1999/11/29 - TAS-AT runner-up in RAD Race
Arjan Jansen and Hubert A. Klein Ikkink (of TAS Advanced Technologies) finished second place in the European RAD Race. Arjan and Hubert used Oracle8i, JDeveloper, JBuilder 3 Enterprise and JRun Servlets. They received the "Best Java Solution" award.
The official Dutch Inprise Team (Jeroen Pluimers and Taco Oosterkamp, using Delphi 5) finished in fifth position.

At iDevelop 99, Oracle announced the immediate availability of new XML components, making it the first vendor to offer XML interfaces to all major development languages-Java, C, C++ and PL/SQL. These new components improve productivity for Internet developers seeking to access legacy information and transport it between business applications using XML.
All XML components are available immediately for free download from Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

A welcome contribution, from George Pujol, is about Connecting Borland Database Engine applications to Oracle Workgroup Server 7 (Updated for Oracle 8). I just wish to say: Thanks George!!