Category Archives: ORACLE 12c Release 2

ORACLE 12.2 – Enhanced Whitelist (ACCESSIBLE BY)

25 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, PL/SQL

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With Version 12.1 ORACLE provided a new way to determine that a program unit may only be called by other program units which are part of a whilelist. This new feature was implemented using the ACCESSIBLE BY clause. ACCESSIBLE BY was declared on top level (e.g. package specification).

ORACLE 12.2 provides a higher granularity for the whitelist. It is no possible to define the access on a packaged procedure/function too.

Code Example:

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE emp_tapi IS
   TYPE emp_tapi_rect IS RECORD (ename    emp.ename%TYPE
                               , comm     emp.comm%TYPE
                               , hiredate emp.hiredate%TYPE
                               , empno    emp.empno%TYPE
                               , mgr      emp.mgr%TYPE
                               , job      emp.job%TYPE
                               , deptno   emp.deptno%TYPE
                               , sal      emp.sal%TYPE);

   TYPE emp_tapi_tabt IS TABLE OF emp_tapi_rect;

-- ========================================================================
-- insert
-- ========================================================================
   PROCEDURE ins (emp_tapi_rec IN OUT NOCOPY emp_tapi_rect)
      ACCESSIBLE BY (PACKAGE emp_maint_up.newEmp);

-- ========================================================================
-- update
-- ========================================================================
   PROCEDURE upd (emp_tapi_rec IN emp_tapi_rect) 
      ACCESSIBLE BY (PACKAGE emp_maint_up);

-- ========================================================================
-- delete
-- ========================================================================
   PROCEDURE del (p_empno IN emp.empno%type)
      ACCESSIBLE BY (TRIGGER emp_io_d_t);
END emp_tapi;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY emp_tapi IS
-- ========================================================================
-- insert
-- ========================================================================
   PROCEDURE ins (emp_tapi_rec IN OUT NOCOPY emp_tapi_rect)
      ACCESSIBLE BY (PACKAGE emp_maint_up.newEmp)
   IS
   BEGIN
      ...

As you can see, ACCESSIBLE BY clause has to be specified in specification and body. 

Conclusion

The ACCESSIBLE BY clause is very useful (e.g. refactoring) and the higher granularity will help to make it even better.

ORACLE 12.2 – Coverage Pragma and DBMS_PLSQL_CODE_COVERAGE

20 Monday Mar 2017

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The new package DBMS_PLSQL_CODE_COVERAGE helps use to collect data on how well our testcases exercise our code.

Basic block coverage

The DBMS_PLSQL_CODE_COVERAGE package collects data at the basic block level. A basic block is a segment of code with no branches, the basic block has a single entry and a single exit point.

Preparation

The code coverage is collected in 3 tables (DBMSPCC_RUNS, DBMSPCC_UNITS, DBMSPCC_BLOCKS). Those tables may be created using the create_coverage_tables procedure of dbms_plsql_code_coverage. The procedure has a single boolean parameter (force_it) which would drop/create the tables if they already exist. The default value of the parameter is false. If this parameter remains false and the tables alreday exist, the execution of the procedure will raise an exception (dbms_plsql_code_coverage.coverage_error).

Run the code coverage analysis

To run the code coverage analysis we call the start_coverage function which accepts a run_comment to be able to identify your analysis run later and returns a unique run_id. Stoping the analysis is done using the stop_coverage procedure which is parameterless. 

DECLARE
   l_run_id pls_integer;
BEGIN
   l_run_id := dbms_plsql_code_coverage.start_coverage('COVERAGETEST1');
   coveragetest1(100);
   sys.dbms_plsql_code_coverage.stop_coverage();
END;
/

Analyse the code coverage results

The data collected by the code coverage package may be analysed using a simple query joining the 3 tables (DBMSPCC_RUNS, DBMPSPCC_UNITS, DBMSPCC_BLOCKS).

SELECT r.run_comment
      ,u.owner as object_owner
      ,u.name as object_name
      ,u.type as object_type
      ,ROUND((COUNT(CASE b.covered WHEN 1 THEN 1 ELSE NULL END) 
            + COUNT(CASE WHEN     b.covered = 0 
                              AND b.not_feasible = 1 THEN 1 ELSE NULL END)) 
         / NULLIF(COUNT(*),0) * 100,2) AS pct_covered
  FROM dbmspcc_runs   r
  JOIN dbmspcc_units  u ON (u.run_id = r.run_id)
  JOIN dbmspcc_blocks b ON (    b.object_id = u.object_id
                            AND b.run_id = r.run_id)
 GROUP BY r.run_comment
         ,u.owner
         ,u.name
         ,u.type;

RUN_COMMENT    OBJECT_OWNER  OBJECT_NAME    OBJECT_TYPE  PCT_COVERED
-------------  ------------  -------------  -----------  -----------
COVERAGETEST1  TEST          COVERAGETEST1  PROCEDURE           37.5

Now, if you have a closer look to the query, you may see that there are not only covered and uncovered blocks in the DBMSPCC_BLOCKS table but also some marked as “not feasible”. 

NOT FEASIBLE PRAGMA

If we want to exclude certain blocks from the code analysis, we may mark them using a new pragma as not feasible.

 1 CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE coveragetest2(in_param IN INTEGER) AS 
 2    l_res integer;
 3 BEGIN
 4    l_res := in_param mod 2;
 5 
 6    -- mark a range of blocks as not feasible
 7   PRAGMA COVERAGE ('NOT_FEASIBLE_START');
 8   IF l_res = 0 THEN
 9      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is even');
10   ELSE
11      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is odd');
12   END IF;
13   PRAGMA COVERAGE ('NOT_FEASIBLE_END');
14
15   IF l_res = 0 THEN 
16      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is even');
17   ELSIF l_res = 1 THEN 
18      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is odd');
19   ELSIF l_res IS NULL THEN
20      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is null');
21   ELSE
22      PRAGMA COVERAGE ('NOT_FEASIBLE');
23      sys.dbms_output.put_line(in_param || ' is unknown');
24   end if;
25   sys.DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('That''s all');
26 END coveragetest2;
/

So what happens if we do a code analysis of this procedure, which has “not feasible” blocks in it?

SELECT block, line, col, covered, not_feasible
 FROM dbmspcc_blocks 
WHERE run_id = (SELECT MAX(run_id) 
 FROM dbmspcc_runs) 
 ORDER BY LINE;


     BLOCK       LINE        COL    COVERED NOT_FEASIBLE
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------
         1          1          1          1            1
         2          9          6          1            1
         3         11          6          0            1
         4         16          7          1            0
         6         17         16          0            0
         7         18          7          0            0
         8         19         10          0            0
         9         20          7          0            0
        10         22          7          0            1
         5         25          4          1            0

10 rows selected.

Code coverage is also recorded if a block or a set of blocks are set to “not feasible”. But still this pragma may be used not only to mark “unreachable” code but also to mark code we do not care to cover during tests (which i would not call good practice).

ORACLE 12.2 -Auto List Partitioning

08 Sunday Jan 2017

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Another new feature in the partitioning aerea is the automatic list partitioning. Like with the interval partitioning that came with ORACLE 11.1 the automatic list partitioning creates new partitions as they are required.

The following lines show an example of automatic list partitioning:

Example:

-- =============================================================================
-- Create an automatic list partitioned table
-- =============================================================================
CREATE TABLE employees_part (
   employee_id     NUMBER(4)
  ,first_name      VARCHAR2(30)
  ,last_name       VARCHAR2(30)
  ,email           VARCHAR2(30)
  ,phone_number    VARCHAR2(20)
  ,hire_date       DATE
  ,salary          NUMBER(6,0)
  ,commission_pct  NUMBER(3,2)
  ,manager_id      NUMBER(4)
  ,department_id   NUMBER(4)
)
PARTITION BY LIST (department_id) AUTOMATIC (
   PARTITION P_10 VALUES (10)
);

SELECT partition_name, high_value, partition_position
  FROM all_tab_partitions 
 WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES_PART';

PARTITION_NAME       HIGH_VALUE           PARTITION_POSITION
-------------------- -------------------- ------------------
P_10                 10                                    1

Adding new values to the partitioned table:

In a first step I try to create a list partitioned table having a global and a local index. 

INSERT INTO employees_part (employee_id
                          , first_name
                          , last_name
                          , email
                          , phone_number
                          , hire_date
                          , salary
                          , commission_pct
                          , manager_id
                          , department_id)
SELECT employee_id
     , first_name
     , last_name
     , email
     , phone_number
     , hire_date
     , salary
     , commission_pct
     , manager_id
     , department_id
 FROM employees;

107 rows inserted.


SELECT partition_name, high_value, partition_position
  FROM all_tab_partitions 
 WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES_PART';

PARTITION_NAME       HIGH_VALUE           PARTITION_POSITION
-------------------- -------------------- ------------------
P_10                 10                                    1
SYS_P2161            90                                    2
SYS_P2162            60                                    3
SYS_P2163            100                                   4
SYS_P2164            30                                    5
SYS_P2165            50                                    6
SYS_P2166            80                                    7
SYS_P2167            NULL                                  8
SYS_P2168            20                                    9
SYS_P2169            40                                   10
SYS_P2170            70                                   11
SYS_P2171            110                                  12

How to find out whether a partitioned table is set to automatic?

The information whether a table is set to automatic is stored in the …_PART_TABLES dictionary views.

SELECT table_name, partitioning_type, autolist 
  FROM user_part_tables;

TABLE_NAME      PARTITIONING_TYPE  AUTOLIST
--------------- ------------------ --------
EMPLOYEES_PART  LIST               YES

Conclusion:

The new automatic list partitioning feature dispenses us from the duty to either have to manually (or programatically) create new partitions for new values or having a default partition to store all values that are not covered by the existing partitions. 

This burdon was not that big…but it is still a useful simplification.

ORACLE 12.2 – Convert a non-partitioned table to a partitioned table

31 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, Partitioning

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ORACLE 12.2 allows the conversion of a non partitioned table to a partitioned table using the ALTER TABLE command. The whole conversion can be done “online” meaning, that during the conversion DML operations against the table are allowed.

Preparation:

-- =============================================================================
-- Create a non partitioned Table
-- =============================================================================
CREATE TABLE emp_dept
AS
SELECT e.empno ,e.ename ,e.job ,e.mgr
      ,e.hiredate ,e.sal ,e.comm ,d.deptno
      ,d.dname ,d.loc
  FROM emp e
  JOIN dept d ON (e.deptno = d.deptno);

-- =============================================================================
-- Add 2 indexes to the table
-- =============================================================================
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX emp_dept_empno_idx ON emp_dept(empno);
CREATE INDEX emp_dept_deptno_empno_idx ON emp_dept (deptno, empno);

 

ALTER TABLE MODIFY:

In a first step I try to create a list partitioned table having a global and a local index. 

-- =============================================================================
-- ALTER TABLE MODIFY
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_dept MODIFY
   PARTITION BY LIST (deptno) (
      PARTITION P_DEPT10 VALUES (10)
      ,PARTITION P_DEPT20 VALUES (20)
      ,PARTITION P_DEPT30 VALUES (30)
      ,PARTITION P_DEPT40 VALUES (40)
      ,PARTITION P_DEFAULT VALUES (DEFAULT)
   ) 
ONLINE
UPDATE INDEXES (
   emp_dept_empno_idx GLOBAL
  ,emp_dept_deptno_empno_idx LOCAL); 

-- =============================================================================
-- Check partitions
-- =============================================================================
SELECT table_name, partition_name
  FROM user_tab_partitions
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_DEPT';

TABLE_NAME                     PARTITION_NAME 
------------------------------ ------------------------------
EMP_DEPT                       P_DEFAULT 
EMP_DEPT                       P_DEPT10 
EMP_DEPT                       P_DEPT20 
EMP_DEPT                       P_DEPT30 
EMP_DEPT                       P_DEPT40 

-- ============================================================================= 
-- Check indexes 
-- ============================================================================= 
SELECT index_name, uniqueness, status, partitioned 
  FROM user_indexes 
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_DEPT';

INDEX_NAME                     UNIQUENES STATUS   PARTITIONED 
------------------------------ --------- -------- ---------------
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      NONUNIQUE N/A      YES 
EMP_DEPT_EMPNO_IDX             UNIQUE    VALID    NO 

SELECT index_name, uniqueness, status, partitioned 
 FROM user_indexes 
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_DEPT';

INDEX_NAME                     PARTITION_NAME                 STATUS 
------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      P_DEFAULT                      USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      P_DEPT10                       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      P_DEPT20                       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      P_DEPT30                       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      P_DEPT40                       USABLE

How about subpartitioning?

Now, let’s try to modify a table and create partitions and subpartitions from a non partitioned table. The base will be the same emp_dept table with the same indexes as in the previous example.

-- =============================================================================
-- ALTER TABLE MODIFY
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_dept MODIFY
   PARTITION BY RANGE (hiredate) SUBPARTITION BY LIST (deptno) ( 
      PARTITION hiredate_p1 VALUES LESS THAN (date '1990-01-01') ( 
         SUBPARTITION hiredate_p1_10 VALUES (10)
        ,SUBPARTITION hiredate_p1_20 VALUES (20)
        ,SUBPARTITION hiredate_p1_30 VALUES (30))
     ,PARTITION hiredate_p2 VALUES LESS THAN (date '2000-01-01') ( 
        SUBPARTITION hiredate_p2_10 VALUES (10)
       ,SUBPARTITION hiredate_p2_20 VALUES (20)
       ,SUBPARTITION hiredate_p2_30 VALUES (30))
   )
ONLINE
UPDATE INDEXES (
   emp_dept_empno_idx GLOBAL
  ,emp_dept_deptno_empno_idx LOCAL); 

-- =============================================================================
-- Check partitions
-- =============================================================================
SELECT utp.table_name, utp.partition_name, utsp.subpartition_name
  FROM user_tab_partitions utp
  JOIN user_tab_subpartitions utsp ON (utsp.partition_name = utp.partition_name)
 WHERE utp.table_name = 'EMP_DEPT'
 ORDER BY utp.partition_name, utsp.subpartition_name;

TABLE_NAME                   PARTITION_NAME             SUBPARTITION_NAME 
---------------------------- -------------------------- -------------------------
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P1                HIREDATE_P1_10 
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P1                HIREDATE_P1_20 
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P1                HIREDATE_P1_30 
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P2                HIREDATE_P2_10 
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P2                HIREDATE_P2_20 
EMP_DEPT                     HIREDATE_P2                HIREDATE_P2_30 

-- ============================================================================= 
-- Check indexes 
-- ============================================================================= 
SELECT index_name, uniqueness, status, partitioned 
  FROM user_indexes 
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_DEPT';

INDEX_NAME                     UNIQUENES STATUS   PARTITIONED 
------------------------------ --------- -------- ---------------
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      NONUNIQUE N/A      YES 
EMP_DEPT_EMPNO_IDX             UNIQUE    VALID    NO 

SELECT uip.index_name, uip.partition_name, uip.subpartition_name, uip.status
 FROM user_ind_subpartitions uip
 JOIN user_indexes ui ON (ui.index_name = uip.index_name)
 WHERE ui.table_name = 'EMP_DEPT';

INDEX_NAME                     PARTITION_NAME       SUBPARTITION_NAME    STATUS 
------------------------------ -------------------- -------------------- --------
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P1          HIREDATE_P1_10       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P1          HIREDATE_P1_20       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P1          HIREDATE_P1_30       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P2          HIREDATE_P2_10       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P2          HIREDATE_P2_20       USABLE 
EMP_DEPT_DEPTNO_EMPNO_IDX      HIREDATE_P2          HIREDATE_P2_30       USABLE

Conclusion:

Everything worked as expected. 

 

ORACLE 12.2 – create table for exchange with clause

30 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, Partitioning, SQL

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With ORACLE 12.2 the create table statement has been enriched by the new “for exchange with” clause. This enables us to create a exchange table that is a clone of the partitioned table which is the target of a later exchange table command

The new clause takes care of datatypes, data scale and precision, NOT NULL constraints, hidden column, virtual columns, unused columns,  etc.

Indexes, constraints (other than NOT NULL) are not cloned.

Preparation:

-- =============================================================================
-- Create Partitioned Table
-- =============================================================================
CREATE TABLE EMP_PART ( 
   EMPNO    NUMBER(4,0)       NOT NULL
  ,ENAME    VARCHAR2(10 CHAR) NOT NULL
  ,JOB      VARCHAR2(9 CHAR)  NOT NULL
  ,MGR      NUMBER(4,0)
  ,HIREDATE DATE              NOT NULL
  ,SAL      NUMBER(7,2)
  ,COMM     NUMBER(7,2)
  ,DEPTNO   NUMBER(2,0)       NOT NULL
  ,CONSTRAINT chk_sal_comm_less_1000 CHECK (NVL(sal,0) + NVL(comm,0) < 10000)
  ,CONSTRAINT chk_empno CHECK (empno between 1000 and 9999)
) 
PARTITION BY LIST (deptno) (
   PARTITION p_accounting VALUES (10)
  ,PARTITION p_research   VALUES (20)
  ,PARTITION p_sales      VALUES (30)
  ,PARTITION p_default    VALUES (DEFAULT)
);

-- =============================================================================
-- Create Local Index
-- =============================================================================
CREATE INDEX emp_part_idx ON EMP_PART (hiredate)
   LOCAL (
      PARTITION p_accounting_hiredate_idx
     ,PARTITION p_research_hiredate_idx
     ,PARTITION p_sales_hiredate_idx
     ,PARTITION p_default_hiredate_idx
);

-- =============================================================================
-- Add a Primary Key
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part 
   ADD CONSTRAINT emp_part_pk
   PRIMARY KEY (empno);

-- =============================================================================
-- Fill Data
-- =============================================================================
INSERT INTO emp_part (EMPNO,ENAME,JOB,MGR,HIREDATE,SAL,COMM,DEPTNO)
SELECT EMPNO,ENAME,JOB,MGR,HIREDATE,SAL,COMM,DEPTNO
  FROM emp
 WHERE deptno != 20;
 
COMMIT;

-- =============================================================================
-- add a virtual column
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part
   ADD total_income GENERATED ALWAYS AS (NVL(SAL,0) + NVL(COMM,0));

-- =============================================================================
-- set a column to be hidden
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part MODIFY deptno INVISIBLE;

-- =============================================================================
-- set a column unused
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part SET UNUSED COLUMN job;

If we wanted to load the data of department 20 using an exchange partition command with an existing table holding all those rows we somehow had to make sure that the table used for the exchange has the exact same structure, indexes, constraints, etc. as the partitioned table. The new clause in the create table command help us solving this (at least some of the issues).

Create exchange table:

-- =============================================================================
-- Create exchange table
-- =============================================================================
CREATE TABLE emp_part_exchange
  FOR EXCHANGE WITH TABLE emp_part;

-- =============================================================================
-- Fill exchange table w/o job as it is unused
-- =============================================================================
INSERT INTO emp_part_exchange(EMPNO,ENAME,MGR,HIREDATE,SAL,COMM,DEPTNO)
SELECT EMPNO,ENAME,MGR,HIREDATE,SAL,COMM,DEPTNO
 FROM emp
 WHERE deptno = 20;

-- =============================================================================
-- Check the table
-- =============================================================================
SELECT column_name
      ,data_type || 
       CASE data_type
          WHEN 'VARCHAR2' THEN '(' || data_length || ')'
          WHEN 'NUMBER' THEN NULLIF('(' || data_precision || ',' || data_scale || ')','(,)')
          WHEN 'DATE' THEN NULL
       END AS data_type
      ,nullable
      ,hidden_column
      ,virtual_column
  FROM user_tab_cols
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_PART_EXCHANGE'
 ORDER BY segment_column_id; 

COLUMN_NAME                    DATA_TYPE       NULL HIDDEN  VIRTUAL
------------------------------ --------------- ---- ------- --------
EMPNO                          NUMBER(4,0)     N    NO      NO 
ENAME                          VARCHAR2(10)    N    NO      NO 
SYS_C00003_16123011:26:29$     VARCHAR2(9)     Y    YES     NO 
MGR                            NUMBER(4,0)     Y    NO      NO 
HIREDATE                       DATE            N    NO      NO 
SAL                            NUMBER (7,2)    Y    NO      NO 
COMM                           NUMBER (7,2)    Y    NO      NO 
DEPTNO                         NUMBER (2,0)    N    YES     NO 
TOTAL_INCOME                   NUMBER (,)      Y    NO      YES 


SELECT constraint_name, constraint_type, search_condition_vc
  FROM user_constraints
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_PART_EXCHANGE';

CONSTRAINT_NAME                TYPE SEARCH_CONDITION_VC 
------------------------------ ---- --------------------------------------------------
SYS_C008877                    C    "DEPTNO" IS NOT NULL 
SYS_C008878                    C    "EMPNO" IS NOT NULL 
SYS_C008879                    C    "ENAME" IS NOT NULL 
SYS_C008880                    C    "HIREDATE" IS NOT NULL 

SELECT index_name, index_type, partitioned
  FROM user_indexes
 WHERE table_name = 'EMP_PART_EXCHANGE';

no rows selected

Exchange Partition?

So if we did an exchange partition at this point we would fail if the exchange table is not empty…

-- =============================================================================
-- Exchange Partition
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part 
   EXCHANGE PARTITION p_research 
   WITH TABLE emp_part_exchange; 

Error starting at line : 1 in command -
ALTER TABLE emp_part 
 EXCHANGE PARTITION p_research 
 WITH TABLE emp_part_exchange
Error report -
SQL Error: ORA-14118: CHECK constraint mismatch in ALTER TABLE EXCHANGE PARTITION
14118. 00000 - "CHECK constraint mismatch in ALTER TABLE EXCHANGE PARTITION"
*Cause: The corresponding columns in the tables specified in the
 ALTER TABLE EXCHANGE PARTITION statement have CHECK constraint
 defined on them.
*Action: Ensure that the two tables do not have CHECK constraint
 defined on any column

Additional work to be done:

We still need to create constraints on the exchange table manually…

-- =============================================================================
-- Check constraint are not created but needed when exchanging the partition
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part_exchange 
   ADD CONSTRAINT chk_sal_comm_less_1000_ep 
   CHECK (NVL(sal,0) + NVL(comm,0) < 10000);
 
ALTER TABLE emp_part_exchange 
   ADD CONSTRAINT chk_empno_ep 
   CHECK (empno between 1000 and 9999);

-- =============================================================================
-- Add primary key constraint as it is not created 
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part_exchange 
   ADD CONSTRAINT emp_part_pk_ep
   PRIMARY KEY (empno);

After this is done the exchange partition is working.

-- =============================================================================
-- Exchange Partition
-- =============================================================================
ALTER TABLE emp_part 
   EXCHANGE PARTITION p_research 
   WITH TABLE emp_part_exchange; 

Table EMP_PART altered.

Conclusion:

The create table for exchange clause is nice but if would be even better if constraints would also be created on the clone. Furthermore the possibility to do a CTAS in combination with the for exchange clause would be on my wishlist.

ORACLE 12.2 – long names

03 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in ORACLE 12c Release 2, SQL

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

ORACLE 12.2 enables us to name our objects with names up to 128 byte long. Even if this has been something we were looking forward to for a very long time there are still many things to consider before deciding to cross the old 30 byte border.

  • Are there places in your PL/SQL code where you placed some VARCHAR2(30) variables to hold oracle object names?
  • What is the size of the columns in your log tables that you use to store the name of the object you are logging information about?
  • What about the variables you use in your PL/SQL code to put your dynamic SQL statements together? Are those variables wide enough?

How about this one:

  • If you are using some dynamic SQL that evaluates a dynamic select list using SYS.DBMS_SQL.DESCRIBE_COLUMNS … then this is a point where you will have to do some changes…

EXAMPLE: Problems using DBMS_SQL

CREATE TABLE Table_with_a_name_that_is_so_much_longer_than_usual (
   column_with_a_very_long_name_as_it_is_possible_in_other_databases NUMBER(5)
  ,another_column_with_also_a_very_very_long_name                    VARCHAR2(100)
);

Table TABLE_WITH_A_NAME_THAT_IS_SO_MUCH_LONGER_THAN_USUAL created.

DECLARE
   l_handle         PLS_INTEGER := sys.dbms_sql.open_cursor();
   l_column_counter NUMBER;
   l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table sys.dbms_sql.desc_tab;
BEGIN
   sys.dbms_sql.parse(c             => l_handle
                     ,statement     => 'SELECT * FROM Table_with_a_name_that_is_so_much_longer_than_usual'
                     ,language_flag => sys.dbms_sql.NATIVE);

   sys.dbms_sql.describe_columns(c       => l_handle
                                ,col_cnt => l_column_counter 
                                ,desc_t  => l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table);
 
   FOR i IN 1..l_column_counter
   LOOP
      sys.dbms_output.put_line('Column Name : ' || l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table(i).col_name);
   END LOOP;
END;
/

Error report -
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_SQL", line 2084
ORA-06512: at line 10
06502. 00000 - "PL/SQL: numeric or value error%s"
*Cause: An arithmetic, numeric, string, conversion, or constraint error
 occurred. For example, this error occurs if an attempt is made to
 assign the value NULL to a variable declared NOT NULL, or if an
 attempt is made to assign an integer larger than 99 to a variable
 declared NUMBER(2).
*Action: Change the data, how it is manipulated, or how it is declared so
 that values do not violate constraints.

The problem is, that desc_rec in DBMS_SQL is still limited to 30 character length for the column names of the result.

To support long names ORACLE has implemented a new function and new data structures in DBMS_SQL.  

EXAMPLE: Solution

DECLARE
   l_handle         PLS_INTEGER := sys.dbms_sql.open_cursor();
   l_column_counter NUMBER;
   l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table sys.dbms_sql.desc_tab2;
BEGIN
   sys.dbms_sql.parse(c             => l_handle
                     ,statement     => 'SELECT * FROM Table_with_a_name_that_is_so_much_longer_than_usual'
                     ,language_flag => sys.dbms_sql.NATIVE);

   sys.dbms_sql.describe_columns2(c       => l_handle
                                 ,col_cnt => l_column_counter 
                                 ,desc_t  => l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table);
 
   FOR i IN 1..l_column_counter
   LOOP
      sys.dbms_output.put_line('Column Name : ' || l_describe_table_to_describe_a_very_long_table(i).col_name);
   END LOOP;
END;
/

Column Name : COLUMN_WITH_A_VERY_LONG_NAME_AS_IT_IS_POSSIBLE_IN_OTHER_DATABASES
Column Name : ANOTHER_COLUMN_WITH_ALSO_A_VERY_VERY_LONG_NAME

Conclusion

Having the possibility to give decent names to objects – e.g. naming an index addresses_employees_usages_fk_index – instead of searching for abbreviation that are at least a little bit meaningfull is a nice thing. But before starting to cross the 30 byte border you have to deeply inspect your code.

ORACLE 12.2 – deprecated pragma for PL/SQL units

02 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by in ORACLE 12c Release 2, PL/SQL

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With ORACLE 12.2 it is possible to mark program units as deprecated along with a message using a new pragma. The message will show up when the deprecated program unit is referenced and the referencing program unit is compiled (and compiler warnings are enabled).

This enables us to gently replace code by advising the user to move to an alternative program unit.

 

EXAMPLE: Standalond procedure

ALTER SESSION SET PLSQL_WARNINGS = 'Enable:All'
/

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE p IS
   PRAGMA deprecate(p,'p is deprecated please use p2 instead.');
BEGIN
   sys.dbms_output.put_line('p');
END p;
/

Warning(2,4): PLW-06019: entity P is deprecated

When compiling a deprecated program unit we get an PLW-06019 warning.

EXAMPLE: Packaged procedure

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE pkg IS
   PROCEDURE p;
     PRAGMA deprecate(p,'pkg.p is deprecated please use pkg.p2 instead.');
 
   PROCEDURE p2;
END;
/

Warning(2,4): PLW-06019: entity P is deprecated

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY pkg IS
   PROCEDURE p IS
   BEGIN
      sys.dbms_output.put_line('pkg.p');
   END p;

   PROCEDURE p2 IS
   BEGIN
      sys.dbms_output.put_line('pkg.p2');
   END p2;
END pkg;
/

The pragma specification for packaged program units has to be placed in the specification.

 

Referencing a deprecated program unit

So, what happens if you are using pkg.p or p?

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE q IS
BEGIN
   p();
   sys.dbms_output.put_line('q');
 
   pkg.p();
   sys.dbms_output.put_line('q'); 
END q;
/

Warning(3,4): PLW-06020: reference to a deprecated entity: p is deprecated please use p2 instead.
Warning(6,8): PLW-06020: reference to a deprecated entity: pkg.p is deprecated please use pkg.p2 instead.

A different warning (PLW-06020 instead of PLW-06019) shows up including the message we placed in the pragma.

Forcing PLW-06020 to be an error

If we would like to force the user of pkg.p/p to move to pkg.p2/p2 we could now easily defined PLW-06020 to be a compiler error.

ALTER SESSION SET PLSQL_WARNINGS = 'ERROR:6020'
/

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE q IS
BEGIN
   p();
   sys.dbms_output.put_line('q');
 
   pkg.p();
   sys.dbms_output.put_line('q'); 
END q;
/

Error(8,4): PLS-06020: reference to a deprecated entity: p is deprecated please use p2 instead.
Error(11,8): PLS-06020: reference to a deprecated entity: pkg.p is deprecated please use pkg.p2 instead.

So the q procedure does not compile anymore.

Conclusion

The deprecated pragma is a good way to let others know that a program unit should not be used anymore…if:

  • compiler warnings are enable
  • compiler warnings are looked at

The possibility to turn a warning into an error is also helpful to force the replacement of deprecated program units (in dev environment).

The problem I see is, that not all deprecated program units have the same expiry date and therefor setting a warning type to error for this case is somehow not sufficient. What I really would like to have is a third (optional) parameter in the pragma specification where I could specify by which date THIS deprecation turns into an error.

ORACLE 12.2 – Data conversion enhancements – 2

01 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, SQL

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A new SQL function in ORACLE 12.2 is validate_conversion which enables us to check whether a conversion is possible or not receiving a “boolean” (0/1) value as result.

 

Example checking conversion of a string value into a date

In case of a string to date conversion error we would like to return the 1st of January of 2016.

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '10.15.2015' FROM dual union all
                    SELECT '15.10.2015' FROM dual union all
                    SELECT '30.02.2015' FROM dual
                   )
SELECT str
     , VALIDATE_CONVERSION(str as date,'DD.MM.YYYY') conversion_possible
 FROM data
/

STR        CONVERSION_POSSIBLE
---------- -------------------
10.15.2015                   0
15.10.2015                   1
30.02.2015                   0

When checking conversion of a string into a date it is also possible to specifcy the language of the date string.

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '15. March 2015' FROM dual union all
                    SELECT '15. März 2015' FROM dual union all
                    SELECT '15. Mars 2015' FROM dual
                   )
SELECT str
     , VALIDATE_CONVERSION(str as date,'DD. Month YYYY','NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=GERMAN') conversion_possible
  FROM data
/

STR            CONVERSION_POSSIBLE
-------------- -------------------
15. March 2015                   0
15. März 2015                    1
15. Mars 2015                    0

Conclusion

Another great little helper especially when  loading data from 3rd parties. How often have we struggled just because a single value in a single record just did not fit the specifications. Using validate_conversion we can easily find those values, exclude them, log them and so on.   

ORACLE 12.2 -Data conversion enhancements

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, SQL, Tipps and Tricks

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ORACLE 12.2 has a new option to handle conversion errors when using functions like CAST, TO_NUMBER, TO_CHAR, TO_DATE, etc. Using this option we may avoid conversion errors an return a default value instead.

The examples use TO_DATE but the option is useable in the other conversion functions accordingly

EXAMPLE TO_DATE

In case of a string to date conversion error we would like to return the 1st of January of 2016.

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.06.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.02.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT 'gugus' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '07.03.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15.10.2016' FROM dual)
SELECT str
 , TO_DATE(str DEFAULT '01.01.2016' ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY') AS conversion
 FROM data
/

STR CONVERTED 
---------- ----------
15.01.2016 15.01.2016
30.06.2016 30.06.2016
30.02.2016 01.01.2016
gugus      01.01.2016
07.03.2016 07.03.2016
15.10.2016 15.10.2016

6 rows selected.

Using SYSDATE as default

Using SYSDATE as the default value instead of a literal value works as expected.

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.06.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.02.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT 'gugus' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '07.03.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15.10.2016' FROM dual)
SELECT str
 , TO_DATE(str DEFAULT SYSDATE ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY') AS converted
 FROM data
/ 

STR CONVERTED 
---------- ----------
15.01.2016 15.01.2016
30.06.2016 30.06.2016
30.02.2016 30.09.2016
gugus      30.09.2016
07.03.2016 07.03.2016
15.10.2016 15.10.2016

6 rows selected.

Default to start of the year…

So next step would be to invoke a function on sysdate, to get the first day of the current year as the default value for an occuring conversion error.

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.06.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '30.02.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT 'gugus' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '07.03.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15.10.2016' FROM dual)
 SELECT str
      , TO_DATE(str DEFAULT TRUNC(SYSDATE,'YEAR') ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY') AS converted
 FROM data
/ 

Error at Command Line : 8 Column : 28
 Error report -
 SQL Error: ORA-43907: This argument must be a literal or bind variable.

 

So, I am a little bit puzzled…we can use SYSDATE but not having a function around it…

Choosing another column value as the default

Now, how about choosing another column of the same table as the default value?

WITH data (str,dateval) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016', date '2015-07-15' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.06.2016', date '2015-07-16' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.02.2016', date '2015-07-17' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT 'gugus' , date '2015-07-18' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '07.03.2016', date '2015-07-19' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '15.10.2016', date '2015-07-20' FROM dual)
 SELECT str
      , dateval
      , TO_DATE(str DEFAULT dateval ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY') AS converted
 FROM data
/
 
Error at Command Line : 9 Column : 29
Error report -
SQL Error: ORA-43907: This argument must be a literal or bind variable.

Ok, perhaps it needs to be a string using the same format mask?

WITH data (str,dateval) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016', date '2015-07-15' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.06.2016', date '2015-07-16' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.02.2016', date '2015-07-17' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT 'gugus' , date '2015-07-18' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '07.03.2016', date '2015-07-19' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '15.10.2016', date '2015-07-20' FROM dual)
 SELECT str
      , dateval
      , TO_DATE(str DEFAULT TO_CHAR(dateval,'DD.MM.YYYY') ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY') AS converted
 FROM data
/
 
Error at Command Line : 9 Column : 29
Error report -
SQL Error: ORA-43907: This argument must be a literal or bind variable.

So, how can this be solved? 

Now, we could return NULL in case of a conversion error and then replace a null value by the value of the second column…like this:

WITH data (str,dateval) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016', date '2015-07-15' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.06.2016', date '2015-07-16' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.02.2016', date '2015-07-17' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT 'gugus'     , date '2015-07-18' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '07.03.2016', date '2015-07-19' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '15.10.2016', date '2015-07-20' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT NULL        , date '2015-07-21' FROM DUAL)
SELECT str
     , dateval
     , NVL(TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY'),dateval) AS converted
 FROM data
/

STR        DATEVAL    CONVERTED 
---------- ---------- ----------
15.01.2016 15.07.2015 15.01.2016
30.06.2016 16.07.2015 30.06.2016
30.02.2016 17.07.2015 17.07.2015
gugus      18.07.2015 18.07.2015
07.03.2016 19.07.2015 07.03.2016
15.10.2016 20.07.2015 15.10.2016
           21.07.2015 21.07.2015

7 rows selected.

but…I only wanted to replace values that are not convertable by the second value, not null values…

WITH data (str,dateval) AS (SELECT '15.01.2016', date '2015-07-15' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.06.2016', date '2015-07-16' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '30.02.2016', date '2015-07-17' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT 'gugus' , date '2015-07-18' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '07.03.2016', date '2015-07-19' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT '15.10.2016', date '2015-07-20' FROM dual UNION ALL
                            SELECT NULL , date '2015-07-21' FROM DUAL)
SELECT str
     , dateval
     , CASE 
          WHEN str IS NULL THEN NULL
          ELSE NVL(TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY'),dateval)
       END AS converted
 FROM data
/

A little bit complicated, but this way I get what I want.

Handling different date formats in one query

Now another test case, having an input stream using different date formats…

WITH data (str) AS (SELECT '15.03.2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '2005/03/15' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15-MRZ-2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15-MAR-2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15. MARCH 2016' FROM dual UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15-MAALIS-2016' FROM DUAL UNION ALL
                    SELECT '15-BRE-2016' FROM DUAL)
SELECT str
     , COALESCE(TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD.MM.YYYY')
               ,TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'YYYY/MM/DD')
               ,TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD-MON-YYYY','NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=ENGLISH')
               ,TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD-MON-YYYY','NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=GERMAN')
               ,TO_DATE(str DEFAULT NULL ON CONVERSION ERROR,'DD-MON-YYYY','NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE=FINNISH')
       ) AS converted
 FROM data
/ 

STR            CONVERTED 
-------------- ----------
15.03.2016     15.03.2016
2005/03/15     15.03.2005
15-MRZ-2016    15.03.2016
15-MAR-2016    15.03.2016
15. MARCH 2016 15.03.2016
15-MAALIS-2016 15.03.2016
15-BRE-2016 

7 rows selected.

 

Conclusion

The DEFAULT … ON CONVERSION ERROR is a very powerful feature, which will help us solving conversion errors very elegant. Of course we will still not be able to do conversions when the input value is not unambiguous (A string value of ‘03.05.2016’ could be the 3rd of May as well as the 5th of March) but still a very welcome feature.

 

ORACLE 12.2 – LISTAGG Enhancements

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by in ORACLE, ORACLE 12c Release 2, SQL

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As in earlier versions LISTAGG still returns a VARCHAR2 datatype with the known limitations (4 or 32 K). But instead of ending in an error on a size overflow we now have the chance to tell the function to truncate the return string in case it gets to long.

The syntax has changed slightly between the beta version of ORACLE 12.2 and the productive one, there some changes had to be done to this post.

LISTAGG default behaviour

The default behaviour is still the same resulting in an Oracle error on size overflow.

WITH test (id, str) as (SELECT MOD(rownum,7), RPAD('Text',10,'X') 
 FROM dual
 CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 10000)
SELECT id, LISTAGG(str,'-') WITHIN GROUP(ORDER BY 1) AS string_created
 FROM test 
 GROUP BY id
/ 

ORA-01489: result of string concatenation is too long

ON OVERFLOW TRUNCATE

The new option on overflow truncated leeds to a trunctated string having three dots at the end followed by the number of truncated characters in brackets.

The result lists only the end of the strings created.

WITH test (id, str) as (SELECT MOD(rownum,7), RPAD('Text',10,'X')
 FROM dual
 CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 10000)
SELECT id
     , LISTAGG(str,'-' ON OVERFLOW TRUNCATE) WITHIN GROUP(ORDER BY 1) AS string_created
 FROM test 
 GROUP BY id
/ 

ID STRING_CREATED
-- ------------------------------------------
 0 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-...(1068)
 1 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-...(1069)
 2 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-...(1069)

Define overflow characters

We are free to define the text that should be shown as the overflow indicator. The text we want to see in case of an overflow is defined following the “ON OVERFLOW TRUNCATE” option.

WITH test (id, str) as (SELECT MOD(rownum,7), RPAD('Text',10,'X')
 FROM dual
 CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 10000)
SELECT id
     , LISTAGG(str,'-' ON OVERFLOW TRUNCATE ' [more] ') WITHIN GROUP(ORDER BY 1) AS string_created
 FROM test 
 GROUP BY id
/ 

ID STRING_CREATED
-- -----------------------------------------------
 0 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more] (1068)
 1 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more] (1069)
 2 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more] (1069)

Omit the counting

The number of truncated characters can be omitted by adding WITHOUT COUNT (default is with count).

WITH test (id, str) as (SELECT MOD(rownum,7), RPAD('Text',10,'X')
 FROM dual
 CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 10000)
SELECT id
     , LISTAGG(str,'-' ON OVERFLOW TRUNCATE ' [more] ' WITHOUT COUNT) WITHIN GROUP(ORDER BY 1) AS string_created
 FROM test 
 GROUP BY id
/ 

ID STRING_CREATED
-- -----------------------------------------------
 0 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more] 
 1 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more] 
 2 TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX-TextXXXXXX- [more]

Conclusion

Truncating the result of a LISTAGG function to avoid the overflow error is a pretty cool feature of Oracle 12.2 SQL. If you need to concatenate strings beyond the size limit of the VARCHAR2 datatype you will still need to write your own CLOB aggregate function but if it is enough to know, that there was more in the string before having concatenated it the on overflow truncate is really handy.