Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features [Paperback]

Steven Feuerstein (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guide to Oracle 8i Features | Publication Date: October 8, 1999

Oracle8i, the long-awaited "Internet database" from Oracle Corporation, has hit the streets running--and you may find yourself struggling to keep up with Oracle's fast-moving technology. Oracle boasts that Oracle8i offers more than 150 new features, many of them designed to make its popular database programming language, PL/SQL, faster, more powerful, and easier to use.

This concise and engaging book is both a companion to Oracle PL/SQL Programming (widely recognized as the "bible" for PL/SQL developers) and a guide designed to bring you up to speed as quickly as possible on the new PL/SQL features of Oracle8i. Following the style of Feuerstein's earlier books, the Guide to Oracle8i Features combines easy-to-understand descriptions of the new Oracle8i features with a wealth of interesting and informative examples.

The major Oracle8i PL/SQL features include the following:

• Autonomous transactions--the ability to commit or roll back changes without affecting the "main" transaction in the rest of your session
• Invoker rights--At compilation time, you can now decide whether a program (or all programs in a package) should run under the authority of the definer or the invoker of that program
• Native dynamic SQL--A native implementation of dynamic SQL that's faster and easier than the DBMS_SQL built-in package
• Bulk binds and collects--A major performance improvement that lets you process multiple rows in a single operation
• System-level database triggers--With this feature and Advanced Queueing (AQ), you can take advantage of the publish/subscribe capabilities of Oracle8i
• Fine-grained access control--This feature lets you implement security policies with functions and then use those functions to implement row-level security on tables or views.
• Many new and enhanced built-in packages--New packages include DBMS_JAVA, DBMS_PROFILER, DBMS_TRACE, and more. DBMS_UTILITY, DBMS_AQ, and others have been enhanced as well.
• Calling Java methods from within PL/SQL--The book includes enough Java know-how to help you build simple Java classes, load them into the Oracle8i database, and leverage those classes from within your PL/SQL code.

Some PL/SQL developers are uneasy about what the introduction of Java means to their applications--and their programming future. But the two languages are expected to work well together in Oracle8i. You'll be able to take advantage of all the power of Java without giving up the performance and usability advantages of PL/SQL!

Included with this book is a diskette containing an online tool developed by RevealNet, Inc., that provides point-and-click access to approximately 100 files of reusable source code and examples.

The Guide to Oracle8i Features showcases all the powerful new features of Oracle8i designed especially for PL/SQL developers. You'll find it indispensable as you strive to take the fullest possible advantage of everything this exciting new version has to offer.

Table of Contents:

1. Oracle8i: A Bounty for PL/SQL Developers
2. Choose Your Transaction!
3. Invoker Rights: Your Schema or Mine?
4. Native Dynamic SQL in Oracle8i
5. Bulking Up with PL/SQL 8.1
6. New Trigger Features in Oracle8i
7. New and Enhanced Built-in Packages in Oracle8i
8. Deploying Fine-Grained Access Control
9. Calling Java from PL/SQL
10. More Goodies for Oracle PL/SQL Developers

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Feuerstein is considered one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language. He is the author or coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices, Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features, Oracle PL/SQL Developer's Workbook, Oracle Built-in Packages, Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages, and several pocket reference books (all from O'Reilly & Associates). Steven is a Senior Technology Advisor with Quest Software, has been developing software since 1980, and worked for Oracle Corporation from 1987 to 1992.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Pap/Dskt edition (October 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565926757
• ISBN-13: 978-1565926752
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,517,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Feuerstein is considered to be one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language, having written ten books on PL/SQL, including Oracle PL/SQL Programming and Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices (all published by O'Reilly Media). Steven has been developing software since 1980, spent five years with Oracle (1987-1992), and has served as PL/SQL Evangelist for Quest Software since January 2001. He is an Oracle ACE Director and writes regularly for Oracle Magazine, which named him the PL/SQL Developer of the Year in both 2002 and 2006. He is also the first recipient of ODTUG's Lifetime Achievement Award (2009). Since 2005 he has focused his attention on improving the testing of PL/SQL programs, primarily through the creation of Quest Code Tester for Oracle, which automates PL/SQL code testing. Steven's online PL/SQL cyberhome is located at www.ToadWorld.com/SF; but you can also find out more about Steven at http://www.StevenFeuerstein.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but with a mistaken political tone..., December 26, 1999

By 

Robert (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features (Paperback)

I have come to expect great things of Steven Feuerstein, particularly after the Oracle Supplied Packages book he wrote. I found that particular book to be a wonderful resource since I bought it.

I was therefore expecting great things of Steven when I purchased his latest work, "Guide to Oracle8i Features". The content of the book appeared to be right up my alley and indeed I was not disappointed by the range of topics he covered (though I would have preferred more Java depth as others had mentioned and a few other new 8i features that I haven't seen mentioned in detail that I would think applied to PL/SQL such as temporary tables (though he does talk about temporary LOB's) ).

What REALLY disappoints me about the book is that Steven seems to feel that he needs to use it as a platform for his political views. Constantly his political views are expressed in both the code samples he writes and the text associated with those examples. Obviously, I disagree with Steven on a great many of the points he tries to make (is this an odd attempt at being subliminal on his part?), regardless I would never attempt to do what he has done. Technical books are NOT a place for political commentary.

So, in brief, Steve has written a good text that is clouded, heavily in my opinion, with political overtones that distract from the subject at hand. I am also surprised that O'Reilly would allow their published texts to become such a platform for political activism.

Better luck next time Steve, I still have faith in your ability to write good, clean, technical text.

Robert

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good technical content, politics are out of line, February 15, 2000

By 

Robin (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features (Paperback)

Mr. Feuerstein has consistently been the guru in the PL/SQL world, and nearly every developer I know carries dog-eared copies of his books. However, he has definitely overstepped the bounds of technical writing with his latest book, Guide to Oracle 8i Features. The technical content of this book is extremely complete and useful. The political commentary is uncalled for and offensive.

At first, his use of "real world" scenarios as code examples was annoying -- and eventually it became offensive. I respect Mr. Feuerstein's personal beliefs and his right to have them; however, they are wholly inappropriate in a technical book. Using pick_nato_targets (with input parameters such as "maternity_ward_ok" and "civilian_casualties") is grossly offensive, even if someone happens to share his beliefs.

The examples are distracting, and do not add anything to the text in any way. Everyone to whom I have shown this book was appalled at the examples. The technical editor in our office was horrified, and most of the other developers who have seen this book will not purchase it. None of us wish to be preached at, or be the target of condescending and offensive examples.

Please let me stress that I respect Mr. Feuerstein's opinions -- but if he wants to write political opinions, he should be using a different forum, not a PL/SQL technical reference. The political content of this book is completely unprofessional, inappropriate, and embarrassing. I expect this kind of proselytizing in the editorial page of the local paper, not in a technical reference book.

However, the technical content of the book is very good (as are all the Oracle texts from O'Reilly). I will probably continue to use it as a reference.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for PL/SQL professionals., August 15, 2000

By 

Scott Neil (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL CD Bookshelf (Paperback)

As a consultant, I depend on having the right answers available when they're needed. This compilation of books gives me an easily portable collection of seven of the best PL/SQL references available. The ebooks are collections of HTML pages, readable with any browser. The included search engine allows you to search through all the books, or a single book at a time (though not a limited subset of books) for keywords or phrases. The included "Oracle PL/SQL Programming Guide to Oracle8i Features" is an excellent book in its own right, with the typical well-written, entertaining, and informative prose that Feurstein fans are enamored with. This package is an incredible value.