Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs [Paperback]

Arup Nanda (Author), Steven Feuerstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2005

PL/SQL, Oracle's powerful procedural language, has been the cornerstone of Oracle application development for nearly 15 years. Although primarily a tool for developers, PL/SQL has also become an essential tool for database administration, as DBAs take increasing responsibility for site performance and as the lines between developers and DBAs blur.

Until now, there has not been a book focused squarely on the language topics of special concern to DBAs Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs fills the gap. Covering the latest Oracle version, Oracle Database 10g Release 2 and packed with code and usage examples, it contains:

• A quick tour of the PL/SQL language, providing enough basic information about language fundamentals to get DBAs up and running
• Extensive coverage of security topics for DBAs: Encryption (including both traditional methods and Oracle's new Transparent Data Encryption, TDE); Row-Level Security (RLS), Fine-Grained Auditing (FGA); and random value generation
• Methods for DBAs to improve query and database performance with cursors and table functions
• Coverage of Oracle scheduling, which allows jobs such as database monitoring and statistics gathering to be scheduled for regular execution

Using Oracle's built-in packages (DBMS_CRYPTO, DBMS_RLS, DBMS_FGA, DBMS_RANDOM, DBMS_SCHEDULING) as a base, the book describes ways of building on top of these packages to suit particular organizational needs. Authors are Arup Nanda, Oracle Magazine 2003 DBA of the Year, and Steven Feuerstein, the world's foremost PL/SQL expert and coauthor of the classic reference, Oracle PL/SQL Programming.

DBAs who have not yet discovered how helpful PL/SQL can be will find this book a superb introduction to the language and its special database administration features. Even if you have used PL/SQL for years, you'll find the detailed coverage in this book to be an invaluable resource.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Arup Nanda is a Senior Oracle DBA with 10 years of experience with a variety of projects using skills in Oracle Database Administration (DBA), Oracle Parallel Server, Performance Tuning, Security Administration, Replication, Distributed Databases, Enterprise Manager, Database Design, XML, System Design, Object-Based Design, Data Modeling, PL/SQL, Pro*C, C, Unix, NT, Shell Scripting. He has an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management, India.

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). Steven is a Senior Technology Advisor with Quest Software, has been developing software since 1980, and worked for Oracle Corporation from 1987 to 1992. He is currently designing and building Qnxo (www.qnxo.com), the world's first active mentoring software.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (November 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596005873
• ISBN-13: 978-0596005870
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,097,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!, August 19, 2006

By 

John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs (Paperback)

Are you a developer or database administrator? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Arup Nanda and Steven Feuerstein, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that allows you to take advantage of the PL/SQL-based functionality in the Oracle database that is the most critical for DBAs.

Nanda and Steven Feuerstein, begin by providing a whirlwind tour of the PL/SQL language, touching on all of the topics DBAs will need to become familiar with--from the basics of the PL/SQL block structure, identifier construction, and program data declarations, to the use of control and error-handling statements, to the construction of procedures, functions, packages, and triggers in PL/SQL. Then, the authors describe PL/SQL cursors and how you can improve database performance by taking advantage of such features as cursor reuse, cursor soft-parsing and soft-closing, and various characteristics of implicit cursors. Next, they explore the use of functions that can be used as data sources for queries and that are used frequently in Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) operations. The authors then explain how you can use Oracle's tools to build basic encryption and key management systems to protect sensitive data. They continue to explain how you can define policies on database tables so that you can restrict which rows particular users can see or change in those tables. Then, the authors show you how you can extend traditional Oracle auditing to capture both database changes and queries. Next, they discuss situations in which you may need to generate values. Finally, they describe the use of the DBMS_SCHEDULER package in scheduling jobs to be performed at regular intervals.

This most excellent book is here to help you get your job done. More importantly, this book is focused squarely on the language topics of special concern to DBAs.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any Oracle DBA, January 17, 2006

By 

JEFFREY M. HUNTER "Jeffrey M. Hunter" (Butler, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs (Paperback)

Simply put, this book is a must have for any Oracle DBA. Many new and advanced features within Oracle are implemented using PL/SQL. As an Oracle DBA, you must have a firm grasp of this powerful language and how to take advantage of features in Oracle10g that include:

*) Security
*) Auditing
*) Encryption
*) Optimizing Performance
*) Automating Tasks
*) Scheduling

To start, Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs provides a solid foundation of the PL/SQL language including syntax, data types, cursors, control logic, exception handling, abstract data types, procedures, functions, and packages. The introduction is well written and packed with many explanations and examples. The book continues further to describe in great detail the use of cursors and table functions in chapters 2 and 3.

At this point, the Oracle DBA should have a firm understanding of the language and move on to more DBA-specific features that involve the use of PL/SQL. Chapter 4 explorers the fundamentals of encryption and how to implement advanced encryption techniques within Oracle. The chapter focuses on the use of the PL/SQL packages DBMS_CRYPTO (Oracle10g R1 and higher) and DBMS_OBFUSCATION_TOOLKIT (earlier releases prior to Oracle10g R1). Algorithms like DES and Triple DES along with other encryption fundamentals like hashing and key management are explained in easy to understand terms and illustrations.

Chapter 5 is dedicated to Row-Level Security. The authors do a fantastic job of explaining policies and how they work. Once again, the extensive amount of accurate examples is what makes this chapter easy to understand and implement. Special attention is paid to the use of the PL/SQL package DBMS_RLS and using it to create policies and control user access. A special section is provided on troubleshooting common errors with row-level security along with how to interpret and resolve them.

Chapter 6 explains the use of Fine-Grained Auditing (FGA). Like previous chapters, the authors lay the foundation for why, how, and when to use this powerful feature along with specifics to how it works with different Oracle releases. The DBA will learn just what is captured with FGA and how to customize it to their environment. FGA makes use of the PL/SQL procedure DBMS_FGA. Detailed examples are provided for creating and editing policies along with methods for administrating FGA.

Chapter 7 deals with generating random numbers and how to take advantage of DBMS_RANDOM. Here you will find great explanations of how to check for randomness and following statistical patterns. Again, all of this is put together with accurate examples.

Chapter 8 was my favorite - Scheduling. This chapter focuses on DBMS_SCHEDULER - Oracle10g's replacement for DBMS_JOB. Sections are also provided on how to prioritize jobs with the use of Database Resource Manager (DBMS_RESOURCE_MANAGER).

I enjoyed this book from front to back. Very well thought out explanations, real world examples and illustrations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars top shelf, July 24, 2008

By 

L. Wick - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs (Paperback)

I'm a working DBA but my exposure to PL/SQL has been light. This book not only teaches how to write the code but introduces better ways to perform typical tasks. Easily worth the money.