Oracle PL/SQL Programming: A Developer's Workbook

Chapter 30. PL/SQL for DBAs

This chapter, meant specifically for DBAs, tests your ability to use the base PL/SQL language, as well as an assortment of built-in packages, to simplify and automate a variety of database maintenance tasks.

Beginner

30-1.	How can database parameters (from the INIT.ORA file) be examined from within PL/SQL?
30-2.	Write a function that accepts the name of a database parameter and returns its value.
30-3.	Database administrators usually have a collection of many scripts they’ve written. Unfortunately, each new version of Oracle wreaks havoc with these scripts. One solution is to have a set of scripts for each version of the database. Another solution is to build a database version check into each script. Oracle8 includes a built-in to determine the database version for you. What is the name of the utility? Use it in an example.
30-4.	Suppose you need to write a script that depends on using a particular version of Oracle (you’ll do one thing for Oracle7 and another for Oracle8). Write a procedure to display the version of the database for either Oracle7 or Oracle8.
30-5.	What Oracle built-in package maintains the SHARED_POOL portion of the System Global Area (SGA)?
30-6.	What command do you use to pin the DBMS_SHARED_POOL package in the shared pool?
30-7.	What attribute of PL/SQL packages allows them to be written by a DBA (accessing DBA objects) and then to be successfully executed by non-DBAs (with no access to DBA objects)?