The New DBA FAQS Part 4- by Kevin Loney

The New DBA FAQs
(Frequently Asked Questions for/from Database Administrators)
by Kevin Loney

This article may not be published.

19-NOV-96 First posting. Kevin Loney

References: CHANGE_ON_INSTALL: 20 Changes to Make after Installing Oracle, OOW 1996 Presentation (Loney/Viscusi)

DBA GLOSSARY OF TERMS - WELL, MAYBE.

(an excerpt appears in the Jan/Feb 97 issue of ORACLE Magazine)

In no particular order:

Cluster-The technical term for a group of DBAs.
Unlimited-Infinity, which is equal to 2,147,483,645.
Unique-How you catch a constraint violation: unique up on it.
Thread-Ethel Mertz' husband on "I Love Lucy".
Extent-The limit, as in "I've reached the extent of my patience with my users."
PCTFREE-Decaffeinated PCT.
RAID-Kills bugs dead.
Batch-A group of cookies.
Migrated Row-A row that went south.
Recursive Call-See Call, Recursive.
Connect By-The opposite of Disconnect By.
Outer join-The opposite of an innie join.
Snapshot-What happened when Mr. Snap wandered into the crossfire.
Optimal (adj):-Packaged software that requires no modification to work perfectly is an optimal illusion.
Patch-The missing link.
Tuning-A type of fork or consultant. See also Dessert and Salad.
Constraint-A device used to restrain administrators who applied one patch too many.
Call, Recursive-See Recursive Call.
Foreign Key-A key that has not yet been granted citizenship.
Export-A former Port.
Direct Path-The shortest distance between two points.
Data (adj.) ex:-"He went data way."
Cache-See ATM.
Rollback-One of the moves in the Macarena.
Import (n.)-ex: "Your crisis is of no import to me."
Raw device-Disk tartare.
Reserved Word-A word that called ahead.
PMON-The letter after O, Mon.
CASE-Tools Systems that involve planning what you're going to do before you actually do it. Most people support their use, so long as it's someone else who has to use them.
Pro*C-C that has given up its amateur status.
Clause-Part of a SQL statement. See also Santa.
NOT NULL-In younger releases, this constaint is called NULL - NOT!.
Index-Where you find boards (in decks).
Histograms-Singing telegrams, delivered by snakes.
Third Normal Form Abnormal.-How many "normal" forms can there be?
Candidate Key-A key running for the primary key election.
Check-A type of constraint. The smaller the check, the more constraining it is.
SQL-Better than the ORIGNL.
Commit-What you do with records and DBAs.
Hints-A brand of ketchup; the result of a merger between Heinz and Hunts.
Free lists-Lists with a vote.
Temporary Segments-Objects that consume vast resources before quickly disappearing, like teenagers at dinner on Friday nights.
Cursor-That little blinking thing on your terminal.
Pipe WARNING:-Can cause cancer in lab rats.
Schema-Heart disease.
Fast Refresh 20-second timeout.
Packages-Noticeably safer to open since the Unabomber was arrested.
Sequence-See Quence. See Quence run. Run, Quence, run.
Deadlock-A clipping from Jerry Garcia's hair.
View-What you would see from your office if you had an office instead of a cubicle.
Redo-To comb your hair back into place after pulling it every which way during a tense recovery.
Default (n.)- "I didn't do it; default lies somewhere else."

Kevin Loney is the author of the ORACLE DBA Handbook, 7.3 Edition, coauthor of ORACLE: The Complete Reference, Electronic Edition, and coauthor of Advanced ORACLE Tuning and Administration, all published under Osborne/McGraw-Hill's Oracle Press imprint. See www.osborne.com for scripts and sample chapters.