Viewing Data in the Oracle8i Database

[Hans Forbrich]

Cliff J wrote:

> Hi,
> I am new to Oracle. I am a network guy who is trying to get some
> knowledge using Oracle. I installed Oracle8i. All I want to do is log
> in as with the root account and look at the example database that
> comes with the install. I try to log in to SQL using the
> System/Manager account but I don't have sufficient privileges to look
> at data.
> My questions are, is there a built-in "admin" account that I should be
> using to administrate the database and is there a GUI that I can use
> to view data?
> Thanks. I appreciate it.

Since you are new and want to lean, I strongly encourage you to start with
the Concepts manual first.

All Oracle documentation is online and available free of charge at
[url]http://docs.oracle.com[/url] (same as [url]http://otn.oracle.com[/url] >> Documentation)

I also suggest you consider looking at "Oracle Essentials: Oracle9i,
Oracle8i & Oracle8" (ISBN 0-596-00179-7 @ [url]http://oracle.oreilly.com/[/url])
and Beginning Oracle Programming by Sean Dillon, et. al. (ISBN:
186100690X) now out of print but still available if you're lucky.

Please don't get used to accessing the database under the SYS or SYSTEM
userids. After you've gone through Conceptrs manual you should understand
why.

As for a GUI to access data - 'real DBAs use SQL*Plus'. (Beginning Oracle
Programming explains why). Although you could consider iSQLPlus <g>

[Burton Peltier]

You shouldn't be using root to install Oracle. You should have a normal
Unix/Linux account setup for that .

The system/manager should work, unless you changed the password which you
should do anyway.

To change the password of SYSTEM, connect using SYS with command = sqlplus
internal
Then enter at prompt SQL> alter user system identified by whateverpwyouwant
;

I see other posters don't think using system is a good idea. I know using
SYS is definitely NOT something you should ever do unless absolutely
necessary like upgrades - or a quick password change from sys :)

But, could someone tell me a good reason to not use the SYSTEM account for
day to day DBA work.

For easier viewing of data by those not familiar with Oracle's catalog,
using a tool like TOAD (free version at [url]www.toadsoft.com[/url]) is useful. But, it
only runs on Windozes. Another good one for Linux is TORA .

--
"Cliff J" <jonescj@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:df7ad293.0306241646.479f11d2@posting.google.c om...

> Hi,
> I am new to Oracle. I am a network guy who is trying to get some
> knowledge using Oracle. I installed Oracle8i. All I want to do is log
> in as with the root account and look at the example database that
> comes with the install. I try to log in to SQL using the
> System/Manager account but I don't have sufficient privileges to look
> at data.
> My questions are, is there a built-in "admin" account that I should be
> using to administrate the database and is there a GUI that I can use
> to view data?
> Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Ed Stevens]

Comments embedded . . .


On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:42:59 -0500, "Burton Peltier"
<burttemp1REMOVE_THIS@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>You shouldn't be using root to install Oracle. You should have a normal
>Unix/Linux account setup for that .
>
>The system/manager should work, unless you changed the password which you
>should do anyway.
>
>To change the password of SYSTEM, connect using SYS with command = sqlplus
>internal
>Then enter at prompt SQL> alter user system identified by whateverpwyouwant
>;

You don't have to log on as SYS . . . . SYSTEM can change his own
password. Unless, of course, SYSTEM can't remember his password to
get logged on in the first place.

>
>I see other posters don't think using system is a good idea. I know using
>SYS is definitely NOT something you should ever do unless absolutely
>necessary like upgrades - or a quick password change from sys :)
>
>But, could someone tell me a good reason to not use the SYSTEM account for
>day to day DBA work.
>
>For easier viewing of data by those not familiar with Oracle's catalog,
>using a tool like TOAD (free version at [url]www.toadsoft.com[/url]) is useful. But, it
>only runs on Windozes. Another good one for Linux is TORA .

If your working desktop is Windoze, it doesn't matter what platform
your DB is running on. I'm administering DB's on NT, Win2k, Solaris,
and AIX, scattered across 3 states. Use TOAD and DB-Artisan on all of
them. To the DB, the admin tool is just another client app, so
doesn't matter what platform it runs on.