Datasheet

Stored procedures
A stored procedure in Oracle is functionally equivalent to a stored procedure in SQL Server and stores a
single or group of SQL statements compiled into an execution plan.
Views
Views in Oracle perform the same function as they do in SQL Server and are like virtual tables containing
data from one or more tables.
Redo log files
Oracle’s redo log files are functionally equivalent to log files in SQL Server and enable you to recover
transactions made against the tables in your database. However, Oracle databases contain at least two
redo log files and can contain more. They are used in a round-robin fashion, whereby the first redo log
file is used until it gets full and then the second redo log file is used. When the second one is filled up,
the first redo log file is reused.
Control files
Oracle uses a single control file per database to tell the database engine where to find the other files, such
as the data and redo log files, associated with a database. It also contains other important information
about your database, such as the database name and the date and time the database was created. The
control file may also contain other information, such as the location of your archived redo log files.
Temp files
Temp files are used to store the intermediate results of large sort operations and large results sets from a
query. This provides efficient use of system resources, as smaller sort operations and results sets are
stored in the computer’s memory.
Password files
Information concerning password files is closely guarded at Oracle and rightly so given the security
concerns of corporations everywhere and the fact that Oracle is a very secure database. Be aware that
every database contains password files used to authenticate users performing administrative functions
against the database.
Relational Database Design
A relational database contains tables, rows, and columns that are related to one another. A relational
database that has been properly normalized will have more tables that contain fewer columns, rather
than a few tables containing lots of columns. A normalized relational database actually improves storage
efficiency and performance, even though it physically contains more tables than a non-normalized
database does. You will be reading about the process of normalization in the next section.
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