Oracle Pro Tips, Trends & Technology eXTRA Pinnacle Publishing http://www.pinnaclepublishing.com Issue 3.15 September 10, 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) Pop Quiz (answer at the end) 2) Oracle Pricing 3) Oracle OpenWorld 4) Best Dressed Billionaires 5) Oracle News 6) SQL Tips - Full Outer Joins in Oracle9i 7) Oracle Web Application Case Study 8) Oracle Books 9) Answer to the Pop Quiz --------------------------------------------------------- 1) POP QUIZ (answer at the end) --------------------------------------------------------- How do you get an Oracle metalink account? --------------------------------------------------------- 2) ORACLE PRICING --------------------------------------------------------- Oracle announced that it'll soon post on its Web site a comprehensive guide on its pricing scheme. According to the article, "analysts say publishing the guide is a positive step for the software industry, where prices can be difficult to compare on a module-to-module basis." Find out more at the following link: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20020830/bs_nf/19253 --------------------------------------------------------- 3) ORACLE OPENWORLD --------------------------------------------------------- It's that time of the year again. Oracle OpenWorld is just around the corner. It will be held in San Francisco from November 10 - 14, 2002. Visiting San Francisco alone may be worth the trip. On top of that you get to see Larry Ellison in action, talk to fellow Oracle fans (and/or foes), and find out what's happening in the Oracle industry. Find out more at the following link: http://www.oracle.com/oracleworld/sanfrancisco/conference --------------------------------------------------------- 4) BEST DRESSED BILLIONAIRES --------------------------------------------------------- Well, if you're Bill or Larry or Steve, not only are you judged by the technological innovation of the company you run, but what you wear will be closely watched by the media. According to an article published in Forbes magazine, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Steve Jobs of Apple, and Jeffry Bezos of Amazon.com appear to be wearing an identical style of clothing day in and day out. On the other hand, Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft appear to have increasingly sophisticated taste in what they wear. Find out more at the following link: http://www.forbes.com/2002/08/26/0826uniform.html While you're there, don't forget to click on the "America's Best-Dressed Billionaires" slide show. You'll see Bill Gates' "evolution" over the decades. --------------------------------------------------------- 5) ORACLE NEWS --------------------------------------------------------- Oracle offers a service called "Cooking with Code" that provides "...Oracle tips, tricks, and shortcuts for Oracle database, tools, and applications developers." You can participate in real-time at one of the designated times, or you can download the presentation afterwards. Some of the topics covered include "Learn how to use Web Services in enterprise reporting with Oracle9i Reports" and tutorial on building Enterprise JavaBean modules. Find out more at the following link: http://www.oracle.com/ebusinessnetwork/archive/code.html --------------------------------------------------------- 6) SQL TIPS - FULL OUTER JOINS IN ORACLE9i --------------------------------------------------------- We had covered the use of ANSI-compliant outer joins in a previous issue. At O'Reilly's Web site they have included an example of the same feature. Take a look and let me know what you think: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2002/04/23/fulljoin.html --------------------------------------------------------- 7) ORACLE WEB APPLICATION CASE STUDY --------------------------------------------------------- I'll start a case study of building Web applications using Oracle. First we'll look at a Web site that uses Oracle9i as the back end, Microsoft ASP as the Web technology. After that, we'll see how Oracle9iAS can be used to rapidly deploy Web applications written in Java. As your "homework," you can take a look at the Access Copyright's Web site (http://www.accesscopyright.ca). --------------------------------------------------------- 8) ORACLE BOOKS --------------------------------------------------------- There are a number of books on Oracle9i, one of which is from Oracle Press. Written by Kevin Loney and George Koch, this book discusses Oracle9i features and is intended for Oracle professionals. You can find out more at: http://shop.osborne.com/cgi-bin/oraclepress/0072225211.html You can peruse one of the book's chapters for free: http://www.osborne.com/products/0072225211/0072225211_ch01.pdf --------------------------------------------------------- 9) ANSWER TO THE POP QUIZ --------------------------------------------------------- A subscriber asked me how to gain access to Oracle Metalink. First, the easy part. To get an overview of what Metalink is, go to: http://www.oracle.com/support/metalink/index.html Oracle MetaLink is basically Oracle technical support on the Web. You can log TARs (technical assistance requests), search the bugs database, and download patches. Now, the not-so-easy-part. Metalink is only available to "customers with an active support contract for their Oracle licenses." Once you do, you can register by going to the following link: http://metalink.oracle.com --------------------------------------------------------- Well, that's it for this issue. I welcome your feedback, input, tips, suggestions, Web sites, and other Oracle- related news. If you send me something, please let me know whether I can use your name with your comments. I apologize in advance if I don't respond personally to each of your questions or suggestions, but I'll get to as many as I can in the eNewsletter if not personally. Garry Chan, Editor Database Architect mailto:GChan@ProcaseConsulting.com This eNewsletter is brought to you compliments of Pinnacle Publishing, Inc. Copyright(c) 2002 http://www.pinnaclepublishing.com All rights reserved.