14/3/2016 AskTom:OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1

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OracleTechnologyNetwork OracleMagazineIssueArchive 2013 September2013

2016
OracleMagazineOnline
2015
2016 2014
TECHNOLOGY:AskTom AsPublishedIn
2015

2014

2013 OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1
2012
ByTomKyte


2011
September/October2013
Ourtechnologistimprovesdefaultvalues,handlesbiggerdatatypes,andFETCHesforthefirsttime.
2010
2009 UsuallyItakethreeorfourusersubmittedquestionsfromthepasttwomonthsandpresentthosequestionsandanswershereineachAskTom
column.Inthenextfourcolumns,however,IwilltakealookatsomekeyOracleDatabase12cfeatures.Thesefeaturesareallpartofthe12
ThingsAboutOracleDatabase12cpresentationIgaveatOracleOpenWorld2012inSanFrancisco.(Youcanfindtheslidesforthatpresentation
onasktom.oracle.comontheFilestab).ThefirstthreeOracleDatabase12cfeaturesIlltakealookatare

Improveddefaults

Biggerdatatypes

Topnqueries

ImprovedDefaults

TheabilitytocreateadefaultcolumnvaluehasexistedinSQLforawhile.Thefunctionalityhasbeensomewhatlimited,however,withvarious
restrictions.Forexample,youwererestrictedfromusingaSEQUENCEobjecttosupplyadefaultvalue.Additionally,ifadefaultvaluewastobe
insertedintoorupdatedinatable,youhadtoeitherusetheDEFAULTkeywordintheSQLstatementorleavethecolumnoutoftheINSERT
statemententirely.Furthermore,addinganewcolumnthatpermitsNULLvalueswithadefaultvaluewasanofflineoperation.InOracleDatabase
12c,however,theserestrictionsandfunctionalitylimitationshavebeenremoved.

RemovedRestriction:GeneratingaDefaultValuefromaSEQUENCE.InOracleDatabase12c,youcannowusethe.NEXTVALattributeofa
sequencetocreateadefaultcolumnvalue.Forexample,thiscode

SQL>createsequences;
Sequencecreated.
SQL>createtablet
2(xint
3defaults.nextval
4primarykey,
5yvarchar2(30)
6);
Tablecreated.

SQL>insertintot(x,y)
2values(default,'hello');
1rowcreated.

SQL>insertintot(y)
2values('world');
1rowcreated.

SQL>select*fromt;

XY

1hello
2world

demonstratesthatyoucancreateadefaultcolumnvaluefortheprimarykeyfromthesequencevaluewithoutusingatrigger,asyouwouldhave
inthepast.SoinOracleDatabase12c,DEFAULTS.NEXTVALintheCREATETABLEstatementwillreplacethefollowingproceduralcode:

SQL>createtriggert
2beforeinsertont
3foreachrow
4begin
5if(:new.xisnull)
6then
7:new.x:=s.nextval;
8endif;
9end;
10/
Triggercreated.

Inadditiontousingareferencetoasequencetocreateadefaultcolumnvalue,youcanalternativelyuseanIDENTITYtype,whichwillgeneratea
sequenceandassociatethatsequencewiththetable.Forexample,thisCREATETABLEstatement

SQL>createtablet
2(xint
3generatedasidentity
4primarykey,
5yvarchar2(30)
6)
7/
Tablecreated.

willresultinthesamedatasbeingloadedintotableTwithoutyourhavingtoexplicitlycreateasequence(asyoudidintheCREATETABLE
statementthatexplicitlycalledDEFAULTS.NEXTVAL).Youcanseethissequenceifyoulookattheschema:

SQL>selectobject_name,object_type
2fromuser_objects
3/

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14/3/2016 AskTom:OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1
OBJECT_NAMEOBJECT_TYPE

TTABLE
ISEQ$$_90241SEQUENCE
SYS_C0010233INDEX

Butnotethatifyoudropthetableandpurgeitfromtherecyclebin,thesequencewillberemovedaswell:

SQL>droptabletpurge;
Tabledropped.

SQL>selectobject_name,object_type
2fromuser_objects
3/
norowsselected

Becauseidentityisusingasequenceunderthecovers,youcanalsocontrolallthesettingsoftheunderlyingsequence.Forexample,this
CREATETABLEstatement

SQL>createtablet
2(xint
3generatedbydefault
4asidentity
5(startwith42
6incrementby1000)
7primarykey,
8yvarchar2(30)
9)
10/
Tablecreated.

showsthatyoucancontroltheSTARTWITHandINCREMENTBYvalues.Additionally,byusingtheGENERATEDBYDEFAULTstatementinstead
ofjustGENERATED,youcanoverridethedefaultidentityvalue.HereIdemonstratethisbyinsertingthevalue1andthentwomorerows,enabling
identitytogeneratethedefaultvalues:

SQL>insertintot(x,y)
2values(1,'override');
1rowcreated.

SQL>insertintot(x,y)
2values(default,'hello');
1rowcreated.

SQL>insertintot(y)
2values('world');
1rowcreated.

SQL>select*fromt;

XY

1override
42hello
1042world

ImprovedFunctionality:CreateaDefaultValueforaNULLColumn.InOracleDatabase12c,youcannowcreateadefaultcolumnvaluenot
onlywhenyouusetheDEFAULTkeywordorleavethecolumnentirelyoutoftheINSERTstatementbutalsowhenyousetthecolumnvalue
explicitlytoNULL.

Inthepast,ifacolumnusedadefaultvalue,youeitherhadtousetheDEFAULTkeywordintheINSERT/UPDATEstatementorleavethecolumn
entirelyoutoftheINSERT/UPDATEstatement.Thatmeantthatinordertouseadefaultvalueatcertaintimesandnotothers,youneededatleast
twoINSERT/UPDATEstatementswithcomplicatedif/then/elseconstructs.Forexample,ifcolumnXhadadefaultvalueandyousometimeswanted
toinsertanoverridingvalueandsometimesnot,youwouldneedcoderesemblingthefollowing:

if(xis_to_be_defaulted)
then
insertintot(x,)
values(DEFAULT,);
else
insertintot(x,)
values(:x,);
endif;

Now,thatmightbeOKifyousometimeshadtocreateadefaultvalueforonecolumn,butwhatifyouhavetwoorthreeormorecolumns?Thinkof
howmanycombinationsofINSERTsorUPDATEsyouwouldneedwithcomplexif/then/elseblockstosupportthat.InOracleDatabase12c,you
cannowcreateadefaultcolumnvaluewhenyouexplicitlyputaNULLvalueintothatcolumn.Heresanexample:

SQL>createtablet
2(xnumber
3generatedasidentity
4primarykey,
5yvarchar2(30),
6znumberdefaultONNULL42
7)
8/
Tablecreated.

ByusingznumberdefaultONNULL42,IvespecifiedthatcolumnZwillreceivethedefaultvaluenotonlywhenIexplicitlysetittoDEFAULT
orleaveitoutoftheINSERTstatementbutalsowhenIexplicitlyinsertNULLintoit,asin

SQL>insertintot(y)
2values('justy');
1rowcreated.

SQL>insertintot(y,z)
2values('ywithzsettonull',
null);
1rowcreated.

SQL>insertintot(y,z)
2values('yandz',100);
1rowcreated.

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14/3/2016 AskTom:OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1
SQL>select*fromt;

XYZ

1justy42
2ywithzsettonull42
3yandz100

Asyoucansee,theZcolumnvalueiscreatedwiththedefaultvalue42inbothcasesnow.Also,thedeclarationforZhadtheeffectofdefiningitas
NOTNULL,eventhoughIdidnotexplicitlystatethat:

SQL>selectcolumn_name,nullable
2fromuser_tab_columns
3wheretable_name='T'
4orderbycolumn_id
5/

COLUMN_NAMEN

XN
YY
ZN

MoreOnlineOperations:BetterColumnAddition.InOracleDatabase11gyouwereabletoperformafastaddofacolumntoatableifithada
defaultvalueandwasdefinedasNOTNULL.(ArupNandahaswrittenaboutthisatbit.ly/16tQNCh.)However,ifyouattemptedtoaddacolumn
withadefaultvalueandthatcolumnpermittednullvalues,theADDCOLUMNoperationcouldtakeasignificantamountoftime,generatealarge
amountofundoandredo,andlocktheentiretableforthedurationoftheoperation.InOracleDatabase12c,thattime,volume,andlockingareno
longerpartoftheprocess.

Todemonstratethis,IcopyALL_OBJECTSintoatableandmeasureitsspaceinblocksandbytesusingtheshow_spaceutility,postedon
asktom.oracle.com:

SQL>createtablet
2as
3select*
4fromall_objects;
Tablecreated.

SQL>execshow_space('T')

FullBlocks....1,437
TotalBlocks...........1,536
TotalBytes............12,582,912
TotalMBytes...........12

PL/SQLproceduresuccessfullycompleted.

NowIaddacolumntotableT,andthiscolumnwillhavealargedefaultvalue.BecausethecolumnImaddingisaCHAR(2000),itwillalways
consumethefull2,000bytes,giventhattheCHARtypeisalwaysblankpaddedandfixedwidth.TableThasmorethan87,000records,soadding
acolumnwouldtypicallytakeasignificantamountoftime,butasyoucansee,theadditionispracticallyinstantaneousinOracleDatabase12c:

SQL>settimingon
SQL>altertablet
add(datachar(2000)default'x');
Tablealtered.
Elapsed:00:00:00.07

IperformtheidenticaloperationinOracleDatabase11gandobservethefollowingtiming:

SQL>settimingon
SQL>altertablet
add(datachar(2000)default'x');
Tablealtered.
Elapsed:00:00:28.59

Clearly,thatsasignificantdifferenceinruntimes.Plus,whenIlookatthesizeofthetablewiththeadditionalcolumninOracleDatabase12c

SQL>execshow_space('T')

FullBlocks....1,437
TotalBlocks...........1,536
TotalBytes............12,582,912
TotalMBytes...........12

PL/SQLproceduresuccessfullycompleted.

Iseethatthetabledidnotgrowatall.However,runningthesametestinOracleDatabase
11gshowsthatthetablewillgrowfromabout9MBto192MB.Additionally,inOracle
Database11g,almosteveryrowinthetablewasamigratedrow,becausetherowgrewby NextSteps
ordersofmagnitude.Thattableprobablywouldbedueforareorganizationintheprior
releasesbutnotinOracleDatabase12c. ASKTom
TomKyteanswersyourmostdifficulttechnology
BiggerDatatypes questions.Highlightsfromthatforumappearinthis
column.
Oracle8DatabaseprovidedabigincreaseinthesizeofVARCHARtypesfrom255bytes
(inOracle7)to4,000bytes.NowtheOracleDatabase12creleaseincreasesthesizefrom FOLLOWTomonTwitter
4,000bytesto32K,bringingtheSQLVARCHAR2,NVARCHAR2,andRAWdatatypesin
linewiththeirPL/SQLcounterparts. READmoreTom

DOWNLOADOracleDatabase12c
Bydefault,thisnewcapabilityisnotenabledandwouldhavetobeenabledbytheDBAs
settingthenewMAX_STRING_SIZEinit.oraparametertoEXTENDED.Oncethatsdone, FOLLOWOracleDatabase
youllbeabletoissuestatementssuchas onTwitter
SQL>createtablet(xvarchar(32767)); onFacebook
Tablecreated.

andthenusestringfunctionssuchasRPAD,LPAD,andTRIM:

SQL>insertinto
tvalues(rpad('*',32000,'*'));
1rowcreated.

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14/3/2016 AskTom:OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1

SQL>selectlength(x)fromt;

LENGTH(X)

32000

Inthepast,RPADandotherstringbuiltinfunctionswouldhavebeenabletoreturnonly4,000bytes,butnowtheycanreturnupto32Kfora
VARCHAR2returntype.

Underthecovers,OracleDatabase12cisusingalargeobject(LOB)tostoretheselargerstringsandrawtypes.Iftheinsertedstringisupto4,000
bytes,thedatabasewillstorethedatainthetabledatabaseblockjustasitdoeswithalegacyVARCHAR2typeifthestringexceeds4,000bytes,
however,thedatabasewilltransparentlystoreitoutoflineinaLOBsegmentandindex.

TopNQueriesandPagination

OutofthemanythousandsofquestionsonAskTom(asktom.oracle.com),acoupleofthemostpopularare,HowdoIgetrowsNthroughMofa
resultset(howtopaginatethrougharesultset)andHowdoIgetthefirstNrecordsofaresultset.Infact,Ivewrittenmorethanonearticlein
OracleMagazineovertheyearstoaddressthesequestions(OnTopnandPaginationQueriesandOnROWNUMandLimitingResults).These
articlesdemonstratedhowtoaccomplishthesefeats,butthemethodsdemonstratedarecumbersome,nonintuitive,andnotnecessarilyportable.

OracleDatabase12cincludessupportfortheANSIstandardFETCHFIRST/NEXTandOFFSETclausestogethercalledtherowlimitingclause.
ThisclauseenablesyoutoeasilyretrievethefirstNrecordsfromaresultsetor,alternatively,thefirstNrecordsafterskippingoverasetofrecords,
soyoucaneasilypaginatethrougharesultset.ThediagraminFigure1showsthesyntaxfortherowlimitingclause.

Figure1:Rowlimitingclausesyntax

TherowlimitingclauseissimplyaddedtotheendofanySQLSELECTstatementtofetchaspecificsetofrecordsthereisnoneedformultiple
layersofinlineviewsandWHEREclausesthathavetobecarefullypositioned,astherewaswithROWNUMandROW_NUMBER().

Forexample,ifIhaveatableT

SQL>createtablet
2as
3select*fromall_objects;
Tablecreated.

SQL>createindext_idx
ont(owner,object_name);
Indexcreated.

andIwanttoretrievethefirstfiverowsaftersortingbyOWNERandOBJECT_NAME,IonlyneedtoaddaFETCHFIRSTNROWStotheSQL
query,asshowninListing1.

CodeListing1:SimpleSELECTquerywithFETCHFIRST

SQL>selectowner,object_name,object_id
2fromt
3orderbyowner,object_name
4FETCHFIRST5ROWSONLY;


|Id|Operation|Name|Rows|Bytes|Cost(%CPU)|Time|

|0|SELECTSTATEMENT||5|1450|7(0)|00:00:01|
|*1|VIEW||5|1450|7(0)|00:00:01|
|*2|WINDOWNOSORTSTOPKEY||5|180|7(0)|00:00:01|
|3|TABLEACCESSBYINDEXROWID|T|87310|3069K|7(0)|00:00:01|
|4|INDEXFULLSCAN|T_IDX|5||3(0)|00:00:01|

PredicateInformation(identifiedbyoperationid):

1filter("from$_subquery$_003"."rowlimit_$$_rownumber"<=5)
2filter(ROW_NUMBER()OVER(ORDERBY"OWNER","OBJECT_NAME")<=5)

AsyoucantellbythepredicateinformationinListing1,therowlimitingclauseisusingROW_NUMBER()transparentlyunderthecovers,rewriting
thequerytouseanalytics.Therowlimitingclause,inshort,ismakingitmucheasiertodosomethingyouwouldhavedonemanuallyinthepast.

TopaginatethrougharesultsettogetNrowsatatimefromaspecificpageintheresultsetIaddtheOFFSETclause.InListing2,Iskipthefirst
fiverowsandgetthenextfiverowsfromaresultset.

CodeListing2:SimpleSELECTquerywithOFFSETFETCH

SQL>selectowner,object_name,object_id
2fromt
3orderbyowner,object_name
4OFFSET5ROWSFETCHNEXT5ROWSONLY;


|Id|Operation|Name|Rows|Bytes|Cost(%CPU)|Time|

|0|SELECTSTATEMENT||5|1450|7(0)|00:00:01|
|*1|VIEW||5|1450|7(0)|00:00:01|
|*2|WINDOWNOSORTSTOPKEY||5|180|7(0)|00:00:01|
|3|TABLEACCESSBYINDEXROWID|T|87310|3069K|7(0)|00:00:01|
|4|INDEXFULLSCAN|T_IDX|5||3(0)|00:00:01|

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14/3/2016 AskTom:OnOracleDatabase12c,Part1
PredicateInformation(identifiedbyoperationid):

1filter("from$_subquery$_003"."rowlimit_$$_rownumber"<=CASEWHEN(5>=0)
THEN5ELSE0END+5AND"from$_subquery$_003"."rowlimit_$$_rownumber">5)
2filter(ROW_NUMBER()OVER(ORDERBY"OWNER","OBJECT_NAME")<=CASEWHEN
(5>=0)THEN5ELSE0END+5)

AsyoucanseeinListing2,thedatabase,underthecovers,isrewritingthequerytouseinlineviewsandanalyticsonceagainautomating
somethingthatwaspreviouslynonintuitiveandcomplex.

Notethatinreallife,youwouldusebindvariablesinsteadofhardcodedliterals,soinsteadofusingthenumber5asIdid,youwouldhavebound
inthenumber5.

TomKyteisadatabaseevangelistinOraclesServerTechnologiesdivisionandhasworkedforOraclesince1993.Heis
theauthorofExpertOracleDatabaseArchitecture(Apress,2005,2010)andEffectiveOraclebyDesign(OraclePress,
2003),amongotherbooks.

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