Release Bulletin SQL*Plus 8.0.

6 Production April 1999 This bulletin contains important information about this release of SQL*Plus. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the contents of this bulletin before using this release. Restricted Rights Legend -----------------------The Programs (which include both the software and documentation) contain proprietary information of Oracle Corporation; they are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent, and other intellectual and industrial property laws. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of the Programs is prohibited. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. If you find any problems in the documentation, please report them to us in writing. Oracle Corporation does not warrant that this document is error free. Except as may be expressly permitted in your license agreement for these Programs, no part of these Programs may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Oracle Corporation. If the Programs are delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing or using the Programs on behalf of the U.S. Government, the following notice is applicable: RESTRICTED RIGHTS NOTICE: Programs delivered subject to the DOD FAR Supplement are "commercial computer software" and use, duplication, and disclosure of the Programs including documentation, shall be subject to the licensing restrictions set forth in the applicable Oracle license agreement. Otherwise, Programs delivered subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations are "restricted computer software" and use, duplication, and disclosure of the Programs shall be subject to the restrictions in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights (June, 1987). Oracle Corporation, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065. Oracle and SQL*Plus are registered trademarks, and Oracle7 and Oracle8 are trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Documentation New Features SQL*Plus Release 8.0.6 SQL*Plus Release 8.0.5

SQL*Plus Release 8.0.4 SQL*Plus Release 8.0.3 Fixed Bugs SQL*Plus Release 8.0.6 SQL*Plus Release 8.0.5 SQL*Plus Release 8.0.4 SQL*Plus Release 8.0.3 SQL*Plus Release 4.0.2 SQL*Plus Release 4.0.1 Known Restrictions and Workarounds

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Documentation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------SQL*Plus 8.0 is a superset of SQL*Plus 3.3. The following documentation listed by part number and title is available: A53717-01 SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference A53718-01 SQL*Plus Quick Reference ------------------------------------------------------------------------------New Features ------------------------------------------------------------------------------SQL*Plus Release 8.0.6 ---------------------No commands or features have been modified or introduced in this release. SQL*Plus Release 8.0.5 ---------------------The following commands or features have been modified or introduced: CONNECT ------The syntax of the CONNECT command is extended to support the mode of connection. The syntax is: CONN[ECT] [username[/password][@database_specification]] [AS {SYSDBA|SYSOPER}] SQL*Plus Release 8.0.4 ---------------------The following commands or features have been modified or introduced: SET MAXDATA SET CLOSECURSOR SET COMPATIBILITY

A discussion of each command follows. SET MAXDATA ----------The SET MAXDATA command has been obsoleted and has no effect. SET CLOSECURSOR --------------The SET CLOSECURSOR command has been obsoleted and has no effect. SET COMPATIBILITY ----------------The SET COMPATIBILITY command has been modified. The syntax is: SET COM[PATIBILITY] {v7|v8|NATIVE} The default is NATIVE. V6 (Oracle version 6) is no longer available. SQL*Plus Release 8.0.3 ---------------------The following commands or features have been modified or introduced: CREATE TYPE DESCRIBE PASSWORD CONNECT SET CONSTRAINT SET NEWPAGE SET LOBOFFSET VARIABLE SHOW ERRORS ATTRIBUTE EXIT Version variable A discussion of each command follows. CREATE TYPE ----------The CREATE TYPE command is processed as a PL/SQL command. DESCRIBE -------The describe command now supports the following objects: TABLE/VIEW PROCEDURE/FUNCTION SYNONYM PACKAGE OBJECT TYPE PASSWORD -------Allows the password to be changed without echoing the password on an input device.

The syntax is: PASSW[ORD] [username] Where username specifies the user. If no username is given, the current user is used. To change the password of another user you must have been granted the appropriate privilege. CONNECT ------If you log on or connect as a user whose account has expired, you will be prompted to change your password before being allowed to connect. If the account is locked, SQL*Plus displays a message and connection as this user is not permitted until the account is unlocked by your DBA. For more information on account management refer to the documentation on the CREATE and ALTER USER commands, and the CREATE PROFILE command in the "Oracle8 Server SQL Reference". SET CONSTRAINT -------------The SQL language SET CONSTRAINT command is supported. Refer to the "Oracle8 Server SQL Reference" for information on the syntax and useage of the SET CONSTRAINT command. SET NEWPAGE ----------The SET NEWPAGE command has the new keyword NONE. The syntax is: SET NEWP[AGE] {1|n|NONE} The default is 1. SET NEWPAGE NONE prints no blank lines and no formfeed between report pages. For compatibility, SET NEWPAGE 0 prints a formfeed and no blank lines between pages. SET LOBOFFSET ------------The SET command now has a LOBOFFSET clause. The LOBOFFSET clause sets the starting position from which CLOB and NCLOB data is retrieved and displayed. The syntax is: SET LOBOF[FSET] {n|1} The default is 1. VARIABLE -------The VARIABLE command now supports bind variables of following datatypes: NCHAR NVARCHAR2

NCLOB CLOB The maximum lengths of NCHAR and NVARCHAR2 bind variables is up to 2000 and 4000 respectively. For more information on these new datatypes please refer to the "Oracle8 Server SQL Reference". The maximum lengths of CHAR and VARCHAR2 bind variables have been increased to 2000 and 4000 respectively. SHOW ERRORS ----------The syntax is: SHOW ERRORS [{FUNCTION|PROCEDURE|PACKAGE|PACKAGE BODY|TRIGGER|VIEW| TYPE|TYPE BODY} [schema.]name] ATTRIBUTE --------The ATTRIBUTE command has been introduced. It can be used to format the attribute of an object when that object is selected. The format of an attribute will not be affected when selected as object.attribute, however, the COLUMN command can be used in this case. The syntax is: ATTRIBUTE [type_name.attribute_name [option ... ]] where option may be FOR[MAT] LIKE ON|OFF Note that clearing columns will also clear all attributes. EXIT ---The EXIT command now allows numeric bind variables to be used. The syntax is: {EXIT|QUIT} [SUCCESS|FAILURE|WARNING|n|Variable|:BindVariable] [COMMIT|ROLLBACK] Version Variable ---------------A new define variable _SQLPLUS_RELEASE contains a numeric form of the SQL*Plus release number. The format is the same as the Oracle Server release number _O_RELEASE already available.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fixed Bugs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Numbers in parentheses following the problem description refer to

bug numbers in the Oracle Bug Database. SQL*Plus Release 8.0.6 ---------------------- Abormal termination no longer occurs when displaying output from some SQL functions such as UPPER in shift-in/shift-out sensitive NLS character sets (509064) - The SQLCODE variable is now cleared after successful statements (650528) - WHENEVER clauses no longer cause infinite loops for failed CONNECT statements (661485) - A problem initializing the Product User Profile information for certain classes of connection was fixed (664915) - DESCRIBE of FLOAT columns used to show NUMBER (686159) - Selecting two long columns in the same statement now works (689398) - A memory leak when selecting VARRAYs was fixed, and the amount of memory used per query was reduced (691247) - Using an uninitialized bind variable in an EXIT statement no longer causes an abnormal termination (692895) - Multibyte column names in shift-in/shift-out sensitive NLS character sets are now be displayed correctly (695505) - Selecting NCLOB data no longer gives SQL*Plus internal error state 2132 in some character sets (695656) - The Net8 database specification alias is no longer ignored after a failed connection causes the error ORA-1017 (695663) - A problem with the exports.mk file that prevented relinking under UNIX has been fixed (706033) - Connection to SQL*Plus when in the password expiry grace period now works correctly (739529) - Selecting CLOB data used to fail with SQL*Plus internal error state 2132 in some obscure cases (742967) - Leading whitespace before usernames at the top of files is now ignored (745122) - Selecting a very large number (approx. 500) of formatted numeric columns in a single select statement no longer causes a memory exception (776932) - COPY commands that create internal statements of a certain length no longer cause a memory access error (785150) - DESCRIBE of a synonym no longer causes a memory exception for some kinds of synonyms pointing to remote tables (809258)

- The LNO variable is now calculated correctly after a title is displayed (819865) - Some internal coding changes occurred (673510, 700687, 718629, 718640, 718652, 718668, 719337, 719339, 719356, 642147, 799797) SQL*Plus Release 8.0.5 ---------------------- ORA-1400 USING THE SQL*PLUS COPY COMMAND ON COLUMNS WITH LOW VALUES (523449) - DESCRIBE TYPE RETURNED AS UNDEFINED FOR ROWID COLUMNS(563474) - COMMAND 'DESCRIBE' DOES NOT WORK WITH DBCS MULTIBYTE WITHIN KO16TSTSET ENV (598260) - CANNOT CREATE SPOOL FILE (UNABLE TO ALLOCATE DYNAMIC SPACE NEEDED)(605012) - CONNECTING TO WRONG DATABASE AFTER INSTALLING 8.0.4 "SQLPLUS SYSTEM@PRODMIS"(611696) - SET COMPATIBILITY V8, AND ALTER SESSION ENDS WITH ORA-1011(633118) - CONNECT INCORRECTLY GIVES ORA-1031 WHEN PREVIOUSLY CONNECTED TO ANOTHER DB (634631) - SET AUTOTRACE ON DOESN'T WORK FOR OPS$ USERS(556180) - Internal code changes : (588251, 602485, 604932, 607223, 622509, 627147, 633621, 633633, 633722, 637212, 641480, 641481, 642039, 642800, 643676, 643741, 646053, 563079, 607239) SQL*Plus Release 8.0.4 ---------------------- OCISTMTPREPARE FAILS WITH ORA-24375 WHEN PARSING PLSQL TO FETCH SERVEROUTPUT(555969) - DESC COMMAND WITH CODE CONVERSION ENVIRONMENT FAIL(555918) - NO INDEXES ON THE UNDERLYING TABLE (SYSTEM.PRODUCT_PROFILE) DOING FULL TABLE SCANS(555626) - DESCRIBE PACKAGE WITH INTERNAL DATATYPE DOES NOT WORK CORRECTLY(554301) - BLANK LINE IS NOT DISPLAYED CONSISTENTLY WHEN ISSUE DESCRIBE COMMAND (554297) - EXTRA SPACE APPEARS ON DATE FIELD IN MULTIBYTE ENVIRONMENT(549963) - DESCRIBE SEQUENCE RETURNS SQL*PLUS INTERNAL ERROR STATE 2177(544520) - SHADOW PROCESSES INCREASING IF FAIL CONNECTION(536398) - WHEN EXECUTE PROCEDURE, TIME OF "SET TIMING ON" IS NOT REPORTED.(532524)

- DESCRIBE USING A SYNONYM IN SQLPLUS RETURNS ORA-4043(532396) - SQLPLUS DUMPS CORE WHERE A TABLE HAS A REF TO A TYPE IE. NOT GRANTED TO A USER (530884) - SQLPLUS CORE DUMPS WHEN SELECTING CLOB COLUMN(525982) - ORA-12154 WHEN CLIENT CHARACTER SET IS MULTIBYTE(523274) - COPY REPLACE RETURNS ORA-955 (WRONG ERROR) WHEN FOREIGN KEY CONSTRAINT VIOLATED(522043) - WHILE TESTING COMPLEX OBJECT TYPES, DESCRIBE DISPLAYS JUNK ALONG WITH RESULT(517402) - RANDOM CHARACTERS RETURNED BY DESCRIBE -TYPE COMMAND(514538) - GPFS DURING COPY COMMAND WITH NO ARGUMENTS(508787) - SELECT VALUE FROM OBJECT TABLE WITH NESTED TABLE OF LOB ERRORS(503587) - DATE FORMAT IN PRINTED OBJECT TYPE IS ALWAYS DD-MON-YY(503186) - ILLEGAL IDENTIFIER RETURNED,WHEN DESC "30BYTES TABLENAME" IN SQLPLUS (502594) - SQLPLUS COLUMN NOT AFFECTED BY STORED PROC AMENDMENT TO NLS NUMBER FORMAT (483589) - MISLEADING 'ACCEPT' ERROR WHEN INVALID DATES FAIL VALIDATION(344359) SQL*Plus Release 8.0.3 ---------------------- NEED TO SUPPORT SELECT USING THE CURSOR OPERATOR (454945) - PROCEDURE/FUNCTION CANNOT PASS IN SUBSTITUTION VARIABLES (468070) - SQL*PLUS INTERNAL ERROR STATE 2250 WHEN SELECT DEREF OF OBJECT WITH NESTED TBL (489555) - SELECT VALUE FROM TYPED TABLE WITH NESTED TABLE CRASHES (494673) - RAW(255) COLUMN TRUNCATED ON FETCH WHEN COLUMN IS FULL (497006) - INSERT INTO AN OBJECT VIEW CAUSES SQLPLUS TO HANG (424913) - SELECTING A LONG COLUMN CAUSES ORA-3106 (429546) - ERROR LOCATOR DOESN'T CONSISTENTLY POINT TO CAUSE OF ERROR (441249) - SQLPLUS NOT SHOWING THE COMPLETE ERROR MESSAGE (477234) - SQL*PLUS 4.0.2 REPORTS WRONG ERROR MESG (ORA-24324) SHOULD BE ORA-1092 (481746) - DISPLAYING EMPTY NESTED TABLE COLUMN (484104) - Internal code changes : (428124, 460299, 490035, 495935, 381417,

410110, 442703, 444491, 469044, 469055, 474989, 496643) SQL*Plus Release 4.0.2 ---------------------- COREDUMP WHEN TRYING TO USE DEREF INSTEAD OF ERROR MESSAGE (405706) - PASSWORD COMMAND PROMPTS FOR OLD PASSWORD WHEN CHANGING SOMEONE ELSE'S PW (377905) - INDEX (SHOULD BE CONSTRAINT) HELP_TOPIC_SEQ NEEDS SPACE DEFINITION (385518) - SELECT FROM OBJECT TABLE WITH ADT WHICH HAS > 1 ROW GIVES ERROR (390476) - ORA-6401 FIRST TIME; ORA-24325 SECOND TIME CONNECTING (407192) - SQLPLUS COREDUMPS WHEN SELECT * ON TABLE WITH NULL REF (432222) - Internal code changes : (389297, 393957, 394358, 397465, 397605, 400584, 401152, 409161, 379128, 383612, 404256, 30307, 387496) SQL*Plus Release 4.0.1 ---------------------- ACCEPT command can now accept key words such as DATE, CHAR as valid variable names. Valid variable names can be any combination of alphanumerics and '_' (349720) - Avoid an invalid memory access after interrupting the entry of hidden passwords (341437) - Handle multibyte characters correctly when pre-processing statements for substitution variables (e.g. &var) and escape characters (e.g. \) (339282) - COPY command now handles very long data for LONG columns. The maximum limit is now 2 gigabytes (329447, 338555) - Correctly ordered options shown with SHOW ALL (347743) - Regularized inconsistent abbreviations for SET and SHOW commands to: BUF[FER] EMB[BEDDED] PAGES[IZE] SQLC[ASE] COM[PATIBILITY] (347396) - A small (approximately ten bytes per execution) memory leak was fixed (349609) - AUTOPRINT is reset correctly after a failed PL/SQL block (371080) - Some internal coding changes occurred (57899, 73973, 161056, 346199, 346787, 352445, 352444, 349161, 357681,359738, 360143, 360075, 359989, 360038, 360890, 369651) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Known Restrictions and Workarounds -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SQL*Plus release 8.0.6 has the following known restrictions and workarounds. - Columns of type NCLOB cannot be formatted with WORD_WRAPPING. When the "COLUMN" command is used to format such columns with the "WORD_WRAP" option, the column data will WRAP instead of WORD_WRAP. - Non-blocking database calls are not supported by the new interface to the Oracle8 server. This does not affect multi-tasking operating systems. - Querying of LONG columns requires enough memory to store the amount of data, as specified by the value of SET LONG command, irrespective of the value of the SET LONGCHUNKSIZE command. - When connected to an Oracle7 server, the syntax for DESCRIBE command is: DESCRIBE {[schema.]object[.subobject|@db_link] [column]} This is the SQL*Plus version 3 (released with Oracle7) syntax. - When connected to an Oracle8 server, the DESCRIBE command cannot be used to describe objects on an Oracle7 server. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1999. All Rights Reserved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------