Exploring the New BOOLEAN Data Type in Oracle Database 23ai

Oracle Database 23ai has introduced many features, and one of the nice additional in SQL is the support for the BOOLEAN data type. The BOOLEN data types are available for many years in Pl/SQL and now it is supported as native data type. This will help developers simplify application logic. Earlier developers often had to rely on CHAR(1) or NUMBER(1) fields to simulate boolean logic in SQL

The BOOLEAN data type represents logical values such as TRUE, FALSE, and NULL.

Advantages of native BOOLEAN support in SQL:

• Improved readability: No more cryptic 'Y', 'N', or 1, 0 values. Developers can use TRUE and FALSE make code more intuitive.
• Better integration: Direct support in SQL helps use BOOLEAN values easier to use in views, constraints, triggers, and queries.
• Less error-prone: removes confusion caused by using characters or numbers to represent boolean values
• Modernization: Aligns Oracle SQL more closely with other RDBMSs such as PostgreSQL and MySQL.

How to use BOOLEAN in Oracle 23ai

1. Creating a Table with a BOOLEAN Column

SQL> CREATE TABLE emp (
employee_id NUMBER PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR2(100),
is_active BOOLEAN);

2. Inserting BOOLEAN Values

INSERT INTO emp (employee_id, name, is_active)
VALUES (101, 'Samantha', TRUE);

INSERT INTO emp (employee_id, name, is_active)
VALUES (102, 'Rex', FALSE);

3. Querying BOOLEAN Values

SELECT name FROM emp
WHERE is_active = TRUE;

Or

SELECT name FROM emp WHERE is_active;

4. Using BOOLEAN in CASE Statements

SELECT name,
CASE
WHEN is_active THEN 'Active'
WHEN NOT is_active THEN 'Inactive'
ELSE 'Unknown'
END AS status FROM emp;

Key Considerations: -

• Note that BOOLEAN values can still be NULL, but in conditions where NULL might affect the logic.
• Not all Oracle tools and connectors fully support BOOLEAN yet and it’s user responsibility to check compatibility with client libraries
• Existing old code using CHAR(1) or NUMBER(1) won’t auto-convert for BOOLEAN, user must migrate manually

The BOOLEAN data type in Oracle Database 23ai is a game changer for developers and DBAs. It improves data modeling, simplifies SQL logic, helps developer experience like other RDBMS platforms and consider adopting BOOLEAN fields wherever required.

Thanks & Regards,

https://oracleracexpert.com  

Data Recovery Advisor (DRA) in Oracle Database

I had the opportunity to work with the Data Recovery Advisor (DRA) feature in earlier versions of Oracle Database, and its great tool to automate the recovery process, reducing downtime and recovery time

In Oracle 11g, the Data recovery advisor is introduced, and this tool helps to reduce the recovery time by providing best automated repair option for the database. This tool automatically diagnoses data failures, determine best repair options, executes repairs at user request, it helps to reduce mean time to recover (MTTR).

The Data recovery advisor can help to limit damage caused by corruption as it can detect, analyze and repair failures before database process discovers it. In traditional method user manually determines the impact and repair options, in some cases users needs to determine right sequence of repair as well.

The Data recovery advisor commands are LIST FAILURE, ADVISE FAILURE, REPAIR FAILURE and CHANGE FAILURE.

• LIST FAILURE: Lists the failures that have occurred in the database. 

        RMAN> LIST FAILURE;

• ADVISE FAILURE: Provides the best repair options for the listed failures. 

        RMAN> ADVISE FAILURE;

• REPAIR FAILURE: Executes the repair process based on the user's selection.

        RMAN> REPAIR FAILURE;

• CHANGE FAILURE: Allows users to modify the failure status.

    RMAN> CHANGE FAILURE FAILURE #1 RESOLVED;

 
Deprecation of DRA in Oracle 19c

While the Data Recovery Advisor was a valuable tool in earlier Oracle releases, it was deprecated in Oracle 19c. This means that DRA will no longer be available for use in future versions beyond Oracle 19c. Additionally, the associated RMAN commands (LIST FAILURE, ADVISE FAILURE, REPAIR FAILURE, and CHANGE FAILURE) have also been deprecated. As a result, DBAs will no longer have access to these commands in Oracle 19c and beyond, marking the end of an era for this powerful recovery tool.

Thanks & Regards,
https://oracleracexpert.com