Oracle Pl/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle 8I Features

Oracle8i, the long-awaited "Internet database" from Oracle Corporation, has hit the streets running--and you may find yourself struggling to keep up with Oracle's fast-moving technology. Oracle boasts that Oracle8i offers more than 150 new features, many of them designed to make its popular database programming language, PL/SQL, faster, more powerful, and easier to use.This concise and engaging book is both a companion to Oracle PL/SQL Programming (widely recognized as the "bible" for PL/SQL developers) and a guide designed to bring you up to speed as quickly as possible on the new PL/SQL features of Oracle8i. Following the style of Feuerstein's earlier books, the Guide to Oracle8i Features combines easy-to-understand descriptions of the new Oracle8i features with a wealth of interesting and informative examples.The major Oracle8i PL/SQL features include the following:

• Autonomous transactions--the ability to commit or roll back changes without affecting the "main" transaction in the rest of your session
• Invoker rights--At compilation time, you can now decide whether a program (or all programs in a package) should run under the authority of the definer or the invoker of that program
• Native dynamic SQL--A native implementation of dynamic SQL that's faster and easier than the DBMS_SQL built-in package
• Bulk binds and collects--A major performance improvement that lets you process multiple rows in a single operation
• System-level database triggers--With this feature and Advanced Queueing (AQ), you can take advantage of the publish/subscribe capabilities of Oracle8i
• Fine-grained access control--This feature lets you implement security policies with functions and then use those functions to implement row-level security on tables or views.
• Many new and enhanced built-in packages--New packages include DBMS_JAVA, DBMS_PROFILER, DBMS_TRACE, and more. DBMS_UTILITY, DBMS_AQ, and others have been enhanced as well.
• Calling Java methods from within PL/SQL--The book includes enough Java know-how to help you build simple Java classes, load them into the Oracle8i database, and leverage those classes from within your PL/SQL code.

1. Oracle8i: A Bounty for PL/SQL Developers
2. Choose Your Transaction!
3. Invoker Rights: Your Schema or Mine?
4. Native Dynamic SQL in Oracle8i
5. Bulking Up with PL/SQL 8.1
6. New Trigger Features in Oracle8i
7. New and Enhanced Built-in Packages in Oracle8i
8. Deploying Fine-Grained Access Control
9. Calling Java from PL/SQL
10. More Goodies for Oracle PL/SQL Developers

Steven Feuerstein is considered one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language. He is the author or coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices, Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features, Oracle PL/SQL Developer's Workbook, Oracle Built-in Packages, Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages, and several pocket reference books (all from O'Reilly & Associates). Steven is a Senior Technology Advisor with Quest Software, has been developing software since 1980, and worked for Oracle Corporation from 1987 to 1992.