Oracle

This manual assumes you already have Oracle Database Server installed and running.

Supported Versions

The versions we've tested against are:

Your mileage may vary with other versions.  Contact us if you have problems -- we are interested in fixing bugs!

Setting up the database

Create a database for Code Collaborator. It is recommended that you also create a username/password pair just for Code Collaborator and give this account full access to the database and no access to other databases.

During the GUI installation screens for the Code Collaborator server, you will be prompted for the Oracle server host name, TCP/IP port (default is 1521), database service name (not the SID!), user name, and password. The installer will not report any connectivity errors.

Warning: The database service name is not the same thing as the SID!  This change was made by Oracle in version 9iR2.
 
The database service name is fully-qualified, corresponding to GLOBAL_DBNAME in an .ora file.  An example would be mysid.mydomain.com.  The database service name is also sometimes referred to as "TNS alias" or "connect descriptor."
 
The SID is the shorter name, corresponding to SID_NAME in an .ora file.

When you first visit the web page for Code Collaborator, it will detect that you have a new database and will create all tables, indexes, and views for you automatically, or give you an appropriate error message if there's a connectivity problem.  Connectivity problems should be resolved by re-running the installer.

Oracle Limitations

The length of long strings is limited to 1023 characters.  This applies to fields such as custom fields, changelist text, comment text, and defect text.

Troubleshooting

We use the Oracle JDBC driver to connect to your Oracle database.  The driver has a few undocumented behaviors that may come as a surprise.  There are threads on Oracle's tech support forums about this.

Most of the problems arise in the GLOBAL_DBNAME field in your SID_DESC entry from your listener.ora file.  A typical entry might look like this:

   (SID_DESC =

     (GLOBAL_DBNAME = mysid.mydomain.com)

     (ORACLE_HOME = /appl/oracle1/product/10.2.0.1)

     (SID_NAME = mysid)

   )

Most other Oracle-based programs use the SID_NAME field to identify the database, but the JDBC driver uses GLOBAL_DBNAME.  This would cause a connection error in the example above.

Also note that the database service name is not the same thing as the SID. This change was made by Oracle in version 9iR2.  The installer asks for the database service name, not the SID.  The database service name is also sometimes referred to as "TNS alias" or "connect descriptor."

Typically, this means you should use the GLOBAL_DBNAME in the installer (i.e. mysid.mydomain.com) and not just the SID (i.e. mysid).