Connor McDonald on Database and SQL

Blog greatest hits :-) . Better error messages means less errors. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2023/04/11/better-error-messages-means-less-errors/

Bind Variables – Worse than you were told Many of you probably know Martin Bach.  He’s a colleague here at Oracle although we’ve both been good mates in the Oracle community long before either of us joined Oracle.But here&…

It might be 2000 times worse than you thought
connor-mcdonald.com/2026/03/09/b...

really tired of APIs being down.

tech used to shoot for 5 9's. current projections looking like 9 5's.

i'm sure it's more complicated than this, but honestly - that's what you get for allowing ai agents to terraform destroy on prod (and like-minded practices).

Blast from the past. ALL_ARGUMENTS missing information?. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2021/02/25/all_arguments-missing-information/

From the vault. Can a query on the standby update the primary?. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2016/07/08/can-a-query-on-the-standby-update-the-primary

Retro blog post. Partial Indexes? Take Care With Truncate. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2018/10/05/partial-indexes-take-care-with-truncate

Blast from the past. Forever is a long time. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2016/02/01/forever-is-a-long-time

Why is my TNSPING? I’m a big fan of the “instantclient” solution to Oracle connectivity. No more calls to “runInstaller”, no registry files on Windows, it is just download-unzip-go.That …

"Verify our range to target...One ping only"

connor-mcdonald.com/2026/03/05/w...

Use with guidance of Support

No need for panic :-) You can choose the old or new behaviour.

"Blast from the past" .... like, its right there in the post :-)

Blast from the past. DBMS_JOB ... watching for failures. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2019/05/27/dbms_job-watching-for-failures

From the vault. SQL Macros will change the world. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2023/10/04/sql-macros-will-change-the-world/

A little late but got my db spruced up to 19.30

#StayUpToDate

Row level audit that is IMMUNE to table changes YouTube video by SQL and Database explained!

Fresh video! Here's an audit utility that lets you capture row changes whilst also being immune to structural changes to the base tables.
youtu.be/Q4ey6X_cdVE

Previously on the blog. Less calls more performance (part2). https://connor-mcdonald.com/2015/08/25/less-callsmore-performance-part-2

Generate INSERTs the new 26ai way Six years ago(!) I did an Office Hours session where I demonstrated a little routine that would let you generate more efficient INSERTs by converting a standard INSERT-VALUES into a multi-table ins…

Spruced up my old INSERT generator routine because times have changed...
connor-mcdonald.com/2026/03/02/g...

From the vault. Why relying on default DATE formats is a bug. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2020/07/08/say-no-to-default-date-formats/

Retro blog post. Compression over the network. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2018/01/08/licensed-for-advanced-compression-dont-forget-the-network/

Here's the other extreme - Perth to Virginia 15,000kms
(25,000 records not 1million because I aint got time for that :-))

Touche!

que?

Retro blog post. The power of SQL macros. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2020/11/24/the-power-of-sql-macros/

INSERT-VALUES – Bigger is NOT always Better! One of the super cool features in 26ai is the ability to extend the VALUES clause in your INSERT statements to allow multiple rows per execution. If you’re unfamiliar with that, here’s …

New post. This was definitely NOT the result I was expecting. I'd be interested is seeing what people get on their systems

connor-mcdonald.com/2026/02/27/i...

Retro blog post. More triggers are better. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2018/06/26/more-triggers-are-better/

Upgrading your database ? APEX devs should check this! YouTube video by SQL and Database explained!

If you're upgrading to Oracle AI Database 26ai, there are some important implications for your APEX apps
youtu.be/n0oiE5nZK5s

From the vault. Pending statistics and partition queries. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2016/10/13/pending-statistics-and-partition-queries

Retro blog post. Hyper-partitioned index avoidance thingamajig. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2018/07/25/hyper-partitioned-index-avoidance-thingamajig/

From the vault. Longer strings in 12c. https://connor-mcdonald.com/2015/09/11/longer-strings-in-12c