Information systems are developed using relational database management systems (RDBMSs). Oracle is the leading RDBMS. This reference book covers all the popular versions of Oracle, including 7.3, 8, and the new 8i, designed for the Internet.

Chapter 1 starts with SQL, which is the most important topic in any RDBMS environment. Chapter 2 contains an almost complete list of functions that can be used in SQL. It also covers data and numeric format masks.

Data manipulation instructions, such as Insert, Update, and Delete, are covered in chapter 3. Data definition language facilities are the subject of chapter 4. Chapter 5 is concerned with PL/SQL, the procedural extensions of SQL. Its complete coverage of built-in exceptions is very useful. A further extension of the functionality of PL/SQL, in the form of packages, is covered in chapter 6. The Internet applications that make Oracle 8i important are covered in chapter 7. Various terms associated with Java Virtual Machines, CORBA, Enterprise Java Beans, Oracle Jserver, SQLJ, and JDBC are explained using tables.

Administration, utilities, and corresponding functions are described in chapter 8. The author describes the use of these facilities from the command line, in case the user does not have access to a GUI environment using Oracle Enterprise Manager. SQL*PLUS is the standard, popular interface for SQL statements, database administration, retrieval of results, and simple report writing. These topics are covered in chapter 9. Chapter 10 describes Oracle’s installation default parameters and values. Proper understanding of these values in the INT-ORA file is important. Finally, chapter 11 is a collection of terms and acronyms. An appendix refers to important Web sites for more specific information about Oracle-related topics. The index is very good.

The book fulfills its main purpose as a good desktop reference. It will be useful to program and system analysts involved in the development of information systems and applications using Oracle 7.3, 8, and 8i. Sufficient explanation is included for each term. The tabular presentation of the terms is helpful and conforms to standard reference book practice. References to a few non-Oracle publications would have been useful to readers who want more information. However, this book is not intended as a textbook. Hence, I strongly recommend it to developers of applications using Oracle.