William Robertson articles

Pretty PL/SQL

2015-08-25T19:30:00.000+00:00

Presenting PL/SQL code snippets in web pages, complete with syntax highlighting using Google Code Prettifier.

PL/SQL Developer Setup, part 2

2012-11-10T17:55:50.165+00:00

Like other database IDEs, PL/SQL Developer includes a session browser that essentially shows the contents of v$session, with some tabs for the current SQL statement, locks, waits and so on. The default settings are rather basic, but the great thing about it is it's totally configurable. Following on from part 1 after only four years, here are some ways to extend PL/SQL Developer's session browser.

PL/SQL Developer Setup, part 1

2008-07-14T15:09:00.002+01:00

PL/SQL Developer is one of several integrated development environments (IDEs) that are available for Oracle, and it happens to be my favourite. One of the things I like about it is how configurable it is - you can change almost anything, and with downloadable plug-ins such as Browser Extender you can add your own functionality.

After moving PCs several times and having to reinstall PL/SQL Developer afresh each time, I have found that there are some customisations I couldn't live without, and the basic out-of-the-box settings now seem a bit, well, basic by comparison. This article documents what I consider the best PL/SQL Developer tweaks. Part One will cover preferences such as fonts and screen layout, with code customisations such as the Sessions window and Browser Extender items in a separate document.

Collection Types in PL/SQL

2007-07-29T20:06:00.000+01:00

In PL/SQL, the VARRAY is merely a functionally crippled version of NESTED TABLE with a LIMIT attribute you don't need. Here are what I consider the main points of the different collection types, from the point of view of a PL/SQL programmer.

Setting up an NFS share on Apple Mac

2007-01-24T16:56:00.000+01:00

I wrote this back in 2007 when Parallels on Mac didn't have file sharing, and there was no Dropbox. The solution was to install NFS and set up a shared folder, which you could do with some free downloads and a bit of tweaking...

How to install Oracle 10g on Apple Mac

2006-12-12T15:31:00.000+01:00

Currently there is no Oracle RDBMS product for Intel Macs. However, using Parallels you can have it running in a CentOS virtual machine, and access it through your Mac's web browser or even SQL*Plus on the Terminal command line. Here's how...

How to set up SQL*Plus

2005-10-20T00:15:00.000+01:00

Despite living in the era of GUI tools such as PL/SQL Developer, there are times when a simple text browser is all you want. Here's how to get the most from SQL*Plus.

Comma-separated output

2005-10-15T18:11:00.000+01:00

What is it with comma-separated lists? Anyway, here are some techniques for generating one comma-separated list from multiple rows in SQL.

Comma-separated input

2005-10-09T14:00:00.000+01:00

After "How do I display values from multiple columns in one comma-separated row", one of the next most-asked Oracle questions on the web is the opposite one (sort of): "I have a comma-separated list. How do I use it in SQL queries?"