database link testing

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone has some advice on the best way to test that a database link is operational. I have some plsql scripts which use a database link to access a remote db and I want to be able to determine if the link is available - that is, I want to know the remote database is up and running and available, not that the link is just defined.

I was thinking of doing something like selecting the sysdate from the remote db dual table, but thought perhaps there was a better technique.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Tim

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