spfile vs pfile in 9i

Hello

can anyone explain to me what the advantages of using spfiles are over the traditional pfiles? Is it just the ability to make changes to the database on the fly without editing files etc?

Also, why are there so many pfiles created for each database in 9i, and what do they all do?

I have a test database and the following pfiles have been created for it:

oracle\ora92\database\inittest.ora 
oracle\ora92\sysman\ifiles\def_TEST.domain.co.UK.ora
oracle\admin\test\pfile\init.ora

and this spfile:

oracle\ora92\database\spfiletest.ora

thanks for your help

Richard Received on Tue Oct 12 2004 - 11:46:46 CDT