Re: spfile vs pfile in 9i

Howard J. Rogers wrote:
> Niall Litchfield wrote:
>
> > "Richard Stanton" <richardpstanton_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:87bc8a5f.0410132342.64e5a5bf_at_posting.google.com...
> >> richardpstanton_at_yahoo.com (Richard Stanton) wrote in message
> >> news:<87bc8a5f.0410120846.75eeb98e_at_posting.google.com>...
> >>> 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?
> >
> > dynamic changes without restart is one.
>
> That is 1000% incorrect. It's burleson-speak (which amounts to the
same
> thing).

ouch!

> The existence of the SPFILE makes not a single parameter more or less
> dynamically settable than when an init.ora is used.
<snip>
> If you meant to say that the existence of the spfile means you don't
have to
> remember to manually edit a file to make the dynamic changes persist
across
> instance startups, then say so. But try not to imply that dynamic
changes
> are now possible with one that aren't with the other, because that is
> simply not true.

That was what I had in mind. You are correct however that I didn't say it, and that what I did say was incorrect and misleading for which I apologize. I also had in mind that Oracle itself utilizes the spfile (specifically) for (at least) DataGuard and is likely to do so more as time goes on.

> > ability to control multiple instances from one file.
>
> You can do that with an init.ora. The init.ora is perfectly capable
of using
> the "*." notation which the spfile introduced, and therefore multiple
> instances can be controlled just fine with one.

That I didn't know. Thank you.

> In summary: don't over-sell the spfile. It is merely a binary version
of the
> init.ora, and intrinsically has no advantages over the init.ora at
all.

I'm not a fan of the spfile. I cannot understand why it isn't text only, indeed it would seem to be the sort of thing that xml was invented for. I do hope my post wasn't a sales pitch saying you must use it.

Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
http://www.niall.litchfield.dial.pipex.com Received on Tue Oct 26 2004 - 09:03:25 CDT