(S)PFiles in genaral [Oracle 9i] (Newbie)

Hello,

I read on (S)Pfiles in a book, but I think I didnt get this topic. Some databases seem to have a text pfile including the parameters and some only have a binary spfile.

(1) What is the main difference between a "normal" init file and a sp-initfile?

(2) How do I decide if the database has to work with a "normal" init file or a
spinit-File?

I did a BACKUP of a spfile with a playground database as described in the Backup and Recovery Manual:

SQL>CREATE PFILE = 'initmydb.ora.bak' FROM SPFILE;

The format seems to be an text excerpt of the binary spfile, but it has not the same format like a real text pfile.

(3) What is the purpose of this backup file ? Could I restore this in case of
emergency and how would I do this ?

Thank You

Joachim Received on Thu Nov 10 2005 - 11:33:16 CST