The new release update experience
For about the last … hmmm…maybe decade or more, when you downloaded a release update from MOS for your database, the patch would consist of a single folder which...
2026-05-04
101 reads
My APEX installer / patcher
Hopefully you have just seen that APEX patchset bundle 16 has just been released for 24.2. Of particular note is that a well-publicised Chrome change to deprecate the unload...
2026-05-01
109 reads
The unhealthy obsession with ROLLBACK
So I jumped onto an LLM and asked it to give me some PL/SQL to handle a 3-step series of DML statements and out popped the following code: That...
2026-04-30
65 reads
Unleashing Skills onto my database
You may have already seen that thanks to Kris Rice, we now have a baseline set of Oracle skills available for your favourite AI tools. Check out the skills...
2026-04-28
78 reads
SQL skills just got MORE important
There seems to be a school of thought in the tech community that a robust knowledge SQL is now optional. After all, with modern AI tools able to generate...
2026-04-22
57 reads
GROUP BY ALL – Is it ALL you ever need?
You have probably seen a couple of cool GROUP BY features that came with Oracle Database 26ai. You can check out the short video below but since you’re on...
2026-04-17
102 reads
Voxxed Days Zurich
That was my first experience at a Voxxed Days event. Obviously I like Oracle-focussed events, but that can give you a blinkered view of the world. There’s a lot...
2026-04-07
51 reads
Thank you after 21 years
Throughout my long history of working with the Oracle Database, there are some things that often just take for granted, on the assumption that they have always been present....
2026-03-12
69 reads
Bind Variables – Worse than you were told
Many of you probably know Martin Bach. He’s a colleague here at Oracle although we’ve both been good mates in the Oracle community long before either of us joined...
2026-03-09
72 reads
Where is my TNSPING?
I’m a big fan of the “instantclient” solution to Oracle connectivity. No more calls to “runInstaller”, no registry files on Windows, it is just download-unzip-go. That makes installation a...
2026-03-05
75 reads
Blogs
Asking for Help Isn’t a Weakness
By Brian Kelley
During COVID, I attended training on software/enterprise architecture given by Mark Richards. One of...
The Proof of the Backup Is in the Pudding
For me, the objective is straightforward: have a backup strategy that is reliable, understandable,...
T-SQL Tuesday #204 – Are blogs still relevant?
By DesertDBA
Note: This post is the invitation for T-SQL Tuesday #204 on November 3rd, 2026....
Forums
The ##MS_DatabaseConnector## User
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The ##MS_DatabaseConnector## User
Planning for Change
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Planning for Change
Importing Excel files into SQL Server, Azure Edition
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Importing Excel files into SQL...
Question of the Day
The ##MS_DatabaseConnector## User
On SQL Server 2025, I run this code as a sysadmin:
CREATE LOGIN Demo WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo1234567' GO ALTER SERVER ROLE ##MS_DatabaseConnector## ADD MEMBER Demo GOI then login as Demo and run this:
USE sandbox go SELECT CURRENT_USERWhat is returned? See possible answers