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Oracle 10g eXpress Edition

Lots of activity about Oracle XE over the past couple of days! I figure that I just wouldn't be "cool" if I didn't weigh in on the topic, so here goes: Brilliant!

Here's why: Pure simplicity. Take the situation which happened today: I download Oracle XE and go to install it on my laptop. Download took about 1 minutes, install another 4-5, and I'm was up & running, HTML DB and all.*

My officemate, at about the same time, decided to install Oracle Enterprise Edition and HTML DB on his laptop, just so he could learn HTML DB and perhaps close a piece of our production environment. Needless to say, the download of 10gR2 alone took longer than the install of XE. I was gleefully clicking away, while he sat there, counting the bits as they flew by.

This is one of the largest benefits of Oracle XE – small, compact size with most of the power of the Oracle Database. While Oracle software has always been available for anyone to download, what was the use if you know that legally you couldn't afford to use it for production. It was like test driving a Lamborghini - sure, it could be a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, your time is better spent researching cars that you can afford (appologies to anyone who can afford a Lamborghini) With that barrier removed, I think that many shops who went with other databases on purely a cost basis will take another look at Oracle.

But is it really ready for production? While some may argue that remains to be seen, I would think that aside from the initial glitches, yes, it is. It's not a new set of code – rather, it's the Oracle kernel stripped down and contained in a finite disk & memory space. It would be interesting to see something like asktom.oracle.com running on Oracle XE. It shouldn't be hard, as moving the HTML DB application is trivial – all that would have to be moved is the data, which isn't all that difficult, either.

Truth be told, Oracle XE is going to force many organizations to take another look at Oracle, based purely on cost. Many of these organizations will find that they like what they see, and for smaller projects, may need nothing more. A significant number of these organizations may even upgrade to SE One, SE or even EE, as their needs expand.

As a small business, I couldn't be happier! Hosting my own sites in HTML DB just got a heck of a lot cheaper for both me and my clients. And I feel 100% confident that should their needs outgrow XE, they can easily transition to one of the for-cost editions of the database.

As a final thought, I can't help but think of the poster hanging on the wall in the Parter Technology Center in Reston, VA: It's a picture of an F-16 with the Oracle logo, shooting down a bi-plane sporting the dBase or some other now-defunct database vendor's logo. The caption reads: "Oracle: The Last RDBMS" With the introduction of Oracle XE, we could be witnessing the beginning of a fresh round of the Database Wars, but this time, at the workgroup level.

*(Note: I did have an issue which some friends at Oracle helped to resolve. My username on my laptop (Scott Spendolini) has a space in it. There is a bug in the XE installation script which doesn't correctly add that user to the ora_dba group, and thus HTML DB doesn't work. A workaround is available on the XE Forums here. I'm told that this bug will be fixed before production. That's why it's labeled BETA!)

Comments

Anonymous said…
How do I access the Forums for Oracle XE? I am being asked for a valid logon and password.
Scott said…
Colin,

You need to download & install XE - once you do, there will be an icon on your desktop which points you to the Registration Site on OTN.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
I did not see that on my desktop. I found something else for the forum buried in my start menu, 'register for the online forum'.

So far I am very delighted with it. I have installed it on an old P3 with 384MB RAM with no problems! :)

Also, I registered with http://www.dyndns.com/ to create a Dynamic Domain such that I can redirect anyone to a HTML DB website that I can run from home. Sweet!
Scott said…
For the benefit of others: XE Forum Registration

You can probably pick up a whole slew of P3 and older P4 machines for pennies on eBay. Truly cheap, powerful computing!

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
I downloaded and installed for Windows. The "Home Page" doesn't work. It is an FTP server!!! I can even log in using "ftp localhost 8080" using the system account. Hoping that stopping and starting the DB may fix it, I tried. Now I can't get what ever server that was to restart. What's going on?
Anonymous said…
Anonymous,

I'd advise going here -

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/TcpView.html

and using it to determine which process is running as an FTP server on your machine.
Scott said…
Anonymous,

Looks like you may have ran into the same problem that I had (space in your Username). Check out this post on the XE forum for details.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Carlos Pereira said…
Hi,

You have a problem in yuor blog rss feed from blogspot (atom feed).

check the error on
http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http%3a%2f%2fspendolini.blogspot.com%2fatom.xml

(atom feed: http://spendolini.blogspot.com/atom.xml)
Scott said…
Thanks - I've fixed the issue.

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
I made the download for Oracle XE on Windows Xp with Sp2 sysstem, all is wonderfull but... I don't see the "Aplication Builder" icon !!! ( there are only 4 icons) Why ? Can someone tel me what is happen ?
Anonymous said…
Hi, I can't get the Express Edition working. I downloaded it, installed it, but when I go to run it, I get the following error ?

220- Laptop Unauthorised use of this FTP server is prohibited and may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution. 220 Laptop FTP Server (Oracle XML DB/Oracle Database) ready. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 221 Command Too Long. 2048 bytes maximum. Goodbye.

Any ideas ?
Scott said…
I made the download for Oracle XE on Windows Xp with Sp2 sysstem, all is wonderfull but... I don't see the "Aplication Builder" icon !!! ( there are only 4 icons) Why ? Can someone tel me what is happen ?

Make sure that you read the documentation. Once you sign on as SYSTEM, create anohter user. When you sign on as that user, you will then see the "Application Builder" icon and be able to build HTML DB applications.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Scott said…
Chris,

Are you running Windows, and does the username which you are using have a space in it?

If so, then read this thread on the XE Forum.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
XE sounds nice, but I can't even get far enough into the Windows installation to register in the forums. (Whose bright idea was that, restricting the forums to those who had successfully installed?) All I get when double-clicking the OracleXE.exe file is a dialog box saying "Error reading setup initialization file."
Scott said…
Accidental Angel,

You can register for the XE Forum here.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
It really is a wonder having this new Oracle version. It opened a lot of opportunities for small business that needs a small database with the robustness of its enterprise counterparts. We may very soon see a new set of "small but effective" databases out it the market.
Scott said…
Jason,

Take a look at the Note at the end of this entry, and then visit this thread on the Oracle XE forum: http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=1098816

Basically, one cause of this is that your username in Windows cannot have a space in it.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Scott said…
Jason,

Your best bet would be to search or post this query in the Oracle XE Forum.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
hi,
on my winServer 2003 standara 64x Edition, the html site don't work.
how can I start it again?

thanks
arno
Anonymous said…
Hi,

when I use the ip address and not 127.0.0.1 it will work, why?

thanks
arno
Scott said…
Anro,

There's a lot of reasons that HTML DB "won't work". You're best off searching and posting on the Oracle XE Forum for technical problems. When you do post, be sure to do so in detail, providing steps you have tried. error messages encountered, etc.

Registration is required, but you can sign up here.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
Hi,

I have the problem with the space in win-Username and I can't open
http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=1101998
. Message is: Error: you do not have permission to view the requested forum or category.

Why not?

Can please someone tell me, how I can fix the Install- and the Forum-Problem?

best regards...
Scott said…
Ralug,

You need to register for the Oracle XE Forum. Details can be found here.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
thanks,

but I registered now twice times and got no permission anyway... :(
Scott said…
but I registered now twice times and got no permission anyway... :(

Ralug,

Try posting in the OTN Member Feedback Forum. Someone there should be able to help you.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
Great entry on Oracle XE 10g...
just have one thought... we use Oracle 9i SE for production database and development (i know, suicidal). You think we could use 10g XE for develop and 9i SE for production without compatibility issues ??

thanks in advance.
Daniel Leão
www.ibqgp.org.br
Scott said…
just have one thought... we use Oracle 9i SE for production database and development (i know, suicidal). You think we could use 10g XE for develop and 9i SE for production without compatibility issues ??

Well, that all depends on what features of the database you are using.

If you are using it for HTML DB Development, then you can likely get away with it. However, if you add any 10g functionality (Regular Expressions, for example) into your HTML DB applications on XE, then they will not work on 9i.

If you are using it for other things, I would evaluate those individually, as it may be possible, and it may not be. Sorry to be so vague, but there just is no clear cut answer on this one...

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
Hi Scott,

I had a question - I recently installed the 10g Ex Ed. It installs the default database with it. Now can I not create custom databases? When I try to do so, it seems it does let me create a new database. Is there something like this edition only supports 1 databse instance? Kindly advise.

Thanks!
Scott said…
I had a question - I recently installed the 10g Ex Ed. It installs the default database with it. Now can I not create custom databases? When I try to do so, it seems it does let me create a new database. Is there something like this edition only supports 1 databse instance?

Oracle XE only supports one instance. Please see the Oracle XE FAQ for more details.
Anonymous said…
I'd just like to comment that I also get the same error, and that google is sending people to your blog, when we google on this error. Would be very friendly of you, if you would track down the error and post it for future people who will end up on your website! Also...in usual oracle ridiculous fashion, you cannot readily register at that website, I've tried, still waiting.:

220- Unauthorised use of this FTP server is prohibited and may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution. 220 Laptop FTP Server (Oracle XML DB/Oracle Database) ready. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 530 Please login with USER and PASS. 221 Command Too Long. 2048 bytes maximum.
Scott said…
I'd just like to comment that I also get the same error, and that google is sending people to your blog, when we google on this error. Would be very friendly of you, if you would track down the error and post it for future people who will end up on your website!

This issue was supposed to be fixed in the most current release of Oracle XE. As for Google, I can't obviously help that. Please don't hate me when I say this, but the best place to troubleshoot these issues is in the Oracle XE Forum.

Also...in usual oracle ridiculous fashion, you cannot readily register at that website, I've tried, still waiting.

Again, can't help you there, but post on the Member Feedback forum on OTN - the people who monitor that should be able to give you a hand.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
I downloaded and installed XE without any problems. But I can't import an application. Any clues?
Scott said…
I downloaded and installed XE without any problems. But I can't import an application. Any clues?

You'll need to provide a lot more detail before anyone will be able to help. I recommend posting this in the Oracle XE Forum, as it will get more attention there.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Anonymous said…
Hi,

Can I use pl/sql for web tool kit in oracle 10g xe?

CS.
Anonymous said…
I just finished the installation. But things are interesting - I cannot connect to the home page if I plug in my network cable in the office. But if I un-plug the cable, and re-start the database, home page is ok to use. Any suggestion about this?

G.B.
Scott said…
I just finished the installation. But things are interesting - I cannot connect to the home page if I plug in my network cable in the office. But if I un-plug the cable, and re-start the database, home page is ok to use. Any suggestion about this?

Sounds like the database has inherited the IP address of your machine when it's unplugged from your office network. Take a look at what your IP address is when you are connected and disconnected. If they are different, then that's likely the issue.

- Scott -
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
i have the same problem (Dtabase home page works when network cable is disconnected). And yes, ip addresses are different when cable is plugged/unplugged. http://my_cable_plugged_in_ip_address:8080/apex is not working

how can i solve this problem? i need database home page accessible while cable is plugged in.
Thanks in advance
Anonymous said…
yeap I have the same problem can get to the database homepage only when the cable is unplugged

Anyone help please
Anonymous said…
hi,
i wanna ask 2 questions

1- is it permissible to creat more than one database in the express edition?

2- i wanna know what is the name of the default database so that i can deal with it

thank u...
Anonymous said…
Hello
I am developing an application using Oraacle XE named-Complaint system
We already have an Oracle 8i as databse for other applications and i would like to use the existing Oracle 8i. I already have some table that i need there. For the moment I have created a materialized view but I would like to save the data in the Orcale 8i databse so that other applications can view the data in real time.

Can you please suggest me how can i do it??

for the same application that i am designing i have to include a function where i have to send some users mail when there is a complaint that has not been solved for a secific date.

How can i automate this part so that the system itself send the mail to notify the users?

if you need more details please email me on: N.Nabeebaccus@happyworldfoods.com

Thanks and Regards

Nazeedah
Scott said…
Nazeedah,

Your comment on my blog looks a lot like this thread:

http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=409930&tstart=60

Also, it looks like your question has already been addressed on that thread.

Thanks,

- Scott -
Drp said…
Scott,

Need some help on the use of the Date field. I just installed XE and can't change the time part of the a Date field using Oracle Sql Developer. The time part stays the same even using the EDIT field tool on Developer.
Scott said…
Drp,

It's probably best to ask your question (in more detail) on the OTN Forums.

Thanks,

- Scott -

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