Oracle Manager

Over the past few years I have learned quite a bit about Oracle Databases and the management functions that go along with using Oracle as a back end for applications. Creating users, backups, and settings can be time consuming and confusing for most users. To assist those who do not have the time (or desire) to learn the ins and outs of this I am creating a utility in C# that will automate most of this for a user. Keep in mind this is not intended for any production type of environment. This is geared more towards small development shops where Oracle isn't the main Database Platform of choice but is still required.

Below is a screen shot of the main page along with the Create New User tab. The main roles needed in our environment are listed in the checked list box (I will probably add additional at a later time).

Imports and Exports:

Importing and exporting dump files from Oracle can be time consuming and very hard to do. It requires multiple steps using multiple utilities. With this tool (installed on the Oracle Server) a user can import a dump file in a few simple steps:

1. Browse for dump file
2. Specify From User
3. Specify To User and Password
4. Click on the import button

This is far simpler than creating the user in SQL Plus or Toad and then importing using a command line utility on the server. Plus it doesn't require in depth knowledge of Oracle Administration that may be needed.

Basically - it takes all of the guess work out of it and takes stress off of me supporting others. :o)

One Step at a time

Well the past few weeks have been interesting. I created a tool to automate a data creation task that I had to perform at least twice a week. This task took two hours a pop. It took about 3 days to create the automated application but has been well received. It is now being run twice a day for our local group and also by a remote group. This was a great learning experience for me.

After that was complete I wrote a tool to fix a data issue with our application. This tool was long over due and has also been well received by management. One step at a time - what's next on the Agenda? WPF, WPF, and more WPF...