Confirm the model equals the schema

The following is application development tip #2 from "30 tips in 30 minutes," brought to you by the IOUG. Return to the main page for more tips on this topic.

If you have your custom application schema in a modeling tool (Designer, ER/WIN, etc.), you can confirm that the current application schema matches the model schema. By regularly comparing the model schema to the actual schema, you can be sure that the database tables, indexes, constraints, stored code and so on exist as you've modeled them. Many modeling tools allow you to compare your model directly to the schema. If yours doesn't, create a user and deploy your user to that schema. Then compare the objects from the production schema to the deployed schema. You can perform the comparison by creating a listing of objects and code using queries from the data dictionary. You can also compare the database schemas using a change management software like Oracle Enterprise Manager's Change Management Pack or Quest software's Schema Manager.

Get more tips in minutes! Return to the main page.

About the author: Kenny Smith has been working with Oracle technology on HP servers for over a decade. He specializes in Oracle database architecture, database administration and development. He has presented at numerous Oracle conferences on two continents. He has published many articles describing Oracle solutions and has co-authored "Oracle backup and recovery 101" from Oracle Press.

IOUG: Become a member of the IOUG to access the paper referenced here and a repository of technical content created for Oracle users by Oracle users.