Oracle7 Getting Started for Windows NT

Configuration Parameters and the Registry

About Configuration Parameters
Editing Configuration Parameters
Configuration Parameters Not Supported on Oracle7
Supported Configuration Parameters

About Configuration Parameters

Oracle software uses configuration parameters to locate files and specify runtime parameters common to all Oracle products.

When an Oracle program or application requires a translation for a particular configuration variable, Oracle7 Server for Windows NT consults the associated parameter.

Editing Configuration Parameters

Set configuration parameters on your Windows NT Server computer in any of three ways.

In the Windows NT Registry

Oracle configuration parameters are stored in the Windows NT Registry. You can modify the values stored in this key by running the registry editor program, REGEDT32 for Windows NT 3.51 or REGEDIT for Windows NT 4.0. To access the Oracle configuration parameters on Windows NT 3.51 in the Windows NT Registry, type the following:

Run the REGEDT32 command:
```
C:\> REGEDT32
```
The Windows NT registry opens.
Double-click \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Double-click SOFTWARE.
Double-click ORACLE.
Oracle parameters and their values appear.
Make appropriate changes.

In the AUTOEXEC.BAT File

The syntax for setting any configuration parameter in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is:

SET parameter_name=parameter_value

where parameter_name is the name of the parameter and parameter_value is the value you choose.

A value you set in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is inherited by every command prompt you launch from within Windows NT.

Note: Values set in AUTOEXEC.BAT do not take effect until you start up a new Windows NT command prompt. Any Oracle software you run subsequently recognizes values set in AUTOEXEC.BAT, and does not search for corresponding values in the Windows NT Registry.

Note: Oracle services, such as the Oracle7 Server and SQL*Net version 2.3 listener service, do not see values set in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

At the Command Prompt

The syntax for setting any configuration parameter at the command prompt is:

C:\> SET parameter_name=parameter_value

where parameter_name is the name of the parameter and parameter_value is the value you choose.

Note: A value set at the command prompt is valid for only that particular instance of the command prompt. Any Oracle software you run during that instance recognizes the values set at the command prompt, and does not search for corresponding values in the Windows NT Registry or in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Note: Oracle services, such as the Oracle7 Server and SQL*Net version 2.3 listener service, do not see values set in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Configuration Parameters Not Supported on Oracle7

For all version 7 products (such as Pro*C/C++ version 3, Oracle7 Utilities, OCI version 7, or Pro*C/C++ applications), the SQLNET DBNAME registry parameter is ignored and no longer supported. All database connect strings must come either from the TNSNAMES.ORA file in \ORANT\NETWORK\ADMIN or from an Oracle Names Server.

One exception to this is for local connections. By default, if you attempt a:

CONNECT SCOTT/TIGER

from a version 7 tool, you are connected to the ORCL instance on your local computer through the SQL*Net Bequeath Adapter. However, you can specify ORACLE_SID in the environment or in the registry to point at another local instance. If set, the ORACLE_SID value is used to connect to the local instance of your choosing.

Supported Configuration Parameters

This section describes individual configuration parameters affecting the operation of the Oracle7 Server for Windows NT and SQL*Net version 2.3 for Windows NT software.

Individual Oracle tools may use additional configuration parameters; refer to the documentation for the tool you are using for more information on those parameters.

NLS_LANG

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

AMERICAN_AMERICA.US7ASCII

Supported languages, territories, and character sets

This parameter includes three components: language, territory, and character set. This parameter specifies the language in which the messages are displayed, the format that the date is displayed, and the character set displayed. The default value causes all messages to be displayed in American English.

Additional Information See Oracle7 Server Reference and the chapter "National Language Support" for additional information about NLS_LANG and its components.

ORACLE_GROUP_NAME

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

Oracle for Windows NT

Any ASCII string

This parameter specifies the name of the group containing icons of the Oracle products installed. The parameter is added to your Windows NT Registry when you first install Oracle products, even if the Oracle Installer does not create a program group for the Oracle products you have installed. (For example, if you have installed only SQL*Net version 2.3 software).

ORACLE_HOME

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

C:\ORANT

Any valid directory on any drive

This parameter specifies the Oracle Home directory in which Oracle products are installed. It is added to your Windows NT Registry when you first install Oracle products. This directory is the top directory in the Oracle directory hierarchy.

ORACLE_PRIORITY

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

CLASS:normal; DEF:normal

See the following table

This parameter determines the Windows NT scheduling priorities of the threads within the Oracle RDBMS or DBMS process. The format is:

name1:priority1;name2:priority2 . . .

The name CLASS sets the priority class of the Oracle process. Threads can be assigned priority either collectively or individually. The collective name USER designates non-background (shadow) threads; the collective name DEF designates any thread type not handled specifically. Valid individual background thread names are DBWR, LGWR, PMON, SMON, ARCH, RECO, CKPT, TRWR, and SNP0 through SNP9.

Relative Thread Priority Process Priority Class
idle normal high
time_critical

15

15

15

highest

6

9

15

above_normal

5

8

14

normal

4

7

13

below_normal

3

6

12

lowest

2

5

11

idle

1

1

1

ORACLE_SID

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

ORCL

Any combination of up to four alphanumeric characters

This parameter specifies the name of the Oracle instance on the host computer. The instance name is the same as the value of the ORACLE_SID configuration parameter, and can be any alphanumeric combination of one to four characters.

ORA_sid_PWFILE

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

%ORACLE_HOME%\ DATABASE\ PWDsid.ORA

Any legal filename

This parameter specifies the name of the password file containing the password for the database instance designated by the SID.

ORA_XCPT, ORA_sid_XCPT

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

All are enabled (0xFF)

The following exceptions can be enabled or disabled:
stack tracing (0x01)

instruction disassembly (0x02)

registers ( 0x04)

memory map of process (0x08)

dump of raw stack (0x10)

This parameter specifies exceptions to be logged.

PLSQLnn

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

None

Any valid path

This parameter specifies the directory in which Oracle7 Server for Windows NT looks for PL/SQL message files. Although it has no default, the Oracle7 Server for Windows NT installation process sets the parameter as %ORACLE_HOME% \PLSQLnn, where nn indicates the version of PL/SQL being used.

RDBMSnn

Operating System Default Legal Values
Windows NT

None

Any valid path

Oracle7 Server for Windows NT and the Oracle7 Utilities use this directory to locate message, resource files, and SQL scripts. Although it has no default, the Oracle7 Server for Windows NT installation process sets the parameter as %ORACLE_HOME% \RDBMSnn, where nn indicates the version of Oracle7 Server for Windows NT being used.

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