#********************************************************
# FILE NAME:     HOWTO_ORACLE
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# Copyright (c) 2000 by talentsoft, inc.
# ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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# DESCRIPTION:
# Documentation:  How To Utilize Oracle DSN's with Web+ 
# on Unix/Linux/Solaris 
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# NOTE:
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# COMMENT:
#
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1.0 Introduction: Web+ now includes a native driver for Oracle 8i, it DOES NOT work for previous versions of Oracle, unfortunately. The following instructions assume that you know and understand how to: 1. install and configure Oracle on your operating system; 2. create and configure Oracle datasources (DSN's); and 3. create users and assign appropriate roles to users to administrate the database.

2.0 Basic Procedure (local DSN): Once you have created the Oracle datasource as well as the users who can access it, allowing Web+ to connect is relatively straightforward. Just open the Web+ Server Administration Interface (http://<hostname>/cgi-bin/webplus.cgi?script=/admin/admin.wml or if running as NSAPI or DSO http://<hostname>/admin/admin.wml). Then enter the name of the datasource, select Oracle as the datasource type, and in the DRIVER text box enter /webplus/bin/webp_oracle.so. You will also need to fill in the username and password of the Oracle user who is allowed to access the DSN.  Click "Apply" and attempt to acces the datasource with a simple SQL statement. If it produces output, your DSN is now connected.

2.1 Troubleshooting: If Web+ displays a "Datasource Not Found" or other SQL not related to the syntax of your script, try restarting Web+ from the command line as root (/webplus/webpadmin restart). Then try accessing the DSN again. If it still does not work, verify all of your settings in the Server Administration Intercface (see step 2). 

3.0 Basic Procedure (remote DSN): In order for Web+ to connect to a remoate Oracle DSN, it is necessary to first install and configure the Oracle client software to connect to the DSN (you can use the Oracle SQL Net Assistant to make this process much easier). Once you can connect to the remote DSN using SQL+ from your machine, you are ready to use Web+ to connect to the datasource. In the Web+ Server Administration Interface, the setup is identical to the process outlined in Step 2.0, except for the username will in the form of USERNAME@ALLAS_NAME_FOR_INSTANCE. For example, if, after running the SQL Net Assistant, the alias name is ORCL, and the username is user1, you would enter user1@ORCL as the username. 

Note: remote connections use the Web+ Oracle native driver (webp_oracle.so). This is the preferred method to connect to remote Oracle DSN's as the performanc is much better than using ODBC or JDBC driver.

If you cannot seem to connect to the Oracle DSN after carefully following these procedures, please feel free to contact the talnetsoft support team at support@talentsoft.com and we will do our best to provide a solution.

Thank You
talentsoft Unix team 

