Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) is an entry-level, small database based on the Oracle Database

10g Release 2 code base that's free to develop, deploy, and distribute; fast to download; and simple to administer. It is a free software with a download size of 150 MB .

What are System Requirements?

The following are the system requirements to install Oracle Database 10g Express Edition. RAM of 256MB or above HDD of 1GB. OS - Windows XP SP1 or Windows 2003 or Windows 2000 server SP 4 MS Installer version 2.0 or later.

What should use this?

This product is meant for the following category of people. In fact, I am putting it in Oracle's own words: Oracle Database XE is a great starter database for: Developers working on PHP, Java, .NET, and Open Source applications DBAs who need a free, starter database for training and deployment Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and hardware vendors who want a starter database to distribute free of charge Educational institutions and students who need a free database for their curriculum

Currently this product is in its beta and production release is scheduled for early 2006 .

What are the steps to install?

Following the steps given below to obtain and install this product. 1. Register in Oracle Technology Network. This is must to download Oracle. 2. Download this product from Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Note: Always use a download manager while you are downloading large files. 3. You get a single file oraclexe.exe downloaded to your system. 4. Install Oracle Database 10g Express Edition by double clicking on oraclexe.exe 5. It should not take more than 15 minutes to do so. It doesn't ask any questions that you find perplexing. It is smooth and easy. Any beginner can do it. The only question it asks is the password for SYSTEM and SYS accounts. 6. Once it is installed successfully then go to start->programs->oracle database 10g express edition->Go to database home page and get started. You get browser based SQL*Plus. 7. Login as SYSTEM with the password you have given at the time of installation and then unlock HR account. If you are looking for SCOTT account, you will be disappointed, as it is not there. Never mind, you get HR account with almost the same tables (with different names for tables and columns).

If you are a Java Programmer; see how you can connect to Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Using JDBC. Enjoy new product!

P.Srikanth

Today I received a mail seeking my help regarding using Oracle Database 10g. That made me feel I should write about how to install and get started with Oracle Database 10g.

Getting Software and Installing It

The first step is obviously to download oracle software from oracle.com. When you try to download Oracle Database 10g express edition, it will ask you to register (if not already registered). Don't worry! Registration process is very simple and just do it. Download Oracle Database 10g express edition, which is a download of 156MB. With a lot of people using broadband of 256kbps or above, it doesn't take any time to download 156MB. You downloaded a simple file oraclexe.exe. Just double click on that and follow the instructions. At one point it asks you to provide password for system account. Provide a password and make sure you remember it. Here, I have a suggest. Try to simplify your password. Give you name or something that you can easily remember. After all you are not going to put any confidential data in your database and moreover in many cases only you access the database and no one else.

Unlocking HR account
Until Oracle9i we had an account called SCOTT with password TIGER. Many try to use that to log in but fail. Oracle Database 10g doesn't come with SCOTT account any more. It instead provides HR account HR password. But, HR account is locked and cannot be used unless you unlock it. So here are the steps to unlock HR account. 1. Start SQL Plus using Oracle Database 10g Express Edition->Run SQL Command Line. 2. At SQL> prompt, connect to Oracle using SYSTEM account with password given at the time of installation. Oracle password are NOT case sensitive. CONNECT SYSTEM/password 3. Unlock HR account with the following command. ALTER USER HR ACCOUNT UNLOCK; > Now, HR account is unlock and ready to be used. 4. So, try to connect to HR account using the following command.

CONNECT HR/HR It will prompt you to enter new password and current password is expired. This is because of the fact, HR account's password is expired by default. Don't worry enter new password for HR. To make life easy, you better enter the same HR as password.

That's all you have to do to access HR account and enjoy all the sample table that come with HR account. If you want to know more about HR account tables their relationships and queries related to those tables, please visit Human Resource Schema Of Oracle10g. Keep Learning, Srikanth.