HOW TO trace your own session

Platform: Oracle App:

DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision 28-Nov-2005 Keywords: HOWTO, TRACE, SESSION
Date:
Goal
To trace the SQL in your own session
Facts
Solution

First, run the following commands from the SQL*Plus command prompt to switch
on timed statistics and to allow for an unlimited trace file size.

alter session set timed_statistics=true

alter session set max_dump_file_size=unlimited

If you fail to set TIMED_STATISTICS=TRUE, your database kernel will emit only
zero values instead of real durations into your trace file. If your setting of
MAX_DUMP_FILE_SIZE is too restrictive, you'll suffer the chagrin of generating a
message like the following in your trace file instead of the timing data you
wanted:

*** DUMP FILE SIZE IS LIMITED TO 1048576 BYTES ***

Before starting your trace, you can modify the name of the trace file by adding a
TRACEFILE_IDENTIFIER to it. You can do this by an ALTER SESSION command
such as what is below.

alter session set TRACEFILE_IDENTIFIER = 'something_unique';

Next comes activating the trace itself. There are several ways to do this. The old-
fashioned way is to use the ALTER SESSION command as follows:

alter session set events '10046 trace name context forever, level
12'
/* code to be traced goes here */
alter session set events '10046 trace name context off'

A more elegant way to accomplish the extended SQL trace activation is to use
the DBMS_SUPPORT package:

dbms_support.start_trace(waits=>true, binds=>true)
/* code to be traced goes here */
dbms_support.stop_trace()

To find the trace file, first find the directory where it is located using the
following:

select value from v$parameter where name = 'user_dump_dest';

Then, look for a file with 'something_unique' in the filename.

HOW TO trace a 3rd party session

Platform: Oracle App:
DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision 26-Oct-2006 Keywords: HOWTO, TRACE, SESSION, 3RD PARTY
Date:
Goal
To trace the SQL in 3rd party session
Facts
Solution
First, identify the 3rd party session to be traced. This can be cumbersome, but can be identified usi
session has been identified make a note of the session's:

SID
Serial#

Next, run the following commands from the SQL*Plus command prompt to switch on timed
statistics and to allow for an unlimited trace file size.

alter session set timed_statistics=true

alter session set max_dump_file_size=unlimited

If you fail to set TIMED_STATISTICS=TRUE, your database kernel will emit only zero values
instead of real durations into your trace file. If your setting of MAX_DUMP_FILE_SIZE is too
restrictive, you'll suffer the chagrin of generating a message like the following in your trace file
instead of the timing data you wanted:

*** DUMP FILE SIZE IS LIMITED TO 1048576 BYTES ***

Before starting your trace, you can modify the name of the trace file by adding a
TRACEFILE_IDENTIFIER to it. You can do this by an ALTER SESSION command such as what
is below.

alter session set TRACEFILE_IDENTIFIER = 'something_unique';

Next comes activating the trace itself. There are several ways to do this. The old-fashioned way is
to use the ALTER SESSION command as follows:
A more elegant way to accomplish the extended SQL trace activation is to use the
DBMS_SYSTEM package:

DBMS_System.Set_Ev(sid, serial#, event, level, name);

e.g.

DBMS_System.Set_Ev(31, 97, 10046, 4,);

To find the trace file, first find the directory where it is located using the following:
select value from v$parameter where name = 'user_dump_dest';

Then, look for a file with 'something_unique' in the filename.

Structure of an Extended SQL Trace file
Platform: Oracle App:
DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision 30-Dec- Keywords: REF, REFERENCE, TRACE FILE STRUCTURE
Date: 2005
Reference
For any updates, refer to the original Metalink document Metalink:39817.1.

Introduction.
between any 2 operations
This is a short reference article which summarises the output format of the raw
SQL_TRACE output file. The second part of the article describes the additional
trace lines that may be enabled by the DBMS_SUPPORT package. See Metalink
Note 62294.1 for details of this package.
Note: The format may vary slightly between releases.

APPNAME mod='%s' mh=%lu act='%s' ah=%lu

APPNAME Application name setting. (This only applies to Oracle 7.2
and above. This can be set by using the
DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package. See Note 30366.1.)
mod Module name.
mh Module hash value.
act Action.
ah Action hash value.

PARSING IN CURSOR #<CURSOR> len=X dep=X uid=X oct=X lid=X tim=X hv=X
ad='X' <statement> END OF STMT
<CURSOR> Cursor number.
len Length of SQL statement.
dep Recursive depth of the cursor.
uid Schema user id of parsing user.
oct Oracle command type.
lid Privilege user id.
tim Timestamp.
Pre-Oracle9i, the times recorded by Oracle only have a
resolution of 1/100th of a second (10mS). As of Oracle9i
some times are available to microsecond accuracy
(1/1,000,000th of a second).
The timestamp can be used to determine times between points
the trace file. The value is the value in V$TIMER when the
line was written. If there are TIMESTAMPS in the file you
can use the difference between 'tim' values to determine an
absolute time.
hv Hash id.
ad SQLTEXT address (see <View:V$SQLAREA> and <View:V$SQLTEXT>).

<statement> The actual SQL statement being parsed.

PARSE ERROR #%d:len=%ld dep=%d uid=%ld oct=%d lid=%ld tim=%lu err=%d

<statement> ...
PARSE ERROR In Oracle 7.2+ parse errors are reported to the trace
file.
len Length of SQL statement.
dep Recursive depth of the statement
uid User id.
oct Oracle command type (if known).
lid Privilege user id.
tim Timestamp.
err Oracle error code (e.g. ORA-XXXXX) reported

<statement> The SQL statement that errored.

If this contains a password, the statement is truncated as
indicated by '...' at the end.

PARSE #<CURSOR>:c=0,e=0,p=0,cr=0,cu=0,mis=0,r=0,dep=0,og=4,tim=0
EXEC #<CURSOR>:c=0,e=0,p=0,cr=0,cu=0,mis=0,r=0,dep=0,og=4,tim=0
FETCH #<CURSOR>:c=0,e=0,p=0,cr=0,cu=0,mis=0,r=0,dep=0,og=4,tim=0
UNMAP #<CURSOR>:c=0,e=0,p=0,cr=0,cu=0,mis=0,r=0,dep=0,og=4,tim=0

- OPERATIONS:

PARSE Parse a statement.

EXEC Execute a pre-parsed statement.
FETCH Fetch rows from a cursor.
UNMAP If the cursor uses a temporary table, when the cursor is
closed you see an UNMAP when we free up the temporary table
locks.(Ie: free the lock, delete the state object, free the
temp segment)
In tkprof, UNMAP stats get added to the EXECUTE statistics.
SORT UNMAP
As above, but for OS file sorts or TEMP table segments.

c CPU time (100th's of a second in Oracle7 ,8 and 9).

e Elapsed time (100th's of a second Oracle7, 8 and 1,000,000ths
(Microseconds) in Oracle 9 onwards).
p Number of physical reads.
cr Number of buffers retrieved for CR reads.
cu Number of buffers retrieved in current mode.
mis Cursor missed in the cache.
r Number of rows processed.
dep Recursive call depth (0 = user SQL, >0 = recursive).
og Optimizer goal: 1=All_Rows, 2=First_Rows, 3=Rule, 4=Choose
tim Timestamp (large number in 100ths of a second). Use this to
determine the time
ERROR #%d:err=%d tim=%lu
SQL Error shown after an execution or fetch error.
err Oracle error code (e.g. ORA-XXXXX) at the top of the stack.
tim Timestamp.

STAT #<CURSOR> id=N cnt=0 [pid=0 pos=0 obj=0 op='SORT AGGREGATE ']
STAT Lines report explain plan statistics for the numbered <CURSOR>.

<CURSOR> Cursor which the statistics apply to.

id Line of the explain plan which the row count applies to (starts at
line 1). This is effectively the row source row
 count for all row sources in the execution tree.
cnt Number of rows for this row source.

As of 7.3.3 the items in '[...]' are also reported:

pid Parent id of this row source.

pos Position in explain plan.
obj Object id of row source (if this is a base object).
op='...' The row source access operation.

These let you know the 'run time' explain plan.

XCTEND rlbk=%d rd_only=%d

XCTEND A transaction end marker.

rlbk 1 if a rollback was performed, 0 if no rollback (commit).

rd_only 1 if transaction was read only, 0 if changes occurred.

==========================================================
The items below are only output if WAITS or BINDS are being traced.
These can be enabled with the DBMS_SUPPORT package.
==========================================================
BINDS #%d: bind 0: dty=2 mxl=22(22) mal=00 scl=00 pre=00 oacflg=03 oacfl2=0 size=24
offset=0 bfp=02fedb44 bln=22 avl=00 flg=05 value=10

BIND
Variables bound
to a cursor.

bindN The bind position being bound.

dty Data type (see <Glossary:DataTypes>).
mxl Maximum length of the bind variable (private max len
in paren).
mal Array length.
scl Scale.
pre Precision.
oacflg Special flag indicating bind options
oacflg2 Continuation of oacflg
size Amount of memory to be allocated for this chunk
offset Offset into this chunk for this bind buffer

bfp Bind address.

bln Bind buffer length.
avl Actual value length (array length too).
flg Special flag indicating bind status
value The actual value of the bind variable.
Numbers show the numeric value, strings show the
string etc...

WAIT #<CURSOR>: nam="<event name>" ela=0 p1=0 p2=0 p3=0

WAIT An event that we waited for.

nam What was being waited for .

The wait events here are the same as are seen in
<View:V$SESSION_WAIT>. For any Oracle release a full list
of
wait events and the values in P1, P2 and P3 below can be
seen in <View:V$EVENT_NAME>

ela Elapsed time for the operation

p1 p1 for the given wait event
p2 p2 for the given wait event
p3 p3 for the given wait event

Example (Full Table Scan):

WAIT #1: nam="db file scattered read" ela= 5 p1=4 p2=1435 p3=25
WAITing under CURSOR no 1
for "db file scattered read"
We waited 0.05 seconds
For a read of: File 4, start block 1435, for 25 Oracle
blocks

Example (Index Scan):

WAIT #1: nam="db file sequential read" ela= 4 p1=4 p2=1224 p3=1
WAITing under CURSOR no 1
for "db file sequential read"
We waited 0.04 seconds for a single block read (p3=1)
from file 4, block 1224.
HOW TO find SQL trace file directories
Platform: Oracle App:
DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision Date: 17-Sep-2005 Keyword HOWTO, TRACE FILES, DIRECTORIES, DIRECTORY
s:
Goal
To find directories on the database server where SQL trace files are located
Facts
Solution

Run the SQL script:

SELECT name, value

FROM v$parameter2
WHERE name IN ('user_dump_dest'
,'background_dump_dest'
,'core_dump_dest')
HOW TO find a user's session info for tracing

Platform: Oracle App:

DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision 12-Sep-2005 Keywords: HOWTO, TRACING, TRACE, SESSION
Date:
Goal
To find a user's session info (ready for tracing)
Facts
Solution

The following SQL script will find the SID and SERIAL# required to activate a
session specific SQL trace, together with supporting information about that
session.

SELECT
s.sid db_sid
,s.serial# db_serial
,p.spid os_pid
,to_char(s.logon_time, 'YYYY/MM/DD HH24:MI:SS') db_logon_time
,nvl(s.username, 'SYS') db_user
,s.osuser os_user
,s.machine os_machine
,nvl(decode(instr(s.terminal, chr(0))
,0
,s.terminal
,substr(s.terminal, 1, instr(s.terminal, chr(0))-1)),'none')
os_terminal
,s.program os_program
from
v$session s
,v$process p
where 1=1
and s.paddr = p.addr
and s.username like upper('&1')

/
HOW TO find a concurrent program's trace file
Platform: Oracle App:
DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision Date: 28-Jun-2006 Keyword HOWTO, TRACE, CONCURRENT PROGRAM
s:
Goal
To find the SQL trace file for a concurrent program
Facts
Solution
Run the following script:

prompt
ACCEPT request prompt 'Please enter the concurrent request id for
the appropriate concurrent program:'
prompt

COLUMN traceid format a8

COLUMN tracename format a80
COLUMN user_concurrent_program_name format a40
COLUMN execname format a15
COLUMN enable_trace format a12
SET lines 80
SET pages 22
SET head OFF

SELECT
req.request_id
,req.logfile_node_name node
,req.oracle_Process_id
,req.enable_trace
,dest.VALUE||'/'||LOWER(dbnm.VALUE)||'_ora_'||
oracle_process_id||'.trc' trace_filename
,prog.user_concurrent_program_name
,execname.execution_file_name
,execname.subroutine_name
,phase_code
,status_code
,ses.SID
,ses.serial#
,ses.module
,ses.machine
FROM
fnd_concurrent_requests req
,v$session ses
,v$process proc
,v$parameter dest
,v$parameter dbnm
,fnd_concurrent_programs_vl prog
,fnd_executables execname
WHERE 1=1
AND req.request_id = &request
AND req.oracle_process_id=proc.spid(+)
AND proc.addr = ses.paddr(+)
AND dest.NAME='user_dump_dest'
AND dbnm.NAME='db_name'
AND req.concurrent_program_id = prog.concurrent_program_id
AND req.program_application_id = prog.application_id
AND prog.application_id = execname.application_id
AND prog.executable_id=execname.executable_id
HOW TO trace SQL*Plus client

Platform: Oracle App:

DB Ver: 9.2 App Ver:
Revision 19-Oct-2005 Keywords: HOWTO, TRACE, SQL*PLUS
Date:
Goal
Switch tracing on for the SQL*Plus client application
Facts
Solution
To set up the trace on client:
Include the following parameters in SQLNET.ORA file located in
$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin:

trace_level_client = 16
trace_file_client = cli.trc
trace_directory_client = c:\tmp
trace_unique_client = on
trace_timestamp_client = on
trace_filelen_client = 100
trace_fileno_client = 2
log_file_client = cli
log_directory_client = c:\tmp
tnsping.trace_directory = c:\tmp
tnsping.trace_level = admin