Further Syntax Rules for TNS Configuration Files

• Any keyword in a configuration file that should be recognized as beginning a parameter that includes one or more keyword-value pairs must be in the far left column of a line. If it is indented by one or more spaces, it is interpreted as a continuation of the previous line.

• All characters must belong to the network character set (see the next section).

• Keywords are not case sensitive. Values may be case sensitive, depending on the operating system and protocol.

• Spaces around the "=" sign are optional in keyword-value pairs.

• There is an implied hierarchy of keywords. That is, some keywords are always followed by other keywords. At any level of the hierarchy keywords can be listed in any order. For example, the following entries are equally valid:

(ADDRESS =
(COMMUNITY = TCPCOM.WORLD)
(PROTOCOL = TCP)
(HOST = MARTHA.WORLD)
(PORT = 1521)
)

(ADDRESS =
(COMMUNITY = TCPCOM.WORLD)
(PROTOCOL = TCP)
(PORT = 1521)
(HOST = MARTHA.WORLD)
)

• Keywords cannot contain spaces. Values must not contain spaces unless enclosed within double quotes ("). For example, the following is a valid value:

		(COMMUNITY = "West Central") 

• The maximum length of a connect descriptor is 512 bytes.

• Comments can be included using the pound sign # at the beginning of a line. Anything following the sign to the end of the line is considered a comment.

Network Character Set

		A-Z, a-z
		0-9
		( ) < > / \ 
		, . : ; ' " = - _ 
		$ + * # & ! % ? @ 

Within this character set, the following symbols are reserved:

		(  ) = \ " ' # 

Reserved symbols should be used only as delimiters, not as part of a keyword or a value unless the keyword or value is quoted. Either single or double quotes can be used to enclose a value containing reserved symbols. To include a quote within a value that is surrounded by quotes, use different quote types. The backslash (\) is used as an escape character.

A specific example of the use of reserved symbols is in a numeric DECnet object within a DECnet address. As defined by DECnet, an OBJECT can be a name such as ABC or a value such as #123. These would be entered in the form:

(OBJECT=ABC)

or

(OBJECT=\#123) 

The numeric DECnet object requires a symbol that is reserved by TNS. Because # is a reserved symbol, the character must be preceded by a backslash. See the Oracle Protocol Adapter information for your platform for further details on DECnet.

The following characters can be used within the structure of a connect descriptor, but cannot be part of a keyword or value:

		<space> <tab> <CR> <newline>

Service Name Character Set

[a...z] [A...Z] [0...9] _ 

The first character in a service name must be an alphabetic character. The number of characters allowed is platform specific; in general, however, up to 64 characters is acceptable. A database service name must match the global database name defined by the DBA. It consists of a database name (originally limited to eight characters), and the database domains. Service names and global database names are not case sensitive.

Note: Network Manager uses periods (.) when it appends domains to the names you enter, but it does not accept periods in the name you provide.