Oracle7 Server Tuning

APPENDIX A. Performance Diagnostic Tools

The primary tool for monitoring the performance of Oracle is the collection of dynamic performance views. These views have names beginning with "V$" and are documented in parts of this manual that describe how they can be used for monitoring performance. All dynamic performance tables are listed in the Oracle7 Server Reference.

This appendix describes additional performance diagnostic tools. These tools and the dynamic performance tables can help you monitor and tune applications that run against the Oracle Server.

The performance tools described in this appendix are

the SQL trace facility

the EXPLAIN PLAN command

The output of the EXPLAIN PLAN command reflects the behavior of the Oracle optimizer. Because the optimizer is likely to evolve between releases of the Oracle Server, output from the EXPLAIN PLAN command will also evolve. Similarly, the SQL trace facility and TKPROF program are also subject to change in future releases of the Oracle Server. Such changes will be documented in future versions of Oracle manuals.