Oracle7 Administrator's Reference for UNIX

Oracle Environment Variables on UNIX

The following table provides the syntax and examples for Oracle7 variables.

See Also: The Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform for information on environment variables specific to your platform.

Variable Detail Definition
NLS_LANG Function Specifies the language and character set used for output. See the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform for a range of values.
Syntax language_territory.characterset
Example french_france.we8dec
ORA_NLS Function Points to the directory where languages and character sets are stored.
Set to $ORACLE_HOME/ocommon/nls/admin/data
ORACLE_BASE Function Specifies the base of the Oracle directory structure for OFA-compliant databases.
Syntax directory_path
Example /mount_point/app/oracle
ORACLE_HELP Function Specifies the directory containing help files.
Syntax directory_path
Example $ORACLE_HOME/help/admin/resource
ORACLE_HOME Function Specifies the directory containing the Oracle software distribution.
Syntax directory_path
Example /mount_point/app/oracle/product/release_number
ORACLE_LPSTAT Function Specifies the command used to query the printer queue.
Syntax command
Range of Values lpstat, lpq or any other printer status command used by the user's command
Example lpq -Pdest_printer
ORACLE_PAGER Function Specifies the UNIX pager to be used by Oracle products
Syntax command
Range of Values more, less, pg or any pager command available on the user's system
Example more
ORACLE_PATH Function Specifies the search pathname for files used by Oracle applications, such as SQL*Plus. If not specified, the application reads from and writes to the current directory.
Syntax colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
Example /u01/oracle/adhoc/sqlplus:. Note: The period adds the current working directory to the search path.
ORACLE_SID Function Specifies the Oracle System Identifier.
Syntax The string of numbers and characters must begin with a letter (all letters are uppercase). For more information, see the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
Example TEST1
ORACLE_TERM Function Specifies the terminal type identifier. Used by the Installer and Oracle products to determine the correct Toolkit II (.res) resource file. If not set, the value of the operating-system variable TERM is used.
Syntax string of characters
Range of Values The value of this variable must be set such that the pattern tk2c${ORACLE_TERM}.res corresponds to valid resource files in the Toolkit II resource directory or directories. See the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform for a list of valid values.
Example vt100
ORACLE_TERMINAL Function Specifies an additional directory to search for Toolkit II (.res) resource files.
Syntax directory_name
Example $ORACLE_HOME/guicommon/tk21/admin/terminal
ORACLE_TRACE Function Turns on tracing of Bourne shell scripts during install. If set to T, many Oracle shell scripts run with set-x flag on.
Range of Values T or anything else.
ORAENV_ASK Function Controls whether (c)oraenv prompts for $ORACLE_SID or $ORACLE_HOME. If set to NO (c)oraenv does not prompt and, if set to anything else, it does.
Syntax string
Range of Values NO or anything else.
SDD_BIN Function Specifies the path to the directory containing binary executables.
Syntax directory_path
Example $ORACLE_HOME/bin
TNS_ADMIN Function Sets the directory containing the SQL*Net V2 configuration files.
Syntax directory_path
Range of Values Any directory; for more information, see the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
Example $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin
TWO_TASK Function Sets the default SQL*Net v2 connect string descriptor alias defined in the tnsnames.ora file.
Syntax available network alias
Range of Values Any valid SQL*Net v2 alias defined in the tnsnames.ora file.
Example t:host:oracle

Table 6 - 1. Oracle Environment Variables

Attention: If ORACLE_TERM is not set correctly, your screen display and function keys may not function properly.

Abbreviations for ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID

In Oracle7 Server files and programs, a question mark (?) represents the value of ORACLE_HOME. For example, Oracle7 expands the question mark in the following SQL statement to the full pathname of ORACLE_HOME:

alter tablespace TEMP add datafile '?/dbs/dbs2.ora' size 2M

The @ sign represents $ORACLE_SID. For example, to indicate that a file belongs to an instance, enter:

alter tablespace tablespace_name add datafile 'dbsfile@.ora'

Variable	Detail	Definition
NLS_LANG	Function	Specifies the language and character set used for output. See the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform for a range of values.
	Syntax	language_territory.characterset
	Example	french_france.we8dec
ORA_NLS	Function	Points to the directory where languages and character sets are stored.
	Set to	$ORACLE_HOME/ocommon/nls/admin/data
ORACLE_BASE	Function	Specifies the base of the Oracle directory structure for OFA-compliant databases.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Example	/mount_point/app/oracle
ORACLE_HELP	Function	Specifies the directory containing help files.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Example	$ORACLE_HOME/help/admin/resource
ORACLE_HOME	Function	Specifies the directory containing the Oracle software distribution.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Example	/mount_point/app/oracle/product/release_number
ORACLE_LPSTAT	Function	Specifies the command used to query the printer queue.
	Syntax	command
	Range of Values	lpstat, lpq or any other printer status command used by the user's command
	Example	lpq -Pdest_printer
ORACLE_PAGER	Function	Specifies the UNIX pager to be used by Oracle products
	Syntax	command
	Range of Values	more, less, pg or any pager command available on the user's system
	Example	more
ORACLE_PATH	Function	Specifies the search pathname for files used by Oracle applications, such as SQL*Plus. If not specified, the application reads from and writes to the current directory.
	Syntax	colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
	Example	/u01/oracle/adhoc/sqlplus:. Note: The period adds the current working directory to the search path.
ORACLE_SID	Function	Specifies the Oracle System Identifier.
	Syntax	The string of numbers and characters must begin with a letter (all letters are uppercase). For more information, see the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
	Example	TEST1
ORACLE_TERM	Function	Specifies the terminal type identifier. Used by the Installer and Oracle products to determine the correct Toolkit II (.res) resource file. If not set, the value of the operating-system variable TERM is used.
	Syntax	string of characters
	Range of Values	The value of this variable must be set such that the pattern tk2c${ORACLE_TERM}.res corresponds to valid resource files in the Toolkit II resource directory or directories. See the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform for a list of valid values.
	Example	vt100
ORACLE_TERMINAL	Function	Specifies an additional directory to search for Toolkit II (.res) resource files.
	Syntax	directory_name
	Example	$ORACLE_HOME/guicommon/tk21/admin/terminal
ORACLE_TRACE	Function	Turns on tracing of Bourne shell scripts during install. If set to T, many Oracle shell scripts run with set-x flag on.
	Range of Values	T or anything else.
ORAENV_ASK	Function	Controls whether (c)oraenv prompts for $ORACLE_SID or $ORACLE_HOME. If set to NO (c)oraenv does not prompt and, if set to anything else, it does.
	Syntax	string
	Range of Values	NO or anything else.
SDD_BIN	Function	Specifies the path to the directory containing binary executables.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Example	$ORACLE_HOME/bin
TNS_ADMIN	Function	Sets the directory containing the SQL*Net V2 configuration files.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Range of Values	Any directory; for more information, see the Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
	Example	$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin
TWO_TASK	Function	Sets the default SQLNet v2 connect string descriptor alias defined in the tnsnames.ora* file.
	Syntax	available network alias
	Range of Values	Any valid SQLNet v2 alias defined in the tnsnames.ora* file.
	Example	t:host:oracle