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Using Trace and Alert Files
Logging Error Messages
Oracle7 Server for Windows NT background threads use trace files to
record occurrences and exceptions of database operations, as well as
errors. Background thread trace files are created regardless of whether
the BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST parameter is set in the initialization
parameter file. If BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST is set, the trace files are
stored in that directory. If the parameter is not set, the trace files are
stored in the \ORANT\RDBMSnn\TRACE directory.
Oracle7 Server for Windows NT creates a different trace file for each
background thread. The name of the trace file contains the name of the
background thread, followed by the extension .TRC. Some sample trace
file syntax is sid DBWR.TRC and sid SMON.TRC, where sid represents
the name of the instance (the value of the ORACLE_SID configuration
parameter).
Trace files are also created for user threads if the USER_DUMP_DEST
parameter is set in the initialization parameter file. The trace files for the
user threads have the form ORAxxxxx.TRC, where xxxxx is a 5–digit
number indicating the Windows NT thread ID.
The alert file contains important information about error messages and
exceptions during database operations. Each Oracle7 Server for
Windows NT instance has one alert file; information is appended to the
file each time you start the instance. All threads are able to write to the
alert file.
For example, when automatic archiving of redo logs is halted because
no disk space is available, a message is placed in the alert file. The alert
file is the first place you should check if something goes wrong with the
database and the cause is not immediately obvious.
The alert file is named sid ALRT.LOG and is found in the directory
specified by the BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST parameter in the
initialization parameter file. If the BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST
parameter is not set, the sid ALRT.LOG file is generated in
\ORANT\RDBMSnn\TRACE.
You can keep a log of the error messages you receive from the Oracle7
Utilities by redirecting them to a file. You can record the contents of
normal utility messages by using the LOGFILE parameter discussed in
the Oracle7 Server Utilities. You can separately record the error message
portion by using standard Windows NT file redirection. For example,
Database Administration
5 – 5
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