Running Oracle

Name of the server	oracle
Name of the client	sqlplus
Typical command line to start the client	`sqlplus scott/tiger@soc3` soc3 the connection string - which is doubtless incredibly simple to set up - help would be appreciated here scott user name tiger password
Useful commands	select * from cat; describe tableX; start file.txt help set;
Beware!	If your data includes the character & it prompts for a value. Use the command `SET DEF OFF;` to avoid this. The editor is hideous. Copy and paste from a decent text editor. If results are wide the format is unreadable. `SET LINE 500` can help as can `SET PAGESIZE 100`.
Tips for not looking stupid when faced with a new Oracle installation.	To get into Oracle use sqlplus or "SQL Plus Worksheet" if you have a mouse and such like. Start/Programs/Oracle - something/Application Development/SQL Plus Worksheet. You need to know a user name and password - scott/tiger is created by default. There are admin accounts sys and system. You also need the host string or service - I found this in the latest install log file C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\installActions2003-09-01-02-03-39-PM.log look for s_dbSid - there may be several - by default it is the first part of globalDBName.

Starting Oracle