[tchocky]

Hi, I'm a total beginner to Oracle, so forgive me if this is a really easy question to answer, but...

I've recently started a web site job where I've been given Oracle as the database to use with it. Now, I can telnet in to the system and use SQLPLUS from there, but I'd much rather use something a lot more user friendly- this being where the Instant Client comes in.

I've installed it (well, extracted it to c:\instantclient) and set environment variables PATH and SQLPATH to that location.. Then I tried connecting to the database, but it didn't work at all- one e-mail to them later and I was given the following for a "tnsnames.ora" file:

trdb.world =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS =
(COMMUNITY = TCP.world)
(PROTOCOL = TCP)
(Host = <my host>)
(Port = 1521)
)
)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SID = trdb)
(GLOBAL_NAME = trdb.world)
)
)

But when I run SQLPLUS with no arguments it says:

ERROR:ORA-12560: TNSrotocol adapter error

And if I try to run sqlplus asuwww/<password>@<host>, it tells me:

ORA-12514: TNS:listener does not currently know of service requested in connect

Anyone got any idea what I'm doing wrong here?!

Cheers!

[joebednarz]

You'll need to post your "listener.ora" file also to help you...

There are two components to making a connection to an Oracle database over a network. The server component responds to requests for "a database" on a particular computer. The client component uses Oracle connection libraries and relies on the tnsnames.ora file to know how to find a database.

The file from instantclient is a start, but you will have to have more information for the file to be exactly what you need to make a connection.

JoeB

[tchocky]

Originally Posted by joebednarz

You'll need to post your "listener.ora" file also to help you...

Hi, thanks for the reply- I don't actually have a "listener.ora" file- should I be requesting one from the database providers?

[joebednarz]

Easiest way for you to get the Listener running, and create the listener.ora file, is to run the network configuration assistant. This will create the appropriate files and then create the service for you. Once that is done, you should be able to modify your tnsnames.ora file to correspond.

JoeB