Ping the Server

While the particular connection details of each site's network are beyond the scope of this document, it is worthwhile to point out one or two common diagnostic strategies for TCP/IP networks.

One common test to use is the Ping utility that comes with most operating systems that support the TCP/IP protocol. This will help you to determine if the client workstation can communicate with the database server computer using the same low-level protocol that the database client and server use. For instance, if the IP Address of the database computer is 193.182.9.2, you might enter the following command line to see if you can get a response.

Ping 193.182.9.2

If this test shows no response on a TCP/IP network, there is an underlying network issue involved, not a database server issue.

Oracle uses a broadcast strategy to find the server. On mid-sized or large networks, this broadcast will often be stopped at an intermediate router, which is designed to limit the flow of traffic between subnets. If this is the case at your site, you can still connect to the server by explicitly specifying the IP address of the database server. You do this by providing the server IP address instead of the computer name when creating the Oracle database alias.

Verify that the TNS Listener is Active

Use the Oracle TNSPing.exe program to verify that the Oracle TNS listener is responding. If the TNSPing test fails, restart the database server computer.

If restarting the server does not resolve the problem, re-install the Oracle database server software to let the Oracle installer re-examine the required support files and their dependencies. (You do not need to overwrite any existing Oracle databases.) This re-install often resolves the issue.

Verify that the Client Station has File Access Rights

If your client workstation can connect to the database but cannot create drawing files, make sure that the client workstation has both file read and file write access to the projects folder.

Check the InitOrcl.ora File

If you get an "ORA-01000 maximum open cursors exceeded when deleting records" error, the open_cursors value in your InitOrcl.ora file may be too low. Add a line open_cursors = 250 to your C:\OraNT\Database\InitOrcl.ora file, then restart the Oracle server (or restart your machine).

Verify that your Station Has an IP Address

If you are using a TCP/IP protocol, Oracle requires that all client workstations have an IP address, or have a network card to allow the client and server to communicate. This is true even if the database computer and the client workstation are on the same computer. Verify that the client workstation has an IP address or a network card. You can establish an IP address using the network features of the Windows control panel.

Check the Oracle Client Registry

If you receive a "Driver's SQLSetConnectAttr- Failed" error, you will need to use regedit.exe to manually edit your registy and make sure that the following string values are referencing the correct Oracle library files:

String	Oracle Library File
Reconcilable	oci.dll
OracleXaLib	oraclient8.dll, oraclient9.dll, or oraclient10.dll
OracleSqlLib	orasql8.dll, orasql9.dll, or orasql10.dll

For more information, sign into the Support section of www.archibus.com , and search for FAQ 1097.