The Problem
During a PeopleSoft on Exadata Proof-of-concept test, running on Oracle 11.2.0.4, we got this error in a COBOL process in PeopleSoft North American Payroll.Application Program Failed
Action Type : SQL SELECT
In Pgm Section : SQLRT: EXECUTE-STMT
With Return Code: 31011
Error Message : ORA-31011: XML parsing failed ORA-19202: Error occurred in XML processing LPX-00210: expected '<' instead of '�' Error at line 1
Stored Stmt : PSPEBUPD_S_BENF_NO
SQL Statement : SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A WHERE A.COMP
ANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3 AND A.OFF_CYCLE
=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6�
There is no XML processing anywhere near this process. The table only has character, date and numeric columns. No CLOBs or XML data types. The error didn't make any sense to me at the time.Initial Attempts at Diagnosis
So, I generated both PeopleSoft and Oracle session traces for the process. This is from an Oracle session trace – I don’t see any bind variables in the trace for this statement, but I do for other statements in the same session. The ORA-31011 error definitely occurs during the SQL parse.…
=====================
PARSING IN CURSOR #140203930927312 len=157 dep=0 uid=139 oct=3 lid=139 tim=1466008802922936 hv=3840857025 ad='345a5f148' sqlid='4q8nzfzkfxny1'
SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A WHERE A.COMPANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3 AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6
END OF STMT
PARSE #140203930927312:c=0,e=178,p=0,cr=0,cu=0,mis=1,r=0,dep=0,og=1,plh=0,tim=1466008802922936
WAIT #140203930927312: nam='library cache lock' ela= 89 handle address=13956911600 lock address=14075795680 100*mode+namespace=955359640485890 obj#=229711 tim=1466008802923114
WAIT #140203930927312: nam='library cache pin' ela= 82 handle address=13956911600 pin address=14075795424 100*mode+namespace=955359640485890 obj#=229711 tim=1466008802923249
=====================
PARSE ERROR #140203930927312:len=158 dep=0 uid=139 oct=3 lid=139 tim=1466008802924036 err=31011
SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A WHERE A.COMPANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3 AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6
…
I found I could reproduce it in SQL*Plus. I tried an explain plan in SQL*Plus so it would just parse the statement
SQL> explain plan for
2 SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR
3 FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A
4 WHERE A.COMPANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3
5 AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6
6 /
FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A
*
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-31011: XML parsing failed
ORA-19202: Error occurred in XML processing
LPX-00210: expected '<' instead of '┐'
Error at line 1
It produced a perfectly innocuous execution plan
Plan hash value: 1063404702
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 79 | 4 (0)| 00:00:01 |
|* 1 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| PSAPAY_EARNINGS | 1 | 79 | 4 (0)| 00:00:01 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Query Block Name / Object Alias (identified by operation id):
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 - SEL$1 / A@SEL$1
Outline Data
-------------
/*+
BEGIN_OUTLINE_DATA
INDEX(@"SEL$1" "A"@"SEL$1" ("PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."COMPANY"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAYGROUP" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAY_END_DT"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."OFF_CYCLE" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAGE_NUM"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."LINE_NUM" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."SEPCHK"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."ADDL_NBR" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAY_LINE_STATUS"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."OK_TO_PAY" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."SINGLE_CHECK_USE"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."EMPLID" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."EMPL_RCD"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."BENEFIT_RCD_NBR"))
OUTLINE_LEAF(@"SEL$1")
ALL_ROWS
DB_VERSION('11.2.0.4')
OPTIMIZER_FEATURES_ENABLE('11.2.0.4')
IGNORE_OPTIM_EMBEDDED_HINTS
END_OUTLINE_DATA
*/
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
---------------------------------------------------
1 - access("A"."COMPANY"=:1 AND "A"."PAYGROUP"=:2 AND
"A"."PAY_END_DT"=:3 AND "A"."OFF_CYCLE"=:4 AND "A"."EMPLID"=:5 AND
"A"."EMPL_RCD"=TO_NUMBER(:6))
filter("A"."EMPLID"=:5 AND "A"."EMPL_RCD"=TO_NUMBER(:6))
But then if I used different bind variable names so I could specify variables in SQL*Plus and assign values the statement no longer produced the error.SQL> explain plan for
2 SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A
3 WHERE A.COMPANY=:b1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:b2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:b3
4 AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:b4 AND A.EMPLID=:b5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:b6
5 /
Explained.
Or, if I tried a different numeric column, again no error.SQL> explain plan for
2 SELECT A.SHIFT_RT
3 FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A
4 WHERE A.COMPANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3
5 AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6
6 /
Explained.
I wondered if the table was corrupt in some way and tried rebuilding it, but that didn't make any difference.I couldn't decide if this error means the bind variables haven’t been set up properly in COBOL (I had already worked through other COBOL issues), or whether there really is a problem in the database.
I will also say that I had changed the character set on this database from WE8MSWIN1252 to AL32UTF8.
In fact there is a clue to what was actually going on in what I have already described, but I had got too close to the problem to see it. At this point I asked some colleagues to take a look and two very good suggestions were made. One was to generate an error stack to investigate the error. I will tell you about the other one later.
Error Stack
I enabled, at session level, an event to generate an error stack on the error. I also added an identifier to the trace file name to make it easier to find the file.alter session set tracefile_identifier=ERRORSTACK;
alter session set events '31011 trace name errorstack level 3';
I reproduced the error and got this trace file. It has the standard trace header information.
Trace file /u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/xxxxxx/XXXXXX1/trace/XXXXXX1_ora_16657_ERRORSTACK.trc
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, Real Application Clusters, Automatic Storage Management, OLAP,
Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
ORACLE_HOME = /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0.4/dbhome_1
System name: Linux
Node name: xxxxxxxxx.enkitec.local
Release: 2.6.39-400.250.4.el6uek.x86_64
Version: #1 SMP Tue Jun 2 14:50:33 PDT 2015
Machine: x86_64
Instance name: XXXXXX1
Redo thread mounted by this instance: 1
Oracle process number: 57
Unix process pid: 16657, image: oracle@xxxxxxxx.enkitec.local
*** 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
*** SESSION ID:(56.4425) 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
*** CLIENT ID:() 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
*** SERVICE NAME:(XXXXXX) 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
*** MODULE NAME:(SQL*Plus) 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
*** ACTION NAME:() 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
Then we get the error message and problem SQL statement
*** 2016-06-16 03:46:31.677
dbkedDefDump(): Starting a non-incident diagnostic dump (flags=0x0, level=3, mask=0x0)
----- Error Stack Dump -----
ORA-31011: XML parsing failed
ORA-19202: Error occurred in XML processing
LPX-00210: expected '<' instead of '¯'
Error at line 1
----- Current SQL Statement for this session (sql_id=0vzbgvwh3mr4v) -----
explain plan for
SELECT A.BENEFIT_RCD_NBR
FROM PS_PAY_EARNINGS A
WHERE A.COMPANY=:1 AND A.PAYGROUP=:2 AND A.PAY_END_DT=:3
AND A.OFF_CYCLE=:4 AND A.EMPLID=:5 AND A.EMPL_RCD=:6
Next comes the stack trace. The list of C functions in the Oracle kernel that have been called when the error occurs. The stack trace starts with the most deeply nested function and works up towards the main() function.We have an XML error, so let's see if there is anything in the stack about XML. I have marked them in bold to make it easier.
----- Call Stack Trace -----
calling call entry argument values in hex
location type point (? means dubious value)
-------------------- -------- -------------------- ----------------------------
skdstdst()+41 call kgdsdst() 000000000 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
ksedst1()+103 call skdstdst() 000000000 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
ksedst()+39 call ksedst1() 000000000 ? 000000001 ?
7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
dbkedDefDump()+2746 call ksedst() 000000000 ? 000000001 ?
7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
ksedmp()+41 call dbkedDefDump() 000000003 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
dbkdaKsdActDriver() call ksedmp() 000000003 ? 000000000 ?
+1960 7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
dbgdaExecuteAction( call dbkdaKsdActDriver() 7FE43E28E730 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
)+1065 7FFFF4C2BA00 ? 7FFFF4C2BAD8 ?
7FFFF4C30580 ? 000000002 ?
dbgdaRunAction()+81 call dbgdaExecuteAction( 7FE43E28E730 ? 00A600760 ?
5 ) 0020C0003 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbgdRunActions()+64 call dbgdaRunAction() 7FE43E28E730 ? 000000005 ?
0020C0003 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbgdProcessEventAct call dbgdRunActions() 7FE43E28E730 ? 000000005 ?
ions()+656 0020C0003 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbgdChkEventKgErr() call dbgdProcessEventAct 7FE43E28E730 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
+1658 ions() 7FE43A453998 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbkdChkEventRdbmsEr call dbgdChkEventKgErr() 7FE43E28E730 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
r()+61 7FE43A453998 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
ksfpec()+66 call dbkdChkEventRdbmsEr 7FE43E28E730 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
r() 7FE43A453998 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbgePostErrorKGE()+ call ksfpec() 7FE43E28E730 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
1137 7FE43A453998 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
dbkePostKGE_kgsf()+ call dbgePostErrorKGE() 00C0CC9E0 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
71 000007923 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
kgeselv()+276 call dbkePostKGE_kgsf() 00C0CC9E0 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
000007923 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000002 ?
kgesecl0()+139 call kgeselv() 00C0CC9E0 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
000007923 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 000000000 ?
qmxErrHandler()+860 call kgesecl0() 00C0CC9E0 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
000007923 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 00000000A ?
XmlErrOut()+61 call qmxErrHandler() 7FFFF4C36DE0 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
000007923 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 00000000A ?
LpxErrMsg()+223 call XmlErrOut() 7FE43A7BFBF8 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
7FFFF4C343E0 ? 7FFFF4C32C80 ?
000000001 ? 00000000A ?
LpxFSMParseProlog() call LpxErrMsg() 7FE43A7BFBF8 ? 7FE43B3B4920 ?
+12252 00000003C ? 000E3B1AF ?
000000000 ? 0000000E3 ?
LpxFSMParseDocument call LpxFSMParseProlog() 00287CB91 ? 7FE4219243E0 ?
()+296 00000003C ? 000E3B1AF ?
000000000 ? 0000000E3 ?
LpxParse()+2304 call LpxFSMParseDocument 7FE43B275BC8 ? 7FE4219243E0 ?
() 00000003C ? 000E3B1AF ?
000000000 ? 0000000E3 ?
LpxBufferParse()+49 call LpxParse() 7FE43B275BC8 ? 000000003 ?
7FE4219248F0 ? 00000047D ?
000000000 ? 7FE43B3DFD78 ?
qmxuParseXobDoc_int call LpxBufferParse() 7FE43B275BC8 ? 000000003 ?
()+2968 7FE4219248F0 ? 00000047D ?
000000000 ? 7FE43B3DFD78 ?
qmxManifest0()+1871 call qmxuParseXobDoc_int 00C0CC9E0 ? 2DBE2A518 ?
() 7FE4219248F0 ? 00000047D ?
000000000 ? 7FE43B3DFD78 ?
qmxManifest()+95 call qmxManifest0() 00C0CC9E0 ? 2DBE2A518 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
000000001 ? 000000000 ?
qmxIterInit()+183 call qmxManifest() 00C0CC9E0 ? 2DBE2A518 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
000000001 ? 000000000 ?
qmxGetNodeByNameCS( call qmxIterInit() 00C0CC9E0 ? 7FFFF4C38538 ?
)+191 2DBE2A518 ? 00000001E ?
000000001 ? 000000000 ?
qolTextXmlStringToH call qmxGetNodeByNameCS( 00C0CC9E0 ? 2DBE2A518 ?
intList()+140 ) 2DBE2A518 ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
qsmoGetSqlProfHints call qolTextXmlStringToH 2DB891498 ? 7FE4219248F0 ?
()+402 intList() 00000047D ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
opiSem()+17280 call qsmoGetSqlProfHints 2DB891498 ? 7FE4219248F0 ?
() 00000047D ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
opiDeferredSem()+40 call opiSem() 7FFFF4C3B1A0 ? 345825198 ?
0 0000000AF ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
opitca()+250 call opiDeferredSem() 7FFFF4C3B1A0 ? 000000000 ?
0000000AF ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
kksFullTypeCheck()+ call opitca() 7FE43AF06BD8 ? 2DB8915E8 ?
69 7FFFF4C3D7C0 ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
rpiswu2()+1776 call kksFullTypeCheck() 7FFFF4C3C8C0 ? 2DB8915E8 ?
7FFFF4C3D7C0 ? 00000001E ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
kksSetBindType()+21 call rpiswu2() 34C302480 ? 00000008B ?
92 302E454AC ? 000000025 ?
000000000 ? 00C0CC9E0 ?
kksfbc()+11135 call kksSetBindType() 7FFFF4C3D7C0 ? 7FE43AF06BD8 ?
7FFFF4C3D850 ? 000000102 ?
000000014 ? 000000000 ?
opiexe()+2330 call kksfbc() 7FE43AF06BD8 ? 000000003 ?
000000102 ? 000000000 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
kpoal8()+2118 call opiexe() 000000049 ? 000000003 ?
000000102 ? 000000000 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
opiodr()+917 call kpoal8() 00000005E ? 000000003 ?
000000102 ? 000000000 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
ttcpip()+2183 call opiodr() 00000005E ? 00000001C ?
7FFFF4C41FD0 ? 000000000 ?
000000000 ? 000000000 ?
opitsk()+1710 call ttcpip() 00C0EA630 ? 00999BB10 ?
7FFFF4C41FD0 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
opiino()+969 call opitsk() 00C0EA638 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41FD0 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
opiodr()+917 call opiino() 00000003C ? 000000004 ?
7FFFF4C437C8 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
opidrv()+570 call opiodr() 00000003C ? 000000004 ?
7FFFF4C437C8 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
sou2o()+103 call opidrv() 00000003C ? 000000004 ?
7FFFF4C437C8 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
opimai_real()+133 call sou2o() 7FFFF4C437A0 ? 00000003C ?
000000004 ? 7FFFF4C437C8 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
ssthrdmain()+265 call opimai_real() 000000002 ? 7FFFF4C43990 ?
000000004 ? 7FFFF4C437C8 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
main()+201 call ssthrdmain() 000000002 ? 7FFFF4C43990 ?
000000001 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
__libc_start_main() call main() 000000002 ? 7FFFF4C43B38 ?
+253 000000001 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
_start()+41 call __libc_start_main() 000A29134 ? 000000002 ?
7FFFF4C43B28 ? 000000000 ?
7FFFF4C41A28 ? 7FFFF4C41FCC ?
There is a call to a function called qsmoGetSqlProfHints(). So do we have SQL Profiles?The other suggestion made by independently by two colleagues was to look at whether there was a SQL Profile in place. A search on Oracle Support produced the following:
- Doc ID 1313386.1: Queries Sporadically Fail with ORA-31011, ORA-19202, LPX-00210 After Using csalter.sql to Migrate Database Character Set From Single-Byte to AL32UTF8/UTF8 ()
- although this is supposed to be fixed in 11.2.0.4
- Doc ID 1910902.1: After character set migration, SQL statements fails with ORA-31011: XML parsing failed
- Bug 12989073: ORA-31011 ORA-19202 AFTER CHARACTER CONVERSION TO UTF8
Fixing the Profiles
I checked and we did have profiles. So I moved them to a different category.BEGIN
FOR i IN (select * from dba_sql_profiles WHERE category = 'DEFAULT') LOOP
dbms_sqltune.ALTER_SQL_PROFILE(name=>i.name, attribute_name => 'CATEGORY', value=>'CORRUPT');
END LOOP;
END;
/
The error ceased, but I could reproduce it if I set
ALTER SESSION SET SQLTUNE_CATEGORY = 'CORRUPT';
So, there is no question but that the profiles have been corrupted in some way. When I changed the SQL statement in the explain command, it did not error because the profile did not match.So, I disabled the profiles to make certain they can't be used.
BEGIN
FOR i IN (select * from dba_sql_profiles WHERE category = 'CORRUPT') LOOP
dbms_sqltune.ALTER_SQL_PROFILE(name=>i.name, attribute_name => 'STATUS', value=>'DISABLED');
END LOOP;
END;
/
However, we need the profiles from the original system to maintain the performance assured by the profiles, so I renamed the corrupt profiles and migrated the correct profiles per Doc ID 457531.1: How to Move SQL Profiles from One Database to Another (Including to Higher Versions).Now, when I produce an execution plan for the problem statement I can see there is a SQL*Profile referenced in the note at the bottom of the execution plan
Plan hash value: 1063404702
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 79 | 4 (0)| 00:00:01 |
|* 1 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| PSAPAY_EARNINGS | 1 | 79 | 4 (0)| 00:00:01 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Query Block Name / Object Alias (identified by operation id):
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 - SEL$1 / A@SEL$1
Outline Data
-------------
/*+
BEGIN_OUTLINE_DATA
INDEX(@"SEL$1" "A"@"SEL$1" ("PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."COMPANY"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAYGROUP" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAY_END_DT"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."OFF_CYCLE" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAGE_NUM"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."LINE_NUM" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."SEPCHK"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."ADDL_NBR" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."PAY_LINE_STATUS"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."OK_TO_PAY" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."SINGLE_CHECK_USE"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."EMPLID" "PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."EMPL_RCD"
"PS_PAY_EARNINGS"."BENEFIT_RCD_NBR"))
OUTLINE_LEAF(@"SEL$1")
ALL_ROWS
DB_VERSION('11.2.0.4')
OPTIMIZER_FEATURES_ENABLE('11.2.0.4')
IGNORE_OPTIM_EMBEDDED_HINTS
END_OUTLINE_DATA
*/
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
---------------------------------------------------
1 - access("A"."COMPANY"=:1 AND "A"."PAYGROUP"=:2 AND
"A"."PAY_END_DT"=:3 AND "A"."OFF_CYCLE"=:4 AND "A"."EMPLID"=:5 AND
"A"."EMPL_RCD"=TO_NUMBER(:6))
filter("A"."EMPLID"=:5 AND "A"."EMPL_RCD"=TO_NUMBER(:6))
Note
-----
- SQL profile "SYS_SQLPROF_014b572bf5550000" used for this statement
Footnote
If I flushed the shared pool and reproduced the error with session trace running, then the trace file did show some recursive SQL associated with reading SQL Profiles from the data dictionary, but this SQL was parsed and cached when the error occurred in a COBOL process emitting trace.Conclusions
- Don't suffer in silence. Describe your problem properly to your colleagues/a list server/Oracle support as appropriate. Often, just describing it to someone else can help you to see it more clearly.
- The error stack may shed light where other techniques leave you stumped. Session trace, so often the rightly instinctive for choice for such analyses, did not reveal anything in this case. My thanks to Frits Hoogland for suggesting this approach.
- This was not the first problem we experienced in this database due to changing from a single-byte character set to Unicode (AL32UTF8). Perhaps we should have gone back and recreated the database as a Unicode database and reimported the data.