What Are Storage Parameters and Storage Parameter Tables?

The procedures and configuration described in this chapter require expert database administration knowledge.

When you create Lawson tables and indexes in the Oracle database, the system creates the tables and indexes using a set of storage parameters. Each one of these parameters has a default value that can be changed.

You are limited to storing all indexes on a single table in the same file group. You could generate the DDL for objects and then edit it to make changes to these parameters. However, this is a cumbersome process, and any changes you made would be lost if an object were reorganized. This chapter focuses on setting up, changing, viewing, and using those storage parameters.

All storage parameter changes may be specified and maintained in a pair of tables known as law_dba_table and law_dba_index, known collectively as the law_dba tables. The law_dba tables are an optional set of tables, created in Oracle and used as part of the Lawson repository. The law_dba tables are stored in the Oracle database, which lets you use native Oracle tools to monitor and populate the tables. Both tables are referenced by the oradb11 / oradb12 database driver and any other utilities that directly access Lawson tables in the Oracle database.

Each entry in the law_dba tables is identified by the name of the table or index for which that entry specifies parameters. You do not need to make an entry for every single table and index for the feature to work: oradb11 / oradb12 and the other utilities only check for values if an object has an entry in the table.

However, if you wish to automatically generate blank entries for every table and index in the Lawson database, run from the command line the dbatables utility for the version of your database.

Almost all of the parameters in the law_dba tables are common Oracle parameters used during the creation of a table or index. Entering a value in these columns doesn't automatically make a direct change to the table or index; only when the table is rebuilt is the change instituted (and continue to be instituted in all future cases). The easiest way to institute a change for an object creation parameter is to rebuild the object by using the bldora11ddl / bldora12ddl utility. Be careful, though―if you are dropping and recreating a table, unload the data before dropping the table and reload the data when you are done recreating the table. Because the changes involved do not affect the definition of the data, you can use either Lawson or Oracle tools to unload and reload data.

In addition to the normal Oracle storage object creation parameters, two columns in law_dba_table are specific to Lawson data configuration. The unulls and nulldate columns are for internal use only and should not contain any values.