Using Google keyword searches to Find Oracle Information

Oracle Database Tips by Donald Burleson

Researching Oracle questions can be challenging because there is so much "garbage" on the web. Here is how I do it:

1 - Find the salient keywords - For example, we might search for "How does Oracle insert rows with SQL*Loader". This would generate the following keywords and "or" for synonyms (denoted by a "|"):

"sql*loader" | sqlldr
conventional | "direct path"|
insert

Hence, a query might be "sql*loader"|sqlldr conventional|"direct path" insert.

2 - Run a standard query - Search for your keywords, noting double-quotes and "or" operators, as needed (i.e. "direct path" sql*loader).

3 - Site-specific search - If this query returns junk, try a search against a high-quality site: "site:www.dba-oracle.com keywords"

4 - BC search - You can add "bc" to any search string to return a high-quality BC site.

5 - Recommend a book - You can do a site search to recommend a good related Oracle book: "site:www.rampant-books.com keywords".

6 - Recommend scripts - If your query references v$ of DBA_xxx views, recommend the Oracle script depot ( www.dba-oracle.com/oracle_scripts.htm ).

7 - Recommend training - You can supplement your query with "burleson training" to find related Oracle training courses.

Google queries for Oracle searches

Google is a powerful research tool for the Oracle technologist, but you must understand some basics of query formation, word proximity, word stemming, the use of the OR ("|") operator, and the site-specific search options ("site:") and word proximity searches in double quotes "system global area"|SGA.

Basic Google Searches

This general Introduction to using Google for Oracle keyword searches, include the concept that all operators are AND'ed together.

Word proximity in Google

Google allows word proximity searches in several ways:

Direct proximity - This is achieved via double-quotes, like this "system global area"

In-between proximity - The Google wildcard asterisk (*) can be used for in-between words. A Google search for oracle*tuning might return references to Oracle SQL tuning, Oracle PGA tuning, and Oracle instance tuning.

Range proximity - In 2006 Google introduced numeric and currency range queries with the "double dot" notation. For example, you could search for "oracle 2003..2006" to see all references to Oracle in the years 2003 through 2006. You could also search "oracle dba pay $100,000..$200,000" to find all Oracle DBA's in the salary range between $100k and $200k per year.

Google and word stemming

Google searches now perform automatic word stemming, such that a search for apartment might return "flat", and "condo". For more intelligent word stems, specify them manually with the OR operator like:

oracle database|RDBMS|databases

Filtering out unwanted results

You can filter out unwanted results with the NOT operator (the minus (-) sign). For example, a search for RICO (Racketeering) legal cases might return Puerto Rico hits, and these can be removed with a NOT search:

rico - puerto

Google synonym searches

Until Google incorporates the Princeton WordNet for synonym expansion, you can use the Google OR operators to find related synonyms that are not word stems. For example, this Google search is appropriate:

"virtual private database"|"row level security"|vpd|rls

In 2006 Oracle introduced the tilde (~) operator for synonym expansion, such that you can query ~horse, and get references to pony, ponies, and equines. Be aware that early attempts to automate the level of synonym expansion can lead to silly results. For example, in prototypes with WordNet, a full synonym search on the "F" words would lead to results mention the U.S. "Congress". Why? Well because a congress is a union of two bodies.

Site Specific Searches

Many large web site have a problem because the Google search results only return the top-2 pages from the site. To wee all pages on a web site, use the Site-specific search, likes this:

site:www.oracle.com sga tuning

Filtering out noise words

Google automatically ignores "Noise words" in searches, words like "a, an, and, to, it", but you can override this in your search syntax.

Google Abuse

Google search engine abuse is widespread, and many link farms exist solely to drive Google searches to advertising, and Google can be used to attack Oracle databases on the web. Also note this Google scam where bad guys store the results of Google searches as web pages.

Related Google News

See these links for more on Google searching for Oracle:

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