Oracle Configuration

Flashback Data archive and undo retention

If the --includeScn option of the anchor command is used, or when using the monitor command, Provendb for Oracle issues Flashback queries to collect point in time data for a row. If a table is being managed by a Flashback Data Archive, then these proofs can be compared to the database up to the flashback data archive retention period. If no flashback data archive is implemented, then the proofs cannot be compared to the database after the undo_retention configuration parameter has been exceeded.

Proofs that are generated against historical data can still be used to prove historical data providing that the --validate and --includeRowIds option of the anchor command is specified. This generates an output file that contains both the data and the proofs for all the historical row data. This can be validated directly without needing access to historical database records.

Configuring a DBMS Alert

In monitor mode, ProvenDB for Oracle will wakup to check for changes on a schedule. However, if the dbmsAlert configuration option is set, then ProvenDB for Oracle will wake up if a provendb_alert alert is issued. You could attach a trigger to a table of interest to ensure that the ProvenDB for Oracle agent will wake up whenever a transaction affects that table. For instance:

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER contractsTable_proofable_trg 
    AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON contractsTable
    BEGIN 
      DBMS_ALERT.SIGNAL('provendb_alert','proofable table modified'); 
    END;