Two speculations (since I'm not part of that Oracle design group): 1. One of the purposes of the SPFILE was to be able to have the same SPFILE on every server, to support the surge toward grid computing. I think that is why they didn't move some of these parameters to the control file. 2. Microsoft seems to be moving away from simple, editable files toward files that have a GUI interface. And often Oracle is forced to appear as "user friendly" as MS. If you've ever designed an interface for many customer sites to use, you tend to get a little paranoid. Inevitably some person somewhere will scramble the plain text file beyond what you anticipated and then you the developer are tagged with having caused a "bug". Having a file the strange people can't legitimately edit (although some clever people on this list have done just that) makes the developer feel a little more comfortable. Sorry if I've spoiled anyone's rant, it is just my nature to seek to understand the reasons behind the actions of others. Dennis Williams DBA Lifetouch, Inc. dwilliams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Nuno Souto Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 9:55 AM To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: More spfile goodness Why complicate things indeed? If it had to be a binary file, it could well have been the control file as you suggest. All this spfile/pfile rigmarole is just an unnecessary and unwarranted complication. But it's great to generate revenue out of OCP training... Cheers Nuno Souto in sunny Sydney, Australia dbvision@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ----- From: "Powell, Mark D" <mark.powell@xxxxxxx> To: <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 10:47 PM Subject: RE: More spfile goodness > I have no problem with the concept of an spfile to hold database parameters, > but I wonder why Oracle did not use the existing control file. After all > where else does control information belong? > ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------