Sheesh, you just reminded me of my dumb DBA trick that actually occurred in SQL Server 9 years ago- Someone had removed the "WHERE USERID =XXXXX " clause from a 30 line login/user cleanup script for a SQL Server system and the last statement just issued- DELETE FROM SYSUSERS I pretty much stopped breathing as I watched the final results on the screen: 1 row deleted. 1 row deleted. 1 row deleted 1659 rows deleted. Microsoft said, "Yeah, start restoring, we can't help you..." 36 hrs later everyone was back in and working... That script became a stored proc that very day! :) --- On Wed, 10/7/09, Kenneth Naim <kennaim@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: Kenneth Naim <kennaim@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: major blunders To: dofreeman@xxxxxxxxxxx, sims@xxxxxxx, oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 9:57 AM When copying and pasting delete and update statements into sqlplus put them on a single line if possible to avoid the possibility of missing the where clause. -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Freeman, Donald Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 11:47 AM To: 'sims@xxxxxxx'; oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: major blunders Well, I always use a script to place the database name into the sql prompt. Making changes on the wrong database can ruin your whole day (or life). So you need "do's" and "don'ts" Donald Freeman Database Administrator II Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Information Technology 2150 Herr Street Harrisburg, PA 17103 dofreeman@xxxxxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of April Sims Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 11:42 AM To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: major blunders Compiling a list of major blunders to avoid: Don't use the number 8 for scripting or ORACLE_SID due to the wild card character * above it. Don't use rm *.* .... Anyone else have some to contribute? thanks April Sims SELECT IOUG Contributing Editor http://aprilcsims.wordpress.com OCP 8i, 9i, 10g DBA Southern Utah University sims@xxxxxxx 940-484-4276 -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l