From time to time, I’ll run into a situation where I need to compare database schemas or data from two different databases. This usually happens when a developer makes changes to a development database and neglects to keep track of those changes. When the time comes to push to production, it’s hard to remember all of the changes and if something ends up getting left out, you have to spend time tracking down what was missed.

This use to happen to us a lot until we started using scripts to create and update databases.

This is a quick list of tips to keep in mind when working with Oracle (being a complete Oracle newb, I wish someone would have put these up on a blog instead of having to search for them).

Getting setup to do SQL commands Oracle
In the Oracle Enterprise Manager Console, you can do "straight-SQL" to Oracle. Click on the left icon "Database Applications". It will expand out to show a few icons. Click on the "SQL+ Plus Worksheet". This will open a SQL editor similar to SQL Server Enterprise Manager's (well, not that similar because Oracle's tools suck).