[DB-SIG] cx_Oracle: getting names of present TNS entries

[Andy Todd]

Harald Armin Massa wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> is there a fine method to query the defined TNS-names on a computer?
> 
> with "fine" I am asking for something higherlevel then "find 
> tnsnames.ora, parse it"
> 
> Harald
> 
> 
> -- 
> GHUM Harald Massa
> persuadere et programmare
> Harald Armin Massa
> Reinsburgstraße 202b
> 70197 Stuttgart
> 0173/9409607
> fx 01212-5-13695179
> -
> Python: the only language with more web frameworks than keywords.
> 

Not to my knowledge no. As far as I'm aware both SQL Developer and TOAD 
do exactly that.

Of course it gets trickier if you've got multiple Oracle homes and 
therefore more than one tnsnames.ora file.

It also depends on what you are trying to find out. Don't forget that 
tnsnames.ora entries are essentially just aliases and any given 
tnsnames.ora file can contain multiple entries pointing to the same 
physical database. Also that it is possible to have a 'name' in your 
tnsnames.ora file that is completely different to the one the database 
knows itself as.

If you are trying to find out 'which aliases does this computer know 
about that I can connect to' then you can just parse the file. If it's 
'what databases can I get to' then you need to parse the file and then 
verify which database each entry is connecting to (either through the 
details of the entry in the file or actually connecting and 
interrogating something like V$DATABASE).

HTH,
Andy
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 From the desk of Andrew J Todd esq - http://www.halfcooked.com/