Oracle Performance Tuning Mock Interview
Master 30 Oracle Performance Tuning interview questions covering SQL optimization, indexing strategies, and execution plans.
Question 29 of 30
Please discuss row chaining, how it happens, and how it can be reduced or corrected.
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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
This is another hybrid technical and operational question asking you to describe terminology used in this profession and then discuss how to address issues related to it. Interviewers like to ask questions like this because it indicates both your knowledge and your ability to perform on the job. It is common for interviewers to combine technical questions asking for a definition with operational questions asking how you would correct a problem. This is aligned with what actually happens on the job since you first need to recognize an issue and then know how to resolve it.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
Since this is a two-part question, the best way to respond is to begin by defining the technical term you are being asked about. Once you've done this, you can then describe how to correct the issue associated with the term. Since this is how work is normally done, you should be able to easily structure the response in your mind before presenting it to the interviewer. You can use the acronym CAR to help you remember this. Cause, Affect, Resolution.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"Row chaining is an issue related to the rows in a table within an Oracle database. It occurs when a VARCHAR2 value is updated and the length of the new value is longer than the old value. The row now won't fit in the remaining block space, resulting in the row chaining to another block. By setting the storage parameters on the table to appropriate values, you reduce the chance of this occurring. Doing this after the fact will also correct the issue. It can also be corrected by exporting and importing the affected table."
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