Using QTP to Connect to an Oracle Database with Instant Client

by Geoffrey Rodgers
Need a light-weight ODBC connection to an Oracle database for you QTP scripts? Oracle Instant Client is just the ticket, assuming you have Oracle version 10g for your database. Please read the information provided by Oracle to make sure Instant Client is right for your needs.
The Instant Client Driver

I’m not going to rewrite everything provided by Oracle, but I will quickly say (for those of you that did not click on the above link) that Instant Client is a very quick installation and contains less overhead than the full client software that was previously required to connect to an Oracle database using something other than the Microsoft ODBC for Oracle driver.
Instant Client Driver Setup:

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More photographic evidence of the Birthday Bonanza!

After a busy weekend or partying, house-cleaning, and hosting, Brandy and I went to relax at the theaters. We obviously went to see “Get Smart” according to the title of this post. Here is a brief synopsis:

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is a CONTROL Analyst who dreams to be a field-agent, working alongside his favorite agent, Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson). CONTROL is then infilitrated by KAOS and compromises the identities of all current field-agents. So the chief (Alan Arkin) promotes Smart to the field as Agent 86 and teams him with the beautiful and deadly Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). It is up to Agents 86 and 99 to thwart KAOS and save the world from certain destruction.

Ok, so there’s the premise of the movie. Since it is based off the comic screwball TV series, I was expecting a series of goofball sight gags and a Maxwell Smart that was equal parts Michael Scott (The Office) and Evan Baxter (Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty). However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Carell play Maxwell Smart as the straight man and not the incompetent boob. Not to say he wasn’t funny, which he was.

I would say overall that Get Smart was a good summer comedy, but definitely not one for the ages. The throwbacks to the original series were quaint and obviously treated with a respectful nostalgia. I don’t think this is one of Carell’s best performances, because it didn’t require him to stretch himself. It was safe, but sufficient. Anne Hathaway brought an elegance to the film as a fashionable, yet strong agent. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has certainly come a long way from “The Scorpion King” in this flick. It’s really hard to not like any of these characters. But, my favorite actor in this film has to be Alan Arkin. He steals pretty much every scene he is in. And let’s just mention this… the cameos were great… with the exception of Bill Murray’s odd casting choice. I’m still scratching my head over that one.

All in all, Get Smart is good summer comedy. It will not be the best film of the year, nor will it make it to your top 10 comedies of all time. What it is, though, is satisfying film… just don’t expect the sun, moon, and stars. 7/10

Brandy and I invited several folks over to the house this weekend to celebrate our birthdays. It was a lot of fun and a big thanks to everyone who came out for the shenanigans.

We fired up the grill and pulled out the drinks for all of our guests. However, I completely underestimated the amount of food I had planned to cook. We planned for 2 hamburgers a person as well as corn on the cob and roasted potatoes. MLONF brought along additional hamburgers as well as chicken. Now, I do not have a small grill, but let’s say it took me 45 minutes to an hour to cook all the food on the grill.

We had three varieties of hamburgers:

1. Pre-made normal beef patties. Yummy!
2. Ground beef and Ground pork mixed with onions and slight seasoning. Yummy +1!
3. Ground beef and Ground pork mixed with onions, chipotle peppers, and an assortment of spices. Yummy +2!

For our 17 guests, we ended up with 35+ hamburgers, 12 chicken legs, 16 ears of corn, and 4 small pans of potatoes. This does not include the pasta salads, barbecue weenies, fruit salads, and desserts. Needless to say, we ate well.

Speaking of cake, Christian baked us a special Birthmeh Cake.

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Well, the Accord has made another milestone. 100,000 miles. It is still running strong too.

Some stats:

1. Purchased: September 9th, 2001
2. Days to hit 100,000 Miles: 2467 days (6 years, 9 months, 2 days)
3. Average Miles per Day: 40.535 miles

And, yes, apparently I thought it a good idea to snap this picture as I was heading to my house. I could’ve waited, but I was in the moment. I, however, do not condone driving 42 miles per hour and taking a photograph of your odometer.