Index: docs/databases.txt
===================================================================
--- docs/databases.txt	(revision 6431)
+++ docs/databases.txt	(working copy)
@@ -163,3 +163,118 @@
 
 .. _AlterModelOnSyncDB: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/AlterModelOnSyncDB
 
+
+Oracle Notes
+============
+
+Django supports `Oracle Database Server`_ versions 9i and higher.  Oracle
+version 10g or later is required to use Django's ``regex`` and ``iregex`` query
+operators.  You will also need the `cx_Oracle`_ driver, version 4.3.1 or newer.
+
+.. _`Oracle Database Server`: http://www.oracle.com/
+.. _`cx_Oracle`: http://cx-oracle.sourceforge.net/
+
+To run ``python manage.py syncdb``, you'll need to create an Oracle database
+user with CREATE TABLE, CREATE SEQUENCE, and CREATE PROCEDURE privileges.  To
+run Django's test suite, the user also needs CREATE and DROP DATABASE and
+CREATE and DROP TABLESPACE privileges.
+
+Connecting to the Database
+--------------------------
+
+Your Django settings.py file should look something like this for Oracle::
+
+    DATABASE_ENGINE = 'oracle'
+    DATABASE_NAME = 'xe'
+    DATABASE_USER = 'a_user'
+    DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'a_password'
+    DATABASE_HOST = ''
+    DATABASE_PORT = ''
+
+If you don't use a ``tnsnames.ora`` file or a similar naming method that
+recognizes the SID ("xe" in this example), then fill in both ``DATABASE_HOST``
+and ``DATABASE_PORT`` like so::
+
+    DATABASE_ENGINE = 'oracle'
+    DATABASE_NAME = 'xe'
+    DATABASE_USER = 'a_user'
+    DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'a_password'
+    DATABASE_HOST = 'dbprod01ned.mycompany.com'
+    DATABASE_PORT = '1540'
+
+You should supply both ``DATABASE_HOST`` and ``DATABASE_PORT``, or leave both
+as empty strings.
+
+Tablespace Options
+------------------
+
+A common paradigm for optimizing performance in Oracle-based systems is the
+use of `tablespaces`_ to organize disk layout. The Oracle backend supports
+this use case by adding ``db_tablespace`` options to the ``Meta`` and
+``Field`` classes.  (When using a backend that lacks support for tablespaces,
+these options are ignored.)
+
+.. _`tablespaces`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablespace
+
+A tablespace can be specified for the table(s) generated by a model by
+supplying the ``db_tablespace`` option inside the model's ``Meta`` class.
+Additionally, the ``db_tablespace`` option can be passed to a ``Field``
+constructor to specify an alternate tablespace for the ``Field``'s column
+index.  If no index would be created for the column, the ``db_tablespace``
+option is ignored.
+
+::
+
+    class TablespaceExample(models.Model):
+        name = models.CharField(maxlength=30, db_index=True, db_tablespace="indexes")
+        data = models.CharField(maxlength=255, db_index=True)
+        edges = models.ManyToManyField(to="self", db_tablespace="indexes")
+
+        class Meta:
+            db_tablespace = "tables"
+
+In this example, the tables generated by the ``TablespaceExample`` model
+(i.e., the model table and the many-to-many table) would be stored in the
+``tables`` tablespace.  The index for the name field and the indexes on the
+many-to-many table would be stored in the ``indexes`` tablespace.  The ``data``
+field would also generate an index, but no tablespace for it is specified, so
+it would be stored in the model tablespace ``tables`` by default.
+
+Django does not create the tablespaces for you.  Please refer to `Oracle's
+documentation`_ for details on creating and managing tablespaces.
+
+.. _`Oracle's documentation`: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14200/statements_7003.htm#SQLRF01403
+
+Naming Issues
+-------------
+
+Oracle imposes a name length limit of 30 characters.  To accommodate this, the
+backend truncates database identifiers to fit, replacing the final four
+characters of the truncated name with a repeatable MD5 hash value.
+
+NULL and Empty Strings
+----------------------
+
+Django generally prefers to use the empty string ('') rather than NULL, but
+Oracle treats both identically.  To get around this, the Oracle backend
+coerces the ``null=True`` option on fields that permit the empty string as a
+value.  When fetching from the database, it is assumed that a NULL value in
+one of these fields really means the empty string, and the data is silently
+converted to reflect this assumption.
+
+TextField Limitations
+---------------------
+
+The Oracle backend stores ``TextFields`` as ``NCLOB`` columns.  Oracle imposes
+some limitations on the usage of such LOB columns in general:
+
+  * LOB columns may not be used as primary keys.
+
+  * LOB columns may not be used in indexes.
+
+  * LOB columns may not be used in a ``SELECT DISTINCT`` list.  This means that
+    attempting to use the ``QuerySet.distinct`` method on a model that
+    includes ``TextField`` columns will result in an error when run against
+    Oracle.  A workaround to this is to keep ``TextField`` columns out of any
+    models that you foresee performing ``.distinct`` queries on, and to
+    include the ``TextField`` in a related model instead.
