> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dqlabs.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Oracle Overview

> What the Oracle Database connector covers, why connecting it to Prizm unlocks data intelligence, and what capabilities Prizm supports.

<script type="application/ld+json">
  {`{
            "@context": "https://schema.org",
            "@type": "TechArticle",
            "headline": "Oracle Overview",
            "description": "What the Oracle Database connector covers, why connecting it to Prizm unlocks data intelligence, and what capabilities Prizm supports.",
            "url": "https://docs.dqlabs.ai/sources/oracle/overview",
            "publisher": {
              "@type": "Organization",
              "name": "DQLabs Inc",
              "logo": "https://media.brand.dev/332adc35-5bc4-4d2b-bf78-256aa4a5e414.svg"
            }
            }`}
</script>

Prizm connects to Oracle Database — on-premises, self-hosted VM, or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), including Autonomous Database — to extract catalog metadata, observability signals, lineage, and quality measures using Oracle's data dictionary and dynamic performance views. Supported on Oracle **19c and higher**.

## Why Connect Oracle to Prizm?

Connecting Oracle gives Prizm access to the same layers of intelligence available for other relational sources, adapted to Oracle's data dictionary:

**Catalog & Context** Prizm discovers every schema (Oracle user), table, view, column, stored procedure, and constraint, and indexes them in the Prizm catalog. Table and column descriptions are pulled directly from Oracle's native `COMMENTS` — no re-entry required.

**Data Quality** Oracle constraints that are already enabled — `NOT NULL`, primary/unique keys, foreign keys, and simple `CHECK` constraints — are automatically turned into activated quality rules on first catalog crawl. Auto-generated rules can be edited or disabled in Prizm without touching the underlying Oracle constraint.

**Observability** Freshness, volume, and schema drift are computed from `ALL_TAB_MODIFICATIONS`, `DBA_SEGMENTS`, and consecutive catalog snapshots — no full table scans required for the core signals.

**Lineage** Table-to-table lineage comes from foreign key constraints; view, procedure, and package lineage comes from `ALL_DEPENDENCIES` — both without SQL parsing for the standard case.

## Authentication

Oracle connections authenticate with a Username and Password by default. Turning on **Use Vault** replaces those fields with a **Select Vault** dropdown — pointing at whichever vault instances your organization has already configured (AWS Vault, Azure Vault, or a named HashiCorp integration, for example) — plus a **Key** field for the credential's path within that vault. See [Setup](/sources/oracle/setup) for the full configuration walkthrough.

## Criticality Scoring

Oracle tables and views are scored using the same weighted framework as other Prizm connectors, adapted to Oracle-specific signals:

| Component              | Weight | Oracle Source                                                 |
| :--------------------- | :----- | :------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Freshness              | 20%    | `ALL_TAB_MODIFICATIONS` / `ORA_ROWSCN`                        |
| Dependency             | 20%    | `ALL_CONSTRAINTS` (FK) + `ALL_DEPENDENCIES`                   |
| Volume                 | 15%    | `DBA_SEGMENTS` bytes + `ALL_TABLES.NUM_ROWS`                  |
| Metadata / Sensitivity | 15%    | `ALL_TAB_COMMENTS` + custom tags + column name patterns       |
| Attribute Criticality  | 10%    | Primary key / identity column detection                       |
| Usage                  | 15%    | `V$SQL` / `V$SQLAREA` / AWR (`DBA_HIST_SQLSTAT`, if licensed) |
| Structure              | 5%     | Index count + trigger count + partitioning flag               |

Tiers follow the same convention as SQL Server, Snowflake, and Databricks: **Critical** ≥ 80, **High** 60–79, **Medium** 40–59, **Low** \< 40.

<Note>
  `NUM_ROWS` in `ALL_TABLES` reflects the last `DBMS_STATS` gather, not real-time state. Prizm treats volume scoring as stale when `LAST_ANALYZED` exceeds 7 days and falls back to `DBA_SEGMENTS` byte-based sizing.
</Note>

## Supported Oracle Objects

| Object                     | Catalog | Quality | Observability | Lineage |
| :------------------------- | :------ | :------ | :------------ | :------ |
| Table                      | ✅       | ✅       | ✅             | ✅       |
| View                       | ✅       | —       | Schema only   | ✅       |
| Stored Procedure / Package | ✅       | —       | —             | ✅       |
| Partitioned Table          | ✅       | ✅       | Per-partition | ✅       |

## In Scope / Out of Scope

**In scope:** catalog, observability, and quality features across on-prem, self-hosted VM, and OCI Oracle deployments; authentication via username/password, Oracle Wallet, Kerberos, and enterprise vault integration; table/view/procedure/foreign-key lineage; criticality scoring; usage analytics from `V$SQL`, `V$SQLAREA`, and AWR (where licensed); catalog integrations with Alation, Atlan, Azure Purview, and Collibra; exception record extraction to Iceberg.

**Out of scope (this release):** cost data, performance metrics beyond usage/session signals, and PL/SQL stored procedure execution.

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Setup" icon="plug" href="/sources/oracle/setup">
    Connect Oracle to Prizm — prerequisites, authentication, and configuration.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What We Collect" icon="database" href="/sources/oracle/what-we-collect">
    Full field-level breakdown of every metadata object Prizm extracts from Oracle.
  </Card>

  <Card title="FAQ" icon="circle-question" href="/sources/oracle/faq">
    Common questions about the Oracle connector.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/help/troubleshooting">
    Diagnose connection, permission, and performance errors.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>