CURSOR_SHARING

Parameter type	String
Syntax	CURSOR_SHARING = {SIMILAR | EXACT | FORCE}
Default value	EXACT
Parameter class	Dynamic: ALTER SESSION, ALTER SYSTEM

CURSOR_SHARING determines what kind of SQL statements can share the same cursors.

Values:

• FORCE

  Forces statements that may differ in some literals, but are otherwise identical, to share a cursor, unless the literals affect the meaning of the statement.

• SIMILAR

  Causes statements that may differ in some literals, but are otherwise identical, to share a cursor, unless the literals affect either the meaning of the statement or the degree to which the plan is optimized.

• EXACT

  Only allows statements with identical text to share the same cursor.

  Note: Forcing cursor sharing among similar (but not identical) statements can have unexpected results in some DSS applications, or applications that use stored outlines.

  See Also: Oracle9i Database Performance Tuning Guide and Reference for information on setting this parameter in these and other environments