HOWTO--Generating SQL trace files(Including 10g)

There are numerous ways to enable, disable and vary the contents of this trace. The following methods have been available for several versions of the database.[@more@]-- All versions.
SQL> ALTER SESSION SET sql_trace=TRUE;
SQL> ALTER SESSION SET sql_trace=FALSE;

SQL> EXEC DBMS_SESSION.set_sql_trace(sql_trace => TRUE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SESSION.set_sql_trace(sql_trace => FALSE);

SQL> ALTER SESSION SET EVENTS '10046 trace name context forever, level 8';
SQL> ALTER SESSION SET EVENTS '10046 trace name context off';

SQL> EXEC DBMS_SYSTEM.set_sql_trace_in_session(sid=>123, serial#=>1234, sql_trace=>TRUE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SYSTEM.set_sql_trace_in_session(sid=>123, serial#=>1234, sql_trace=>FALSE);

SQL> EXEC DBMS_SYSTEM.set_ev(si=>123, se=>1234, ev=>10046, le=>8, nm=>' ');
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SYSTEM.set_ev(si=>123, se=>1234, ev=>10046, le=>0, nm=>' ');

-- All versions, requires DBMS_SUPPORT package to be loaded.
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SUPPORT.start_trace(waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SUPPORT.stop_trace;

SQL> EXEC DBMS_SUPPORT.start_trace(sid=>123, serial=>1234, waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_SUPPORT.stop_trace(sid=>123, serial=>1234);
The DBMS_SUPPORT package is not present by default, but can be loaded as the SYS user by executing the @$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/dbmssupp.sql script.

For methods that require tracing levels the following are valid values:

0 - No trace. Like switching sql_trace off.
2 - The equivalent of regular sql_trace.
4 - The same as 2, but with the addition of bind variable values.
8 - The same as 2, but with the addition of wait events.
12 - The same as 2, but with both bind variable values and wait events.
The same combinations are possible for those methods with boolean parameters for waits and binds.
With the advent of Oracle 10g the SQL tracing options have been centralized and extended using the DBMS_MONITOR package. The examples below show just a few possible variations for enabling and disabling SQL trace in Oracle 10g.

-- Oracle 10g
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_enable;
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_enable(waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_disable;

SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_enable(session_id=>1234, serial_num=>1234);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_enable(session_id =>1234, serial_num=>1234, waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.session_trace_disable(session_id=>1234, serial_num=>1234);

SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.client_id_trace_enable(client_id=>'tim_hall');
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.client_id_trace_enable(client_id=>'tim_hall', waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.client_id_trace_disable(client_id=>'tim_hall');

SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.serv_mod_act_trace_enable(service_name=>'db10g', module_name=>'test_api', action_name=>'running');
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.serv_mod_act_trace_enable(service_name=>'db10g', module_name=>'test_api', action_name=>'running', waits=>TRUE, binds=>FALSE);
SQL> EXEC DBMS_MONITOR.serv_mod_act_trace_disable(service_name=>'db10g', module_name=>'test_api', action_name=>'running');
The package provides the conventional session level tracing along with two new variations. First, tracing can be enabled on multiple sessions based on the value of the client_identifier column of the V$SESSION view, set using the DBMS_SESSION package. Second, trace can be activated for multiple sessions based on various combinations of the service_name, module, action columns in the V$SESSION view, set using the DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO package, along with the instance_name in RAC environments. With all the possible permutations and default values this provides a high degree of flexibility.