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Oracle

Test data in Oracle Database.

1. Install​

uv tool install --python python3.11 --upgrade 'datacontract-cli[oracle]'

See Installation for pip, pipx, and Docker.

2. Authenticate​

Create a .env file in your working directory (or export the variables):

# .env
DATACONTRACT_ORACLE_USERNAME=system
DATACONTRACT_ORACLE_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword

3. Create a contract from your tables​

Import the table metadata directly from the database. This also generates a ready-to-test servers block:

datacontract import oracle \
  --source localhost \
  --service-name ORCL \
  --schema ADMIN \
  --table ORDERS \
  --output datacontract.yaml

--source is the host and --service-name the service. Repeat --table for multiple tables, or omit it to import every table in the schema; Oracle upper-cases identifiers, so --schema is upper-cased for you.

Only have a DDL script? datacontract import sql --source orders.sql --dialect oracle works too, but writes a servers block with placeholder values that you have to fill in by hand.

4. Test the actual data​

datacontract test datacontract.yaml
Testing datacontract.yaml
Server: oracle (type=oracle, host=localhost, port=1521, schema=ADMIN)
╭────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────╮
│ Result │ Check                                           │ Field           │ Details │
├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────┤
│ passed │ Check that field 'order_id' is present          │ orders.order_id │         │
│ passed │ Check that field order_id has no missing values │ orders.order_id │         │
│  ...   │                                                 │                 │         │
╰────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────╯
🟢 data contract is valid. Run 24 checks. Took 3.4 seconds.

5. Let it catch a violation​

The contract becomes valuable when it detects drift. Tighten an expectation — for example, add a quality rule to a schema in datacontract.yaml:

schema:
  - name: orders
    # ...
    quality:
      - type: sql
        description: No order has a negative total
        query: SELECT COUNT(*) FROM orders WHERE order_total < 0
        mustBe: 0

Run datacontract test datacontract.yaml again: every violation is listed as an error, and the command exits with code 1 — ready for CI/CD and scheduled runs so you catch drift before your consumers do.

Reference​

All authentication options and the data type mappings: Oracle Reference.

Troubleshooting​

  • ORA-12514: TNS:listener does not currently know of service — service_name in the servers block doesn't match the database service; check with lsnrctl status or your DBA.
  • DPY-3010: connections to this database server version are not supported — older Oracle versions need thick mode: install the Oracle Instant Client and set DATACONTRACT_ORACLE_CLIENT_DIR.
  • ORA-00942: table or view does not exist — the schema in the servers block must be the owning schema (in uppercase), and the user needs SELECT on the table.