Switching to different Oracle instances (Unix)

[nontrad]

I am working in Oracle via Unix.

There are several DBs on the server with unique names and separate instances. However, I cannot seem to acess them.

In Unix, I would have ORACLE_SID=<database name> and export this (script in .profile). Then I would enter $ SQLPLUS to gain access to the DB.

However even when I change the ORACLE_SID to a different database (and export, of course), I am still logged on to the SAME Oracle instance/DB as before!

What am I doing wrong?

 

[nontrad]

NEVERMIND!

At Unix, I entered ORACLE_SID=<dbname> and then exported it. I then logged in under a valid dba username and found out that my username did not exist for that DB. So I added it and then checked that I could get back there. SUCCESS!!!

Now I just hope I can duplicate it tomorrow. =;-)

 

[kmstan]

Usually I will export the SID of the instance that I want to work on using this command:

export ORACLE_SID=<SID>

then I re-confirm that the instance is exported by:

echo $ORACLE_SID

you should now be able to access that instance thru SVRMGRL or SQLPLUS.