Thursday, July 18, 2013

Oracle Apps Imp Stuff

1.  What is the Diff between APPS Schema and other Schemas?
Apps schema contains only Synonyms we can't create tables in apps schema,where as other schemas contains tables, & all the objects. Here only we will create the tables and giving grants on created tables. Almost all every time we  will conenct to apps schema only.
              
 
2.  What is meant by Custom Top and what is the Purpose?
Custom Top is nothing but Customer Top, which is created for customer only. we can have multiple custom
tops based on client requirement. It is used to store developed & customized components. whenever oracle
corp appling patches it will over ride on all the modules except custom top. that's why we will use custom top.
               
3.  What is the Significancy of US Folder?
It is nothing but language specification by default it is in american language. We can have multiple languages folders  based on installed languages. from backend we can get it from
FND_LANGUAGES -- COL --INSTALLED_FLAG I,B,D

              I--INSTALLED,
              B--BASE,
              D--DISABLE
              select language_code,nls_language from fnd_languages where installed_flag like 'B'
 
4.  Where did U find the Applcation short name and basepath names?
select basepath,application_short_name from fnd_application from the backend. From the from end we can get it Navigation Application Developer.-----> Application---->Register The application name we will get from FND_APPLICATION_TL
               
5.  Where can U find the release version from backend?
SELECT release_name from FND_PRODUCT_GROUPS; ---11.5.10.2             .
 
6.  What are the Folders we will find below the 11.5.0 Folder?
Reports,forms,sql,lib,log,out,bin,admin,html,xml,msg,def, etc               
 
7.  Can we create Tables in the Apps Schema?
No.               
 
8.  Can we have custom schema when it it required?
yes, we can have custom schema, when we want to create a new table we required custom schema.                
 
9.  What is meant by concurrent Program?
It is nothing but Instance of the execution along with parameters & Incompatables. Here Incompatables nothing but if we  are submiting cc programs if any one can be execute in those program , which programs r not imp yet this time we will  mention those programs in incompatables tab.                
 
10.  
What are the steps we will follow to register Reports as Concurrent Program?
 First develop the report & save it in local machine. upload into custom_top/11.5.0/reports/us/ go to system  administrator  open executable form create executable by mentioning executable method as reports ,executable  as report name which  was created. go to cc program form create ccprogram by attach executable name in executable section. then attach this  ccprogram to request group, Request group to Responsibility.Responsibility to User.                    
 
11.  What is meant by Request group?
It is nothing but collection of cc programs.           
   
12.  What is Application Top? What are the types and Purpose?

   A) When we connect to the server we will find the top called application top. Under application top we have

  Product top.
  Custom top
   Product top is the default top built by the manufacturer. Custom top is used to select the Client for his business purposes. Customizations are done with the Custom top. 

13.  What is US folder in the Custom Top?
             It is a language specific folder used to store the G.U.I like reports and forms.
14.  What are mandatory parameters of Procedures and what the use of those?
  Errorbuf: It is used to returns the error messages and sent it to the log file.
  Retcode: It is used to show the status of the Procedure with 0, 1, and 2 0 for Completed Normal 
   1 for Completed Warning
2 for Completed Error

15  What is Apps Schema and Schema?
  Schema: Schema is the location in database contains database objects like views, tables, and synonyms.
   Apps Schema: It is used to connect the all schemas to get the information from The database.


16.  What is Token?
            a) Use to transfer values to report builder and it is not case sensitive.
17.  Difference between FORM, Function and Menu?
  a) A menu is a hierarchical arrangement of functions and menus. Each responsibility has a menu assigned to it. A function is a part of an application that is registered under a unique name for the purpose of assigning it to be including it from a menu.


18. Tell me something about SQL-LOADER.
  Sql * loader is a bulk loader utility used for moving data from external files into the oracle database.
Sql* loader supports various load formats, selective loading, and multi-tables loads.

1) Conventional --The conventional path loader essentially loads the data by using standard ‘insert’ statement.
2) Direct -- The direct path loader (direct = true) by possess of logic involved with that, and loads directly in to the oracle data files.
EX:- My data.csv file
1001, “scott tiger”,1000,40
1002,”gvreddy”,2345,50
Load data
Infile ‘c:\data\mydata.csv’

insert Into table emp Fields terminated by “,” optionally enclosed by‘”’

(empno, empname,sal,deptno)

>sqlldr scott/tiger@vis control=loader.ctl log= gvlog.log bad=gvbad.bad discard=gvdis.dsc .




19.  What is SET-OF-BOOKS?
    Collection of Chart of Accounts and Currency and Calendars is called SOB


20.  Tell me what r the Base tables in the AR?
    hz_parties (party_id) (store info about org, groups and people)
HZ_PARTIES stores information about parties such as organizations,
people, and groups, including the identifying address information for the party.
hz_cust_accounts (cust_account_id)
HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS stores information about customer relationships. If a
party becomes a customer, information about the customer account is stored in this table. You can establish multiplecustomer relationships with a single party, so each party can have multiple customer account records in this table.
hz_cust_acct_sites_all (cust_acct_site_id)
HZ_CUST_ACCT_SITES_ALL stores information about customer sites. One
customer account can have multiple sites. The address is maintained in HZ_LOCATIONS.
hz_cust_site_uses_all (site_use_id)
HZ_CUST_SITE_USES_ALL stores information about site uses or business
purposes. A single customer site can have multiple site uses, such as bill to or ship to, and each site use is stored as a record in this table.
hz_party_sites (party_site_id)
HZ_PARTY_SITES stores information about the relationship between Parties
and Locations. The same party can have multiple party sites. Physical addresses are stored in HZ_LOCATIONS.
hz_locations (location_id)
HZ_LOCATIONS stores information about physical locations.

hz_Person_Profiles (person_profile_id)
HZ_PERSON_PROFILES stores detail information about people.
hz_Organization_Profiles (organization_profile_id)
HZ_ORGANIZATION_PROFILES stores credit rating, financial statistics,
socioeconomic and corporate linkage information for business sites. The primary key for this table is ORGANIZATION_PROFILE_ID.



21.  FND USER EXITS:-
    FND SRWINIT sets your profile option values, multiple organizations and allows
Oracle Application Object Library user exits to detect that they have been called by an Oracle Reports program.
FND SRWEXIT ensures that all the memory allocated for AOL user exits have been freed up properly.
FND FLEXIDVAL are used to display flex field information like prompt, value etc
FND FLEXSQL these user exits allow you to use flex fields in your reports
FND FORMAT_CURRENCY is used to print currency in various formats by using formula column



22.  What is Value Set?
    The value set is a collection (or) container of values.
Whenever the value set associated with any report parameters. It provides list of values to the end user to accept one of the values as report parameter value.


If the list of values needed to be dynamic and ever changing and define a table
based values set.

12) What are the validation types?

1) None -------- validation is minimal.
2) Independent ------input must exist on previously defined list of values
3) Dependent ------input is checked against a subset of values based on a
Prior value.
3) Table ----- input is checked against values in an application table
4) Special ------values set uses a flex field itself.
5) Pair ------ two flex fields together specify a range of valid values.
6) Translatable independent ----- input must exist on previously defined list
of values; translated values can be used.
7) Translatable dependent ------- input is checked against a subset of values
based on a prior values; translated value can be used.

23.  Form development process?
    a) Open template form
b) Save as <your form>.fmb
c) Change the form module name as form name.
d) Delete the default blocks, window, and canvas
e) Create a window.
f) Assign the window property class to window
g) Create a canvas (subclass info)
h) Assign canvas property class to the canvas
I) assign the window to the canvas and canvas to the window
j) Create a data block
k) Modify the form level properties. (sub class item Text item)
l) Modify the app_custom package. In the program unit.
m) Modify the pre-form trigger (form level)
n) Modify the module level properties ((console window, First navigation
p) Save and compile the form.
Place the .fmx in the server directory.


24.  How does u customize the Reports?
    a. Identify the Short name of the standard report in which module we have
to customize
Ex: - if u wants to customize in the AR module path is
Appl top\ar\11.5.0\reports\US\ .rdf
b. Open the .rdf file in Report builder and change the name of the module.
c. Open the data module and modify the query (what is client requirements)
assign the columns to the attributes.
d. Go to report wizard and select, what r the newly created columns.
e. Then Compile it. Then u will get a .rep file in the specified module. If it is
not in the specified directory then we have to put in the server directory.
f. Then Register in the AOL Concurrent Executable and
Concurrent Program.
g. Go to system administrator Security àResponsibility àrequest.
h. Add and assign a concurrent program to a request group


25.  FLEX FIELDS?
    Used to capture the additional business information.

DFF KFF

 Additional Unique Info, Mandatory
 Captured in attribute prefixed columns Segment prefixed
 Not reported on standard reports Is reported on standard reports
 To provide expansion space on your form With  the  help of [].
 [] Represents descriptive Flex field.
 FLEX FILED : DESCRIPTIVE : REGISTER Used for entering and displaying key information
For example Oracle General uses a key Flex field called Accounting Flex field to uniquely identify a general account.
FLEX FILED : KEY : REGISTER



26.  Difference between Bind and Lexical parameters?
    BIND VARIABLE:
are used to replace a single value in sql, pl/sql
bind variable may be used to replace expressions in select, where, group, order
by, having, connect by, start with cause of queries.
bind reference may not be referenced in FROM clause (or) in place of
reserved words or clauses.

LEXICAL REFERENCE:
You can use lexical reference to replace the clauses appearing AFTER select,
from, group by, having, connect by, start with.
You can’t make lexical reference in pl/sql statements.


27.  what is Flex mode and Confine mode?
    Confine mode:

On: child objects cannot be moved outside their enclosing parent objects.
Off: child objects can be moved outside their enclosing parent objects.

Flex mode:

On: parent borders "stretch" when child objects are moved against them.
Off: parent borders remain fixed when child objects are moved against
them.


28.  What is Place holder Columns?
    A placeholder is a column is an empty container at design time. The placeholder can hold a value at run time has been calculated and placed in to It by pl/sql code from anther object.
You can set the value of a placeholder column is in a Before Report trigger.
Store a Temporary value for future reference. EX. Store the current max salary as records are retrieved.


29.  What is Formula Column?
    A formula column performs a user-defined computation on another column(s) data, including placeholder columns.


30.  What is Summary columns?
    A summary column performs a computation on another column's data. Using the Report Wizard or Data Wizard, you can create the following summaries: sum, average, count, minimum, maximum, % total. You can also create a summary column manually in the Data Model view, and use the Property Palette to create the following additional
summaries: first, last, standard deviation, variance.


31.  What is TCA (Trading Community Architecture)?
    Ans. Oracle Trading Community Architecture (TCA) is a data model that allows you to manage complex information about the parties, or customers, who belong to your commercial community, including organizations, locations, and the network of hierarchical relationships among them. This information is maintained in the TCA Registry, which is the single source of trading community information for Oracle E-Business Suite applications.


32.  Difference between Application Developer and System Administrator?
    Ans.
Role of Technical Consultant:

a. Designing New Forms, Programs and Reports
b. Forms and Reports customization
c. Developing Interfaces
d. Developing PL/SQL stored procedures
e. Workflow automations
Role of System Administrator:
a. Define Logon Users
b. Define New/Custom Responsibility
c. Define Data Groups
d. Define Concurrent Managers
e. Define Printers
f. Test Network Preferences
g. Define/Add new Modules
Role of an Apps DBA:
a. Installing of Application
b. up gradation
c. Migration
d. Patches
e. Routing maintenance of QA
f. Cloning of OA


33.  What are Flex fields?
    Ans.

Ans. A Flex field is a customizable field that opens in a window from a regular Oracle Applications window. Defining flex fields enables you to tailor Oracle Applications to your own business needs. By using flex fields, you can:
(a) Structure certain identifiers required by oracle applications according to your own business environment.
(b) Collect and display additional information for your business as needed.
Key Flex fields: You use key flex fields to define your own structure for many of the identifiers required by Oracle Applications. Profile – ‘Flexfields:Open Key Window’ (FND_ID_FLEXS)

Descriptive Flex field: You use descriptive flex fields to gather additional information about your business entities beyond the information required by Oracle Applications. Profile – Flex fields: Open Descr Window’ (FND_DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXS)



34.  Report registration process?
    Ans.

1. Create the report using the report builder.
2. Place the report definition file in the module specific reports directory.
3. Create an executable for the report definition file.
4. Create a concurrent program to that executable.
5. Associate the concurrent program to a request group.



35.  Define Request Group?
    Ans.

A request security group is the collection of requests, request sets, and concurrent programs that a user, operating under a given responsibility, can select from the Submit Requests window.



36.  Value Sets?
    Ans.

Oracle Application Object Library uses values, value sets and validation tables as important components of key flex fields, descriptive flex fields, Flex Builder, and Standard Request Submission.
When you first define your flex fields, you choose how many segments you want to use and what order you want them to appear. You also choose how you want to validate each of your segments. The decisions you make affect how you define your value sets and your values.
You define your value sets first, either before or while you define your flex field
segment structures. You typically define your individual values only after your flex field has been completely defined (and frozen and compiled). Depending on what type of value set you use, you may not need to predefine individual values at all before you can use your flex field.
You can share value sets among segments in different flex fields, segments in
different structures of the same flex field, and even segments within the same flex field structure. You can share value sets across key and descriptive flex fields. You can also use value sets for report parameters for your reports that use the Standard Report Submission feature.
Navigation Path:
Login – Application Developer -> Application -> Validation -> Set



37.  Value Validation Types?
    Ans.

1. Dependant
2. Independent
3. None
4. Pair
5. Special
6. Table
7. Translate Independent
8. Translate Dependent



38.  Incompatibility in report registration and Run Alone?
    Ans.

Identify programs that should not run simultaneously with your concurrent program because they might interfere with its execution. You can specify your program as being incompatible with itself.
Application: Although the default for this field is the application of your concurrent program, you can enter any valid application name.
Name: The program name and application you specify must uniquely identify a
concurrent program. Your list displays the user-friendly name of the program, the short name, and the description of the program.
Scope: Enter Set or Program Only to specify whether your concurrent program is zincompatible with this program and all its child requests (Set) or only with this program (Program Only).
Run Alone: Indicate whether your program should run alone relative to all other programs in the same logical database. If the execution of your program interferes with the execution of all other programs in the same logical database (in other words, if your program is incompatible with all programs in its logical database, including itself), it should run alone.

 39.  What are the various types of Exceptions ?
 User defined and Predefined Exceptions.
 
40.  Can we define exceptions twice in same block ?
No.
             
 
41. What is the difference between a procedure and a function ?
Functions return a single variable by value where as procedures do not return any variable by  value. Rather they return  multiple variables by passing variables by reference through their OUT parameter.
           
 
42.  Can you have two functions with the same name in a PL/SQL block ?
Yes.
                
 
43.  Can you have two stored functions with the same name ?
Yes.
                
 
44.  Can you call a stored function in the constraint of a table ?
No.
              
 
45.  What are the various types of parameter modes in a procedure ?
IN, OUT AND INOUT.
                
 
46.  What is Over Loading and what are its restrictions ?
OverLoading means an object performing different functions depending upon the no. of parameters or the data type of  the parameters passed to it.
                
 
47.  Can functions be overloaded ?
Yes. 
 
48.  Can 2 functions have same name & input parameters but differ only by return datatype 
 No.


49.How to make the program to complete with warning. Through sql? l_submit_status:=FND_CONCURRENT.SET_COMPLETION_STATUS('WARNING',NULL);




Friday, July 5, 2013

Regarding SQL*LOADER

SQL * LOADER is an Oracle utility used to load data into table given a datafile which has the
records that need to be loaded. SQL*Loader takes data file, as well as a control file, to
insert data into the table. When a Control file is executed, it can create Three (3) files called
log file, bad file or reject file, discard file.

Log file tells you the state of the tables and indexes and the number of logical records
already read from the input datafile. This information can be used to resume the load
where it left off.
Bad file or reject file gives you the records that were rejected because of formatting
errors or because they caused Oracle errors.
Discard file specifies the records that do not meet any of the loading criteria like when
any of the WHEN clauses specified in the control file. These records differ from
rejected records.

Structure of a Control file:
OPTIONS (SKIP = 1)          —The first row in the data file is skipped without loading
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘$FILE’                   — Specify the data file path and name
APPEND                             — Type of loading (INSERT, APPEND, REPLACE, TRUNCATE
INTO TABLE “APPS”.”BUDGET”   — The table to be loaded into
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘|’         — Specify the delimiter if variable format datafile
OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY ‘”‘ — The values of the data fields may be enclosed in“
TRAILING NULLCOLS                   — columns that are not present in the record treated as null
(ITEM_NUMBER “TRIM(:ITEM_NUMBER)”, — Can use all SQL functions on columns
QTY DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
REVENUE DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
EXT_COST DECIMAL EXTERNAL TERMINATED BY WHITESPACE
“(TRIM(:EXT_COST))” ,
MONTH “to_char(LAST_DAY(ADD_MONTHS(SYSDATE,-1)),’DD-MON-YY’)” ,
DIVISION_CODE CONSTANT “AUD”  — Can specify constant value instead of
Getting value from datafile
)

OPTION statement precedes the LOAD DATA statement. The OPTIONS parameter allows
you to specify runtime arguments in the control file, rather than on the command line. The
following arguments can be specified using the OPTIONS parameter.
SKIP = n         — Number of logical records to skip (Default 0)
LOAD = n       — Number of logical records to load (Default all)
ERRORS = n   — Number of errors to allow (Default 50)
ROWS = n      — Number of rows in conventional path bind array or between direct path data
                            saves (Default: Conventional Path 64, Direct path all)
BINDSIZE = n — Size of conventional path bind array in bytes (System-dependent default)
SILENT = {FEEDBACK | ERRORS | DISCARDS | ALL} — Suppress messages during run
                             (header, feedback, errors, discards, partitions, all)
DIRECT = {TRUE | FALSE}         — Use direct path (Default FALSE)
PARALLEL = {TRUE | FALSE}    — Perform parallel load (Default FALSE)

LOADDATA statement is required at the beginning of the control file.
INFILE: INFILE keyword is used to specify location of the datafile or datafiles.
INFILE* specifies that the data is found in the control file and not in an external file. INFILE
‘$FILE’, can be used to send the filepath and filename as a parameter when registered as a
concurrent program.

Example where datafile is an external file:
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘/home/vision/kap/import2.csv’
INTO TABLE kap_emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
( emp_num, emp_name, department_num, department_name )

Example where datafile is in the Control file:
LOAD DATA
INFILE *
INTO TABLE kap_emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
( emp_num, emp_name, department_num, department_name )
BEGINDATA
7369,SMITH,7902,Accounting
7499,ALLEN,7698,Sales
7521,WARD,7698,Accounting
7566,JONES,7839,Sales
7654,MARTIN,7698,Accounting

Example where file name and path is sent as a parameter when registered as a concurrent
program:
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘$FILE’
INTO TABLE kap_emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
( emp_num, emp_name, department_num, department_name )

TYPE OF LOADING:
INSERT                 — If the table you are loading is empty, INSERT can be used.
APPEND               — If data already exists in the table, SQL*Loader appends the new rows to it. If
                                    data doesn’t already exist, the new rows are simply loaded.
REPLACE             — All rows in the table are deleted and the new data is loaded
TRUNCATE         — SQL*Loader uses the SQL TRUNCATE command.

INTOTABLE is required to identify the table to be loaded into.
FIELDS TERMINATED BY specifies how the data fields are terminated in the datafile.(If the
file is Comma delimited or Pipe delimited etc)
OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY ‘”‘ specifies that data fields may also be enclosed by
quotation marks.
TRAILINGNULLCOLS clause tells SQL*Loader to treat any relatively positioned columns
that are not present in the record as null columns.

Loading a fixed format data file:
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘sample.dat’
INTO TABLE emp
( empno       POSITION(01:04) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
  ename        POSITION(06:15) CHAR,
  job             POSITION(17:25) CHAR,
  mgr            POSITION(27:30) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
  sal              POSITION(32:39) DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
  comm         POSITION(41:48) DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
  deptno        POSITION(50:51) INTEGER EXTERNAL)

Steps to Run the SQL* LOADER from UNIX:
At the prompt, invoke SQL*Loader as follows:

sqlldr USERID=USERNAME/PASSWORDCONTROL=<control filename> LOG=<Log filename>

Register as concurrent Program:
Place the Control file in $CUSTOM_TOP/bin.
Define the Executable. Give the Execution Method as SQL*LOADER.
Define the Program. Add the Parameter for FILENAME.

Skip columns:
You can skip columns using the ‘FILLER’ option.
Load Data
----------
----------
TRAILING NULLCOLS
(
name Filler,
Empno ,
sal
)
here the column name will be skipped.

Load multiple files into a single table:
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘eg.dat’ — File 1
INFILE ‘eg1.dat’ — File 2
APPEND
INTO TABLE emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
( emp_num, emp_name, department_num, department_name )

Load a single file into multiple tables:
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘eg.dat’
APPEND
INTO TABLE emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
( emp_num, emp_name )
INTO TABLE dept
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
(department_num, department_name)


Skip a column while loading using “FILLER” and Load field in the
delimited data file into two different columns in a table using “POSITION”
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘eg.dat’
APPEND
INTO TABLE emp
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
(emp_num,
emp_name,
desc_skip FILLER POSITION(1),
description,
department_num,
department_name)

Explanation on how SQL LOADER processes the above CTL file:
· The first field in the data file is loaded into column emp_num of table EMP
· The second field in the data file is loaded into column emp_name of table EMP
· The field desc_skip enables SQL LOADER to start scanning the same record it is
  at from the beginning because of the clause POSITION(1) . SQL LOADER again
  reads the first delimited field and skips it as directed by “FILLER” keyword.
· Now SQL LOADER reads the second field again and loads it into description
  column of the table EMP.
· SQL LOADER then reads the third field in the data file and loads into column
  department_num of table EMP
· Finally the fourth field is loaded into column department_name of table EMP.

Usage of BOUNDFILLER
LOAD DATA
INFILE ‘C:\eg.dat’
APPEND
INTO TABLE EMP
FIELDS TERMINATED BY “,”
(
Rec_skip BOUNDFILLER,
tmp_skip BOUNDFILLER,
Emp_num “(:Rec_skip||:tmp_skip||:emp_num)”,
Emp_name
)




What is SQL*Loader and what is it used for?

SQL*Loader is a bulk loader utility used for moving data from external files into the Oracle database. Its syntax is similar to that of the DB2 Load utility, but comes with more options. SQL*Loader supports various load formats, selective loading, and multi-table loads. 

How does one use the SQL*Loader utility?
One can load data into an Oracle database by using the sqlldr (sqlload on some platforms) utility. Invoke the utility without arguments to get a list of available parameters. Look at the following example: 
sqlldr scott/tiger control=loader.ctl
This sample control file (loader.ctl) will load an external data file containing delimited data: load data 

infile 'c:\data\mydata.csv' 
into table emp ( empno, empname, sal, deptno ) 
fields terminated by "," optionally enclosed by '"' 

The mydata.csv file may look like this: 

10001,"Scott Tiger", 1000, 40 
10002,"Frank Naude", 500, 20

Another Sample control file with in-line data formatted as fix length records. The trick is to specify "*" as the name of the data file, and use BEGINDATA to start the data section in the control file.
load data 

infile * 
replace 
into table departments 
( dept position (02:05) char(4), 
deptname position (08:27) char(20) ) 
begindata 
COSC COMPUTER SCIENCE 
ENGL ENGLISH LITERATURE 
MATH MATHEMATICS 
POLY POLITICAL SCIENCE

Is there a SQL*Unloader to download data to a flat file?

Oracle does not supply any data unload utilities. However, you can use SQL*Plus to select and format your data and then spool it to a file: 
set echo off newpage 0 space 0 pagesize 0 feed off head off trimspool on 
spool oradata.txt 
select col1 ',' col2 ',' col3 
from tab1 
where col2 = 'XYZ'; 
spool off
Alternatively use the UTL_FILE PL/SQL package: 

Remember to update initSID.ora, utl_file_dir='c:\oradata' parameter 
declare 
fp utl_file.file_type; 
begin 
fp := utl_file.fopen('c:\oradata','tab1.txt','w'); 
utl_file.putf(fp, '%s, %s\n', 'TextField', 55); 
utl_file.fclose(fp); 
end; 
/
You might also want to investigate third party tools like TOAD or ManageIT Fast Unloader from CA to help you unload data from Oracle.

Can one load variable and fix length data records?

Yes, look at the following control file examples. In the first we will load delimited data (variable length): 
LOAD DATA 
INFILE * 
INTO TABLE load_delimited_data 
FIELDS TERMINATED BY "," OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"' 
TRAILING NULLCOLS 
( data1, data2 ) 
BEGINDATA 
11111,AAAAAAAAAA 
22222,"A,B,C,D,"

If you need to load positional data (fixed length), look at the following control file example: LOAD DATA 
INFILE * 
INTO TABLE load_positional_data 
( data1 POSITION(1:5), 
data2 POSITION(6:15) ) 
BEGINDATA 
11111AAAAAAAAAA 
22222BBBBBBBBBB

Can one skip header records load while loading?

Use the "SKIP n" keyword, where n = number of logical rows to skip. Look at this example: LOAD DATA 
INFILE * 
INTO TABLE load_positional_data 
SKIP 5 
( data1 POSITION(1:5), 
data2 POSITION(6:15) ) 
BEGINDATA 
11111AAAAAAAAAA 
22222BBBBBBBBBB

Can one modify data as it loads into the database?
Data can be modified as it loads into the Oracle Database. Note that this only applies for the conventional load path and not for direct path loads. 
LOAD DATA 
INFILE * 
INTO TABLE modified_data 
( rec_no "my_db_sequence.nextval", 
region CONSTANT '31', 
time_loaded "to_char(SYSDATE, 'HH24:MI')", 
data1 POSITION(1:5) ":data1/100", 
data2 POSITION(6:15) "upper(:data2)", 
data3 POSITION(16:22)"to_date(:data3, 'YYMMDD')" ) 
BEGINDATA 
11111AAAAAAAAAA991201 
22222BBBBBBBBBB990112

LOAD DATA 
INFILE 'mail_orders.txt' 
BADFILE 'bad_orders.txt' 
APPEND 
INTO TABLE mailing_list 
FIELDS TERMINATED BY "," 
( addr, 
city, 
state, 
zipcode, 
mailing_addr "decode(:mailing_addr, null, :addr, :mailing_addr)", 
mailing_city "decode(:mailing_city, null, :city, :mailing_city)", 
mailing_state )

Can one load data into multiple tables at once?
Look at the following control file: 
LOAD DATA 
INFILE * 
REPLACE 
INTO TABLE emp 
WHEN empno != ' ' 
( empno POSITION(1:4) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
ename POSITION(6:15) CHAR, 
deptno POSITION(17:18) CHAR, 
mgr POSITION(20:23) INTEGER EXTERNAL ) 
INTO TABLE proj 
WHEN projno != ' ' 
( projno POSITION(25:27) INTEGER EXTERNAL, 
empno POSITION(1:4) INTEGER EXTERNAL )

Can one selectively load only the records that one need?

Look at this example, (01) is the first character, (30:37) are characters 30 to 37: 
LOAD DATA 
INFILE 'mydata.dat' 
BADFILE 'mydata.bad' 
DISCARDFILE 'mydata.dis' 
APPEND 
INTO TABLE my_selective_table 
WHEN (01) <> 'H' and (01) <> 'T' and (30:37) = '19991217' 
( region CONSTANT '31', 
service_key POSITION(01:11) INTEGER EXTERNAL, 
call_b_no POSITION(12:29) CHAR )

Can one skip certain columns while loading data?

One cannot use POSTION(x:y) with delimited data. Luckily, from Oracle 8i one can specify FILLER columns. FILLER columns are used to skip columns/fields in the load file, ignoring fields that one does not want. Look at this example: 
LOAD DATA 
TRUNCATE 
INTO TABLE T1 
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' 
( field1, 
field2 FILLER, 
field3 )

How does one load multi-line records?

One can create one logical record from multiple physical records using one of the following two clauses:
CONCATENATE: - use when SQL*Loader should combine the same number of physical records together to form one logical record.
CONTINUEIF - use if a condition indicates that multiple records should be treated as one. Eg. by having a '#' character in column 1.

How can get SQL*Loader to COMMIT only at the end of the load file?

One cannot, but by setting the ROWS= parameter to a large value, committing can be reduced. Make sure you have big rollback segments ready when you use a high value for ROWS=.

Can one improve the performance of SQL*Loader?

A very simple but easily overlooked hint is not to have any indexes and/or constraints (primary key) on your load tables during the load process. This will significantly slow down load times even with ROWS= set to a high value.
Add the following option in the command line: DIRECT=TRUE. This will effectively bypass most of the RDBMS processing. However, there are cases when you can't use direct load. Refer to chapter 8 on Oracle server Utilities manual.
Turn off database logging by specifying the UNRECOVERABLE option. This option can only be used with direct data loads.
Run multiple load jobs concurrently.

What is the difference between the conventional and direct path loader?

The conventional path loader essentially loads the data by using standard INSERT statements. The direct path loader (DIRECT=TRUE) bypasses much of the logic involved with that, and loads directly into the Oracle data files. More information about the restrictions of direct path loading can be obtained from the Utilities Users Guide.