A pointer that defines a one-way communication path from an Oracle database server to another database server. The link pointer is actually defined as an entry in a data dictionary table. To access the link, you must be connected to the local database that contains the data dictionary entry.
A database link connection is one-way in the sense that a client connected to local database A can use a link stored in database A to access information in remote database B, but users connected to database B cannot use the same link to access data in database A. If local users on database B want to access data on database A, then they must define a link that is stored in the data dictionary of database B.
The following database link types are supported:
A private database link in a specific schema of a database. Only the owner of a private database link can use it.
A public database link for a database. All users in the database can use it.
For mores information about creating private and public database links, see Oracle10i Database Administrator's Guide.
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