Mastering ORACLE Object Search — Tips, Queries, and Best Practices

Advanced ORACLE Object Search Techniques for DBAs and DevelopersFinding database objects quickly and reliably is a daily task for DBAs and developers working with Oracle Database. As schemas grow, relying on ad-hoc queries or remembering object names becomes inefficient and error-prone. This article provides a set of advanced techniques, practical examples, and tips to help you search for objects (tables, views, indexes, procedures, packages, triggers, synonyms, types, and more) across schemas and databases with accuracy and performance in mind.

When simple searches aren’t enough

Basic lookups using data dictionary views such as USER_OBJECTS, ALL_OBJECTS, and DBA_OBJECTS work well for quick, small-scale searches. However, complex environments require additional capabilities:

Searching object definitions (source code) for references to identifiers, column names, or business terms.
Locating objects by metadata (owner, creation date, status, editioning, edition-based redefinition).
Performing cross-schema or cross-database searches (including PDB/CDB and database links).
Handling synonyms, grants, and object dependencies that hide the real underlying object.
Searching for objects that reference specific columns, constraints, or types.

Below are advanced methods and ready-to-run examples to address these needs.

1. Choosing the right dictionary view

Use USER_OBJECTS when you only need objects in your current schema.
Use ALL_OBJECTS to see objects accessible to the current user (includes synonyms and granted objects).
Use DBA_OBJECTS when you have DBA privileges and need a complete catalog across the database.

For searching source code, use USER_SOURCE, ALL_SOURCE, and DBA_SOURCE respectively.

Example: find all invalid objects in the database (DBA role required)

SELECT owner, object_type, object_name, status FROM dba_objects WHERE status <> 'VALID' ORDER BY owner, object_type, object_name;

2. Text search in object source (PL/SQL, views, triggers)

Searching object text is common when hunting references to procedures, tables, columns, or business terms. Use the SOURCE views and apply case-insensitive pattern matching. For large codebases, aggregate lines to show context.

Example: find which objects reference the identifier CUSTOMER_ID (case-insensitive)

SELECT owner, name AS object_name, type AS object_type, line, text FROM dba_source WHERE LOWER(text) LIKE '%customer_id%' ORDER BY owner, name, line;

To display snippets with context (previous and next lines), you can join the source to itself by line number or use analytic functions.

Example: show 3-line context around matches (DBA_SOURCE)

WITH matches AS (   SELECT owner, name, type, line   FROM dba_source   WHERE LOWER(text) LIKE '%customer_id%' ) SELECT s.owner, s.name, s.type, s.line, s.text FROM dba_source s JOIN matches m   ON s.owner = m.owner AND s.name = m.name AND s.type = m.type WHERE s.line BETWEEN m.line - 1 AND m.line + 1 ORDER BY s.owner, s.name, s.line;

3. Searching object definitions stored in LONG or CLOB columns

Some metadata or tools may store DDL or comments in LONG or CLOB columns (e.g., DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL returns CLOB). Use DBMS_LOB.INSTR for CLOB searching.

Example: search within DDL produced by DBMS_METADATA

SELECT owner, object_type, object_name FROM dba_objects WHERE dbms_lob.instr(DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL(object_type, object_name, owner), 'AUDIT_TRAIL') > 0   AND owner = 'MY_SCHEMA';

Note: calling DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL over the whole catalog can be heavy — target narrow scopes or add filters.

4. Finding objects that reference other objects (dependencies)

Oracle records dependencies in USER_DEPENDENCIES / ALL_DEPENDENCIES / DBA_DEPENDENCIES. Use these views to trace references and impacts when you plan changes.

Example: find PL/SQL and view dependencies on a table

SELECT owner, name, type, referenced_owner, referenced_name, referenced_type FROM dba_dependencies WHERE referenced_owner = 'HR'   AND referenced_name = 'EMPLOYEES' ORDER BY owner, name;

To recursively find dependent objects (impact analysis), use hierarchical queries:

Example: recursive dependency tree

WITH deps (owner, name, type, ref_owner, ref_name, ref_type, lvl) AS (   SELECT owner, name, type, referenced_owner, referenced_name, referenced_type, 1   FROM dba_dependencies   WHERE referenced_owner = 'HR' AND referenced_name = 'EMPLOYEES'   UNION ALL   SELECT d.owner, d.name, d.type, d.referenced_owner, d.referenced_name, d.referenced_type, deps.lvl + 1   FROM dba_dependencies d   JOIN deps ON d.referenced_owner = deps.owner AND d.referenced_name = deps.name ) SELECT LPAD(' ', (lvl-1)*2) || owner || '.' || name || ' (' || type || ')' AS object_path, lvl FROM deps ORDER BY lvl, object_path;

5. Searching for objects by column names and definitions

To find tables (and views) that have a specific column name or data type, query ALL_TAB_COLUMNS / DBA_TAB_COLUMNS. For more complex searches (like columns with particular constraints or default values), join with constraint and index views.

Example: find tables and views with a column named “salary”

SELECT owner, table_name, column_name, data_type, data_length FROM dba_tab_columns WHERE LOWER(column_name) = 'salary' ORDER BY owner, table_name;

Example: find columns of type VARCHAR2(4000) (possible candidates for refactor)

SELECT owner, table_name, column_name, data_type, data_length FROM dba_tab_columns WHERE data_type = 'VARCHAR2' AND data_length = 4000 ORDER BY owner, table_name;

To find columns referenced in PL/SQL source (e.g., dynamic SQL), combine SOURCE and column matching.

6. Searching for constraints, indexes, and keys

Use DBA_CONSTRAINTS, DBA_CONS_COLUMNS, DBA_INDEXES, and DBA_IND_COLUMNS.

Example: find foreign keys referencing a primary key

SELECT a.owner, a.constraint_name, a.table_name, c.owner AS ref_owner, c.constraint_name AS ref_constraint, c.table_name AS ref_table FROM dba_constraints a JOIN dba_constraints c ON a.r_constraint_name = c.constraint_name AND a.r_owner = c.owner WHERE c.owner = 'HR' AND c.table_name = 'DEPARTMENTS' AND c.constraint_type = 'P'   AND a.constraint_type = 'R';

7. Searching synonyms and public objects

Synonyms can mask real object owners. Query DBA_SYNONYMS and ALL_SYNONYMS to map synonyms to base objects.

Example: list all public synonyms and their targets

SELECT synonym_name, table_owner, table_name, db_link FROM dba_synonyms WHERE owner = 'PUBLIC' ORDER BY synonym_name;

8. Cross-container (CDB/PDB) and cross-database searches

For CDB environments, use CDB_ views (CDB_OBJECTS, CDB_USERS) to search across PDBs.
Use database links for cross-database queries, but be mindful of security and performance.
Use Enterprise Manager, OEM REST APIs, or centralized metadata repositories for multi-instance environments.

Example: query CDB_OBJECTS for a global picture (CDB role required)

SELECT con_id, owner, object_type, object_name, status FROM cdb_objects WHERE LOWER(object_name) LIKE '%audit%' ORDER BY con_id, owner, object_type;

9. Using Oracle Text for code and metadata search

If you need full-text search capabilities over PL/SQL source, comments, or custom metadata tables, Oracle Text provides indexing and advanced search (CONTAINS, CTXCAT). This is useful when simple LIKE searches are too slow or when you need fuzzy/linguistic matching.

High-level steps:

Create a text index on the column (CLOB) that holds source or DDL.
Use CONTAINS to search with scoring, fuzzy matches, and linguistic operators.

Example:

-- create a ctxcat index on a metadata table column 'source_clob' CREATE INDEX src_idx ON my_schema.object_source(source_clob) INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT; -- search for phrase SELECT id, score(1) FROM my_schema.object_source WHERE CONTAINS(source_clob, 'customer id', 1) > 0;

10. Performance considerations and tips

Prefer indexed columns (OWNER, OBJECT_NAME, OBJECT_TYPE) in WHERE clauses. Avoid wrapping them in functions.
For large source searches, filter by owner and object type to reduce scanned rows.
Use bind variables in scripts to reuse SQL and reduce parsing.
Be cautious with functions like DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL and DBMS_LOB.INSTR — they can be expensive when run over many objects.
Schedule heavy searches during off-peak hours or use a read-only reporting replica.
Limit privileges for querying DBA_* views; use roles like SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE or create gated search procedures for non-DBA users.

11. Practical scripts and utilities

Quick search utility (PL/SQL) to search across source and return object-level matches:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION find_object_references(p_pattern IN VARCHAR2) RETURN SYS_REFCURSOR AS rc SYS_REFCURSOR; BEGIN OPEN rc FOR SELECT owner, name, type, MIN(line) KEEP (DENSE_RANK FIRST ORDER BY line) AS first_line FROM dba_source WHERE LOWER(text) LIKE LOWER('%' || p_pattern || '%') GROUP BY owner, name, type ORDER BY owner, name; RETURN rc; END; /

One-liner to find where a package spec or body contains a word:

SELECT owner, name, type FROM dba_source WHERE LOWER(text) LIKE '%audit%' AND type IN ('PACKAGE','PACKAGE BODY') GROUP BY owner, name, type;

12. Dealing with obfuscated or generated code

Code generators, frameworks, or encryption may obfuscate object definitions. Generated names often follow patterns—use regex-style matching with LIKE and wildcards.
For code stored externally (in files, Git), prefer searching source control as the primary search source, then confirm in the database.

13. Automation and integration with developer workflows

Integrate searches into CI/CD pipelines to detect dependencies and potential regressions.
Use SQLcl (Oracle SQL Developer command-line) and its SEARCH command for quick local searches:
- sql> search -f -r “customer_id” will search files/scripts for occurrences.
Create internal catalog tables that index important metadata for faster app-level searches.

14. Security and governance considerations

Limit who can query DBA_* views; expose curated views or APIs to non-DBA teams.
Audit search activity if it reveals sensitive schema information.
Mask or redact sensitive definitions in shared catalogs.

15. Examples: Common troubleshooting searches

Find invalid objects after a schema change:

SELECT owner, object_type, object_name, status FROM dba_objects WHERE status = 'INVALID' ORDER BY owner;

Find where a sequence is used in code (dynamic SQL may be missed):

SELECT owner, name, type, line, text FROM dba_source WHERE LOWER(text) LIKE '%sequence_name.nextval%' ORDER BY owner, name, line;

16. Summary checklist for effective object searching

Pick the correct dictionary view (USER/ALL/DBA/CDB).
Narrow searches by owner and object type when possible.
Use dependency views for impact analysis.
Use Oracle Text for advanced full-text searching.
Be mindful of performance and privilege boundaries.
Integrate with source control and developer tools where possible.

If you want, I can:

Provide ready-to-run scripts tailored to your Oracle version and privileges.
Create a small PL/SQL tool that returns search results with context and links to DBMS_METADATA DDL.