Meaning of Oracle “I” and “G”

Meaning of “I” and “G” in Oracle and the Release format number of version

Meaning of I in Oracle:

The Oracle version starting of I. The starting in 1999 with version 6i, 8i and 9i, I signify “Internet” means stands for “Internet” and Oracle added the “I” to the version name to reflect support for the Internet with its built-in Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Oracle 9i added more support for XML in 2001.

Meaning of G in Oracle:

The starting in 2003 with version 10g and 11g, G signifies “Grid Computing” with the release of Oracle10g in 2003. Oracle 10g was introduced with emphasis on the “g” for grid computing, which enables clusters of low-cost, industry standard servers to be treated as a single unit. Upgrade Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 4 (10.2.0.4.0) or higher to Enterprise Manager 11g Grid Control Release 1 (11.1.0.1.0).

For Example Release format number of version (10.2.0.1.0) in Oracle:

First two digits (10): Meager Database/ Version Release Number

The version number, such as 10 or 1, is the most general identifier. A version is a major new edition of the software, which usually contains significant new functionality.

Second digit (2): Maintenance Release Number

The maintenance release number signifies different releases of the general version, starting with 0, as in version 10.0. The maintenance release number increases when bug fixes or new features to existing programs become available.

Third digit (0): Application Release Number

The third digit reflects the release level of the Oracle Application Server (Oracle AS).

Fourth digit (1): Component-Specific /Patch Release Number

The fourth digit identifies a release level specific to a component. The patch release number identifies a specific level of the object code, such as 11.1.0.1. A patch release contains fixes for serious bugs that cannot wait until the next maintenance release. The first distribution of a maintenance release always has a patch number of 0.

Fifth digit (0): Platform Release Number

A platform release number can be used to identify a particular emergency patch release of a software produ ct on that operating system, it usually fixes or works around a particular, critical problem.

SQL> SELECT * FROM PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION;
PRODUCT                                  VERSION         STATUS
---------------------------------------- --------------- ---------------
NLSRTL                                   10.2.0.1.0      Production
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition   10.2.0.1.0      64bi
PL/SQL                                   10.2.0.1.0      Production
TNS for 64-bit Windows:                  10.2.0.1.0      Production