ORA-01555 "Snapshot too old" - Detailed Explanation

===================================================
Overview
~~~~~~~~
This article will discuss the circumstances under which a query can return the O
racle
error ORA-01555 "snapshot too old (rollback segment too small)". The article wil
l then
proceed to discuss actions that can be taken to avoid the error and finally will
provide
some simple PL/SQL scripts that illustrate the issues discussed.
Terminology
~~~~~~~~~~~
It is assumed that the reader is familiar with standard Oracle terminology such
as
'rollback segment' and 'SCN'. If not, the reader should first read the Oracle Se
rver
Concepts manual and related Oracle documentation.
In addition to this, two key concepts are briefly covered below which help in th
e
understanding of ORA-01555:
1. READ CONSISTENCY:
====================
This is documented in the Oracle Server Concepts manual and so will not be discu
ssed
further. However, for the purposes of this article this should be read and under
stood if
not understood already.
Oracle Server has the ability to have multi-version read consistency which is in
valuable
to you because it guarantees that you are seeing a consistent view of the data (
no 'dirty
reads').

2. DELAYED BLOCK CLEANOUT:

==========================
This is best illustrated with an example: Consider a transaction that updates a
million
row table. This obviously visits a large number of database blocks to make the c
hange to
the data. When the user commits the transaction Oracle does NOT go back and revi
sit these
blocks to make the change permanent. It is left for the next transaction that vi
sits any
block affected by the update to 'tidy up' the block (hence the term 'delayed blo
ck
cleanout').
Whenever Oracle changes a database block (index, table, cluster) it stores a poi
nter in
the header of the data block which identifies the rollback segment used to hold
the
rollback information for the changes made by the transaction. (This is required
if the
user later elects to not commit the changes and wishes to 'undo' the changes mad
e.)
Upon commit, the database simply marks the relevant rollback segment header entr
y as
committed. Now, when one of the changed blocks is revisited Oracle examines the
header of
the data block which indicates that it has been changed at some point. The datab
ase needs
to confirm whether the change has been committed or whether it is currently unco
mmitted.
To do this, Oracle determines the rollback segment used for the previous transac
tion
(from the block's header) and then determines whether the rollback header indica
tes
whether it has been committed or not.
If it is found that the block is committed then the header of the data block is
updated
so that subsequent accesses to the block do not incur this processing.
This behaviour is illustrated in a very simplified way below. Here we walk throu
gh the
stages involved in updating a data block.
STAGE 1 - No changes made
Description: This is the starting point. At the top of the
data block we have an area used to link active
transactions to a rollback
segment (the 'tx' part), and the rollback segment
header has a table that stores information upon
all the latest transactions
that have used that rollback segment.
In our example, we have two active transaction
slots (01 and 02)
and the next free slot is slot 03. (Since we are
free to overwrite committed transactions.)
Data Block 500 Rollback Segment Header 5
+----+--------------+ +----------------------+---------+
| tx | None | | transaction entry 01 |ACTIVE |
+----+--------------+ | transaction entry 02 |ACTIVE |
| row 1 | | transaction entry 03 |COMMITTED|
| row 2 | | transaction entry 04 |COMMITTED|
| ... .. | | ... ... .. | ... |
| row n | | transaction entry nn |COMMITTED|
+-------------------+ +--------------------------------+
STAGE 2 - Row 2 is updated
Description: We have now updated row 2 of block 500. Note that
the data block header is updated to point to the
rollback segment 5, transaction
slot 3 (5.3) and that it is marked uncommitted
 (Active).
Data Block 500 Rollback Segment Header 5
+----+--------------+ +----------------------+---------+
| tx |5.3uncommitted|-+ | transaction entry 01 |ACTIVE |
+----+--------------+ | | transaction entry 02 |ACTIVE |
| row 1 | +-->| transaction entry 03 |ACTIVE |
| row 2 *changed* | | transaction entry 04 |COMMITTED|
| ... .. | | ... ... .. | ... |
| row n | | transaction entry nn |COMMITTED|
+------------------+ +--------------------------------+
STAGE 3 - The user issues a commit
Description: Next the user hits commit. Note that all that
this does is it
updates the rollback segment header's
corresponding transaction
slot as committed. It does *nothing* to the data
block.
Data Block 500 Rollback Segment Header 5
+----+--------------+ +----------------------+---------+
| tx |5.3uncommitted|--+ | transaction entry 01 |ACTIVE |
+----+--------------+ | | transaction entry 02 |ACTIVE |
| row 1 | +--->| transaction entry 03 |COMMITTED|
| row 2 *changed* | | transaction entry 04 |COMMITTED|
| ... .. | | ... ... .. | ... |
| row n | | transaction entry nn |COMMITTED|
+------------------+ +--------------------------------+
STAGE 4 - Another user selects data block 500
Description: Some time later another user (or the same user)
revisits data block 500. We can see that there
is an uncommitted change in the
data block according to the data block's header.
Oracle then uses the data block header to look up
the corresponding rollback segment transaction
table slot, sees that it has been committed, and
changes data block 500 to reflect the
true state of the datablock. (i.e. it performs
delayed cleanout).
Data Block 500 Rollback Segment Header 5
+----+--------------+ +----------------------+---------+
| tx | None | | transaction entry 01 |ACTIVE |
+----+--------------+ | transaction entry 02 |ACTIVE |
| row 1 | | transaction entry 03 |COMMITTED|
| row 2 | | transaction entry 04 |COMMITTED|
| ... .. | | ... ... .. | ... |
| row n | | transaction entry nn |COMMITTED|
+------------------+ +--------------------------------+

ORA-01555 Explanation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are two fundamental causes of the error ORA-01555 that are a result of Ora
cle
trying to attain a 'read consistent' image. These are :
o The rollback information itself is overwritten so that Oracle is unable to r
ollback
the (committed) transaction entries to attain a sufficiently old enough version
of the
block.
o The transaction slot in the rollback segment's transaction table (stored in
the
rollback segment's header) is overwritten, and Oracle cannot rollback the transa
ction
header sufficiently to derive the original rollback segment transaction slot.
Both of these situations are discussed below with the series of steps that cause
the
ORA-01555. In the steps, reference is made to 'QENV'. 'QENV' is short for 'Query
Environment', which can be thought of as the environment that existed when a que
ry is
first started and to which Oracle is trying to attain a read consistent image. A
ssociated
with this environment is the SCN
(System Change Number) at that time and hence, QENV 50 is the query environment
with SCN
50.
CASE 1 - ROLLBACK OVERWRITTEN
This breaks down into two cases: another session overwriting the rollback that
the
current session requires or the case where the current session overwrites the r
ollback
information that it requires. The latter is discussed in this article because th
is is
usually the harder one to understand.
Steps:
1. Session 1 starts query at time T1 and QENV 50
2. Session 1 selects block B1 during this query
3. Session 1 updates the block at SCN 51
4. Session 1 does some other work that generates rollback information.
5. Session 1 commits the changes made in steps '3' and '4'.
(Now other transactions are free to overwrite this rollback information)
6. Session 1 revisits the same block B1 (perhaps for a different row).
Now, Oracle can see from the block's header that it has been changed and
it is
later than the required QENV (which was 50). Therefore we need to get an image o
f the
block as of this QENV.
If an old enough version of the block can be found in the buffer cache th
en we
will use this, otherwise we need to rollback the current block to generate anoth
er
version of the block as at the required QENV.
It is under this condition that Oracle may not be able to get the require
d
rollback information because Session 1's changes have generated rollback informa
tion that
has overwritten it and returns the ORA-1555 error.
CASE 2 - ROLLBACK TRANSACTION SLOT OVERWRITTEN
1. Session 1 starts query at time T1 and QENV 50
2. Session 1 selects block B1 during this query
3. Session 1 updates the block at SCN 51
4. Session 1 commits the changes
(Now other transactions are free to overwrite this rollback information)
5. A session (Session 1, another session or a number of other sessions) then
use the
same rollback segment for a series of committed transactions.
These transactions each consume a slot in the rollback segment transactio
n table
such that it eventually wraps around (the slots are written to in a circular fas
hion) and
overwrites all the slots. Note that Oracle is free to reuse these slots since al
l
transactions are committed.
6. Session 1's query then visits a block that has been changed since the ini
tial QENV
was established. Oracle therefore needs to derive an image of the block as at th
at point
in time.
Next Oracle attempts to lookup the rollback segment header's transaction
slot
pointed to by the top of the data block. It then realises that this has been ove
rwritten
and attempts to rollback the changes made to the rollback segment header to get
the
original transaction slot entry.
If it cannot rollback the rollback segment transaction table sufficiently
it will
return ORA-1555 since Oracle can no longer derive the required version of the da
ta block.

It is also possible to encounter a variant of the transaction slot being overwr

itten
when using block cleanout. This is briefly described below :
Session 1 starts a query at QENV 50. After this another process updates the blo
cks that
Session 1 will require. When Session 1 encounters these blocks it determines tha
t the
blocks have changed and have not yet been cleaned out (via delayed block cleanou
t).
Session 1 must determine whether the rows in the block existed at QENV 50, were
subsequently changed,
In order to do this, Oracle must look at the relevant rollback segment transact
ion table
slot to determine the committed SCN. If this SCN is after the QENV then Oracle m
ust try
to construct an older version of the block and if it is before then the block ju
st needs
clean out to be good enough for the QENV.
If the transaction slot has been overwritten and the transaction table cannot b
e rolled
back to a sufficiently old enough version then Oracle cannot derive the block im
age and
will return ORA-1555.
(Note: Normally Oracle can use an algorithm for determining a block's SCN durin
g block
cleanout even when the rollback segment slot has been overwritten. But in this c
ase
Oracle cannot guarantee that the version of the block has not changed since the
start of
the query).
Solutions
~~~~~~~~~
This section lists some of the solutions that can be used to avoid the ORA-01555
problems
discussed in this article. It addresses the cases where rollback segment informa
tion is
overwritten by the same session and when the rollback segment transaction table
entry is
overwritten.
It is worth highlighting that if a single session experiences the ORA-01555 and
it is not
one of the special cases listed at the end of this article, then the session mus
t be
using an Oracle extension whereby fetches across commits are tolerated. This doe
s not
follow the ANSI model and in the rare cases where
ORA-01555 is returned one of the solutions below must be used.
CASE 1 - ROLLBACK OVERWRITTEN
1. Increase size of rollback segment which will reduce the likelihood of over
writing
rollback information that is needed.
2. Reduce the number of commits (same reason as 1).
3. Run the processing against a range of data rather than the whole table. (S
ame
reason as 1).
4. Add additional rollback segments. This will allow the updates etc. to be s
pread
across more rollback segments thereby reducing the chances of overwriting requir
ed
rollback information.
5. If fetching across commits, the code can be changed so that this is not do
ne.
6. Ensure that the outer select does not revisit the same block at different
times
during the processing. This can be achieved by :
- Using a full table scan rather than an index lookup
- Introducing a dummy sort so that we retrieve all the data, sort it and
then
sequentially visit these data blocks.
CASE 2 - ROLLBACK TRANSACTION SLOT OVERWRITTEN
1. Use any of the methods outlined above except for '6'. This will allow trans
actions
to spread their work across multiple rollback segments therefore reducing the li
kelihood
or rollback segment transaction table slots being consumed.
2. If it is suspected that the block cleanout variant is the cause, then force
block
cleanout to occur prior to the transaction that returns the ORA-1555. This can b
e
achieved by issuing the following in SQL*Plus, SQL*DBA or Server Manager :
alter session set optimizer_goal = rule;
select count(*) from table_name;
If indexes are being accessed then the problem may be an index block and cl
ean out
can be forced by ensuring that all the index is traversed. Eg, if the index is o
n a
numeric column with a minimum value of 25 then the following query will force cl
eanout of
the index :
select index_column from table_name where index_column > 24;
Examples
~~~~~~~~
Listed below are some PL/SQL examples that can be used to illustrate the ORA-155
5 cases
given above. Before these PL/SQL examples will return this error the database mu
st be
configured as follows :
o Use a small buffer cache (db_block_buffers).
REASON: You do not want the session executing the script to be able to find
old
versions of the block in the buffer cache which can be used to satisfy a block v
isit
without requiring the rollback information.
o Use one rollback segment other than SYSTEM.
REASON: You need to ensure that the work being done is generating rollback
information that will overwrite the rollback information required.
o Ensure that the rollback segment is small.
REASON: See the reason for using one rollback segment.
ROLLBACK OVERWRITTEN
rem * 1555_a.sql -
rem * Example of getting ora-1555 "Snapshot too old" by
rem * session overwriting the rollback information required
rem * by the same session.
drop table bigemp;
create table bigemp (a number, b varchar2(30), done char(1));
drop table dummy1;
create table dummy1 (a varchar2(200));
rem * Populate the example tables.
begin
for i in 1..4000 loop
insert into bigemp values (mod(i,20), to_char(i), 'N');
if mod(i,100) = 0 then
insert into dummy1 values ('ssssssssssss');
commit;
end if;
end loop;
commit;
end;
/
rem * Ensure that table is 'cleaned out'.
select count(*) from bigemp;
declare
-- Must use a predicate so that we revisit a changed block at a different
-- time.
-- If another tx is updating the table then we may not need the predicate
cursor c1 is select rowid, bigemp.* from bigemp where a < 20;
begin
for c1rec in c1 loop
update dummy1 set a = 'aaaaaaaa';
update dummy1 set a = 'bbbbbbbb';
update dummy1 set a = 'cccccccc';
update bigemp set done='Y' where c1rec.rowid = rowid;
commit;
end loop;
end;
/
 ROLLBACK TRANSACTION SLOT OVERWRITTEN
rem * 1555_b.sql - Example of getting ora-1555 "Snapshot too old" by
rem * overwriting the transaction slot in the rollback
rem * segment header. This just uses one session.
drop table bigemp;
create table bigemp (a number, b varchar2(30), done char(1));
rem * Populate demo table.
begin
for i in 1..200 loop
insert into bigemp values (mod(i,20), to_char(i), 'N');
if mod(i,100) = 0 then
commit;
end if;
end loop;
commit;
end;
/
drop table mydual;
create table mydual (a number);
insert into mydual values (1);
commit;
rem * Cleanout demo table.
select count(*) from bigemp;
declare
cursor c1 is select * from bigemp;
begin
-- The following update is required to illustrate the problem if block
-- cleanout has been done on 'bigemp'. If the cleanout (above) is commented
-- out then the update and commit statements can be commented and the
-- script will fail with ORA-1555 for the block cleanout variant.
update bigemp set b = 'aaaaa';
commit;
for c1rec in c1 loop
for i in 1..20 loop
update mydual set a=a;
commit;
end loop;
end loop;
end;
/
Special Cases
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are other special cases that may result in an ORA-01555. These are given b
elow but
are rare and so not discussed in this article :
o Trusted Oracle can return this if configured in OS MAC mode. Decreasing
LOG_CHECKPOINT_INTERVAL on the secondary database may overcome the problem.
o If a query visits a data block that has been changed by using the Oracle disc
rete
transaction facility then it will return ORA-01555.
o It is feasible that a rollback segment created with the OPTIMAL clause maycau
se a
query to return ORA-01555 if it has shrunk during the life of the query causing
rollback
segment information required to generate consistent read versions of blocks to b
e lost.
Summary
~~~~~~~
This article has discussed the reasons behind the error ORA-01555 "Snapshot too
old", has
provided a list of possible methods to avoid the error when it is encountered, a
nd has
provided simple PL/SQL scripts that illustrate the cases discussed.