This chapter explains how to use Heterogeneous Services (HS) agents. For installing and configuring the agents, refer to the Oracle Database gateway installation and configuration guides.

• Initialization Parameters
  Configure the gateway using initialization parameters.
• Optimizing Data Transfers Using Bulk Fetch
  You can optimize data transfers using bulk fetch.
• Optimizing Data Loads Using Parallel Load
  The DBMS_HS_PARALLEL PL/SQL package enables parallel processing when accessing heterogeneous targets.
• Registering Agents
  Registration is an operation through which Oracle stores information about an agent in the data dictionary.
• Oracle Database Server SQL Construct Processing
  Heterogeneous Services and the gateway rewrite SQL statements when the statements need to be translated or postprocessed.
• Executing User-Defined Functions on a Non-Oracle Database
  You can execute user-defined functions in a remote non-Oracle database.
• Using Synonyms to Provide Data Location and Network Transparency
  You can provide complete data location transparency and network transparency by using the synonym feature of the Oracle database server.
• Copying Data from the Oracle Database Server to the Non-Oracle Database System
  Heterogeneous Services supports callback links.
• Copying Data from the Non-Oracle Database System to the Oracle Database Server
  The CREATE TABLE statement lets you copy data from a non-Oracle database to the Oracle database.
• Heterogeneous Services Data Dictionary Views
  You can use the Heterogeneous Services data dictionary views to access information about Heterogeneous Services.
• Heterogeneous Services Dynamic Performance Views
  You can use dynamic performance views to access information in the Oracle database server.