Legacy Oracle Database Driver (node-oracle)

Common errors

• Error: Cannot find module 'oracle'

  cause The package is not installed or the path is incorrect.
  fix Ensure `npm install oracle@0.3.9` was run (though highly discouraged). Prefer `npm install oracledb` instead.

• Error: NJS-045: cannot load the Oracle Dynamic Library

  cause Missing or incorrectly configured Oracle Client libraries (e.g., Instant Client). This package often had complex native dependencies.
  fix For the `oracle` package, ensuring proper ORACLE_HOME or LD_LIBRARY_PATH was difficult. For `node-oracledb`, refer to its installation guide for setting up Oracle Instant Client: https://github.com/oracle/node-oracledb/blob/main/INSTALL.md

• TypeError: oracle.connect is not a function

  cause The `oracle` module was not successfully required, or an older/corrupted version was installed.
  fix Verify installation. However, this error is a strong indicator to migrate away from this abandoned package to `node-oracledb`.

Warnings

• breaking This package is explicitly unmaintained and abandoned. It will not receive security patches, bug fixes, or compatibility updates. Using it in production is a significant risk.
  Fix: Migrate immediately to `node-oracledb` (npm install oracledb). This requires rewriting database interaction code as the APIs are different.
• gotcha The `oracle` package is highly unlikely to be compatible with recent versions of Node.js or modern Oracle client libraries without significant effort, if at all.
  Fix: No fix for this package; switch to `node-oracledb`.
• deprecated The official recommendation from the maintainer is to install and use `node-oracledb` instead. The `oracle` package serves no current purpose.
  Fix: Remove `oracle` from your project dependencies and install `oracledb` instead: `npm uninstall oracle && npm install oracledb`.

Install

• npm install oracle npm
• yarn add oracle yarn
• pnpm add oracle pnpm

Imports

• oracle

  const oracle = require('oracle');

  This package is CommonJS-only due to its age (targeting Node.js >=0.6.0). ESM imports are not supported. It is strongly recommended to use `node-oracledb` instead.
• connect

  const oracle = require('oracle'); oracle.connect( /* ... */ );

  The primary interaction pattern was via the `connect` method on the main module export. For `node-oracledb`, the connection pattern is different, typically `oracledb.getConnection`.
• Pool

  const oracle = require('oracle'); const pool = new oracle.Pool( /* ... */ );

  The package likely offered connection pooling, instantiated directly from the main module export. Modern `node-oracledb` provides pooling via `oracledb.createPool`.

Quickstart

This quickstart explicitly states the package is abandoned and directs users to the recommended `node-oracledb` package for any Oracle database interaction.

/*
This quickstart is intentionally left blank.

The `oracle` package is abandoned and not maintained.
It is strongly advised against using this package in any project.

Please use the officially supported `oracledb` package instead:

npm install oracledb

Refer to the `node-oracledb` documentation for its quickstart:
https://github.com/oracle/node-oracledb
*/

// Placeholder to fulfill quickstart requirements, do NOT run this code.
// It is likely to fail with modern Node.js versions or require specific Oracle client setups.
// const oracle = require('oracle');
// oracle.connect(
//   { hostname: 'localhost', port: 1521, database: 'ORCL', user: 'hr', password: 'hr' },
//   function (err, connection) {
//     if (err) {
//       console.error("Error connecting to Oracle database:", err);
//       return;
//     }
//     console.log("Successfully connected to Oracle!");
//     connection.execute("SELECT 'Hello World' FROM DUAL", [], function (err, results) {
//       if (err) {
//         console.error("Error executing query:", err);
//       }
//       console.log("Query result:", results);
//       connection.close();
//     });
//   }
// );