Oracle: what information can I derive from the SCN?

Question

Given an SCN (system change number), and assuming an SCN for which the data is still in the undo logs, what information about the SCN can I derive?

• of course, SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP() gives an approximate time the data was committed.

• Is there any other information I can derive? What transaction, what tables, what data were affected? etc?

Answer 1

See V$LOGMNR_CONTENTS - you can track back the transaction using Log Miner.

You can find which point a particular transaction happened to assist in determining a point in time to restore a database - SET UNTIL SCN = for example.

Answer 2

This sounds like a good question for Tom :).