cx_Oracle and Oracle XE on Ubuntu

Simplifying options have appeared since the last time I posted about installing cx_Oracle against Oracle XE on Ubuntu, so I thought I'd produce an updated, simplified summary.

1. Install Oracle XE from Oracle's own repository of .deb files
2. export ORACLE_HOME=/usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib
export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$PATH
3. sudo apt-get install python-dev python-setuptools
sudo -E easy_install cx_Oracle
   The -E flag carries your environment variables into your sudo session; if you omit it, you may get a cannot locate an Oracle software installation error.
4. Test:
$ python
>>> import cx_Oracle
>>> cnxn = cx_Oracle.connect('system/mysystempassword@xe')
>>> crsr = cnxn.cursor()
>>> crsr.execute('SELECT * FROM dual')

cmd2 0.3.4

I just keep having fun with cmd2 (and with sqlpython, which is built on cmd2 and inherits its goodies). The latest:

• If you use > to redirect output and omit a destination filename, your output will go into the paste buffer. Then you can Ctrl-V and paste it into any window.
• You can use the pipe symbol (|) just like in Unix, to redirect output into any shell command.