Drainage and Utilities makes it possible to import data to create a model from an Oracle database. To use this database, the user must have Oracle 11g Client software installed on the same computer in which Drainage and Utilities is running and it must be connected t the Oracle Server.

The user needs to understand the nature of the data stored in Oracle and the way it is stored. For example, the user must know if the data are stored as simple tabular data or whether the data are spatial data associated with polygons, lines, and points. The user needs to decide which fields in the database are to be imported into Drainage and Utilities.

It is possible to connect to an Oracle database from Drainage and Utilities using any supported CAD/GIS platform. Start ModelBuilder the same as with any other data source (see "ModelBuilder Connections Manager" ). However, when the user browses for a data source some additional information is required.

When the user Browses for an Oracle datasource, ModelBuilder opens an Oracle login form. The user can enter just a service name if they have setup an alias on their system for the Oracle datasource. The user should contact their administrator for details on how to setup this alias. Otherwise, the user must enter all of the connection information, which includes the computer/host that Oracle is running on, the network port number that Oracle is using, and the raw Oracle service name. Again, the user should contact their administrator for those details. The user must also supply a valid Oracle username and password to log into the data source.

On the mapping form in ModelBuilder, there is a Generator (Sync out) combo-box. The user only needs to select a sequence generator in this box if they plan to sync out to Oracle and have ModelBuilder create new records in Oracle. The Oracle sequence generator is an object that is created in Oracle by the administrator. It allows Oracle to create records with unique Oracle identifiers, which is may be required when creating new records. ModelBuilder will display the available sequence generators that are available for use.