Question about 'user process' in the context of Oracle The following is an except from oracle documentation.


  Overview of User Processes
  
  When a user runs an application
  program (such as a Pro*C program) or
  an Oracle tool (such as Enterprise
  Manager or SQL*Plus), Oracle creates a
  user process to run the user's
  application.


http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14220/process.htm

As my understand, an user process is a piece of software that can connect to an oracle server. You (the user) can start a piece of this kind of software, then connect to oracle. If so, why Oracle creates a user process to run the user's application?

Thanks.
an user process is a piece of software
  that can connect to an oracle server.
  You (the user) can start a piece of
  this kind of software, then connect to
  oracle.


Not quite. A User Process in Oracle is different than a client, which is what I think you are referring to. The user starts a client program (SQL*Plus, Pro*C, etc.), which runs on the client system. This program contacts the Oracle database server, typically either via TNS or IPC. It is the Oracle database that spawns the User Process. It's a bit confusing terminology in that a User Process from the database perspective is really just another process that Oracle starts, but it is specific to a user's connection to the database - it is a server process. It is outside of the user's direct control.