title: Oracle EasyConnect connection string using a SID?
body: <p>I'm trying to connect to an Oracle database through code (Ruby/DBI, but that's irrelevant) using an EasyConnect connection string.  All of the Oracle documentation says to specify the connection string as //hostname:port/service_name.  I don't have a service_name for the database that I need to connect to, I have a SID instead.  Is there a way to create an EasyConnect connection string using a SID instead of a service name?</p>
  
  <p>My connection code looks like this:</p>
  
  <p><code>DBI.connect("DBI:OCI8://localhost:9000/the_sid", "username here", "password here")</code></p>
  
  <p>I keep trying different things, and depending on what I try, I get one of two error messages:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ORA-12514: TNS:listener does not currently know of service requested in connect descriptor (DBI::DatabaseError)
  ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified (DBI::DatabaseError)
  </code></pre>