9iAS: Configuration to work against uncertified database versions

Question

Can 9iAS be configured, and is it worthwhile in the opinion of this forum, to try to configure 9iAS against uncertified versions of the database like 7.x
The customer is planning to migrate all plsql custom apps from OAS to 9iAS / DB-8.1.7. However, there are some custom apps (dependency on third parties) that cannot be moved to DB-8.1.7. For such exceptions, is it advisable to
(a) continue to use OAS
(b) attempt to make 9iAS work against 7.x (being aware that Oracle will not support!)
All your inputs and pointers will be appreciated.
Thanks !

Answer 1

You need to declare your cursor according to your DB version. Something like this might keep you going:
DECLARE
   VERSION         VARCHAR2 (30);
   COMPATIBILITY   VARCHAR2 (30);
   uname           VARCHAR2 (30);
   TYPE cur IS REF CURSOR;
   p_sys           cur;
BEGIN
   DBMS_UTILITY.db_version (VERSION, COMPATIBILITY);
   IF VERSION LIKE '10%' OR VERSION LIKE '9%'
   THEN
      OPEN p_sys FOR 'SELECT owner, table_name, PRIVILEGE, grantable, HIERARCHY
           FROM dba_tab_privs
          WHERE grantee = :uname' USING uname;
   ELSIF VERSION LIKE '8%'
   THEN
      OPEN p_sys FOR 'SELECT owner, table_name, PRIVILEGE, grantable
           FROM dba_tab_privs
          WHERE grantee = :uname' USING uname;
   END IF;
   do_your_fetch_and_work_here;
   CLOSE p_sys;
END;