Configure context to return similar words

Question

Dear experts,
we have Oracle 11.2.0.4 and we are using context index.
What needs to be done so that searching for  the term 'center'  will return  center as well as centre automatically without the user having to do soundex search.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Here is an example of the kind of thing I think is going on, but with a different error.  In earlier versions I believe you may have received the error you got instead.  The following demonstrates the behavior you described, then corrects the problem by granting the privilege directly, instead of through a role.
SCOTT@orcl> select banner from v$version
  2  /
BANNER
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
PL/SQL Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production
CORE    11.2.0.1.0    Production
TNS for 64-bit Windows: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production
5 rows selected.
SCOTT@orcl> select owner, object_type from dba_objects where object_name = 'CTX_THES'
  2  /
OWNER                          OBJECT_TYPE
PUBLIC                         SYNONYM
CTXSYS                         PACKAGE BODY
CTXSYS                         PACKAGE
3 rows selected.
SCOTT@orcl> select * from dba_synonyms where synonym_name = 'CTX_THES'
  2  /
OWNER                          SYNONYM_NAME
TABLE_OWNER                    TABLE_NAME
DB_LINK
PUBLIC                         CTX_THES
CTXSYS                         CTX_THES
1 row selected.
SCOTT@orcl> BEGIN
  2    CTX_THES.CREATE_THESAURUS ('test_thes');
  3    CTX_THES.CREATE_RELATION ('test_thes', 'center', 'SYN', 'centre');
  4    CTX_THES.CREATE_RELATION ('test_thes', 'SUN', 'SYN', 'ORACLE');
  5  END;
  6  /
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SCOTT@orcl> CREATE USER test IDENTIFIED BY test
  2  /
User created.
SCOTT@orcl> ALTER USER test QUOTA UNLIMITED ON USERS
  2  /
User altered.
SCOTT@orcl> GRANT CREATE SESSION TO test
  2  /
Grant succeeded.
SCOTT@orcl> GRANT CREATE PROCEDURE TO test
  2  /
Grant succeeded.
SCOTT@orcl> GRANT CTXAPP TO test
  2  /
Grant succeeded.
SCOTT@orcl> CONNECT test/test
Connected.
TEST@orcl> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION synonyms
  2    (p_terms IN VARCHAR2)
  3    RETURN       VARCHAR2
  4  AS
  5    v_terms       VARCHAR2(4000) := LTRIM (p_terms) || ' ';
  6    v_result    VARCHAR2(4000);
  7  BEGIN
  8    WHILE INSTR (v_terms, '    ') > 0 LOOP
  9       v_terms := REPLACE (v_terms, '  ', ' ');
10    END LOOP;
11    WHILE INSTR (v_terms, ' ') > 0 LOOP
12       v_result := v_result
13       || ' AND (' || CTX_THES.SYN (SUBSTR (v_terms, 1, INSTR (v_terms, ' ') - 1), 'test_thes') || ')';
14       v_terms := LTRIM (SUBSTR (v_terms, INSTR (v_terms, ' ')));
15    END LOOP;
16    RETURN SUBSTR (REPLACE (REPLACE (v_result, '{', ''), '}', ''), 6);
17  END synonyms;
18  /
Warning: Function created with compilation errors.
TEST@orcl> SHOW ERRORS
Errors for FUNCTION SYNONYMS:
LINE/COL ERROR
12/5     PL/SQL: Statement ignored
13/20    PLS-00201: identifier 'CTX_THES' must be declared
TEST@orcl> SELECT synonyms ('oracle') FROM DUAL
  2  /
SELECT synonyms ('oracle') FROM DUAL
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06575: Package or function SYNONYMS is in an invalid state
TEST@orcl> SELECT CTX_THES.SYN ('oracle', 'test_thes') FROM DUAL
  2  /
CTX_THES.SYN('ORACLE','TEST_THES')
{ORACLE}|{SUN}
1 row selected.
TEST@orcl> CONNECT ctxsys/ctxsys
Connected.
CTXSYS@orcl> GRANT EXECUTE ON CTX_THES TO test
  2  /
Grant succeeded.
CTXSYS@orcl> CONNECT test/test
Connected.
TEST@orcl> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION synonyms
  2    (p_terms IN VARCHAR2)
  3    RETURN       VARCHAR2
  4  AS
  5    v_terms       VARCHAR2(4000) := LTRIM (p_terms) || ' ';
  6    v_result    VARCHAR2(4000);
  7  BEGIN
  8    WHILE INSTR (v_terms, '    ') > 0 LOOP
  9       v_terms := REPLACE (v_terms, '  ', ' ');
10    END LOOP;
11    WHILE INSTR (v_terms, ' ') > 0 LOOP
12       v_result := v_result
13       || ' AND (' || CTX_THES.SYN (SUBSTR (v_terms, 1, INSTR (v_terms, ' ') - 1), 'test_thes') || ')';
14       v_terms := LTRIM (SUBSTR (v_terms, INSTR (v_terms, ' ')));
15    END LOOP;
16    RETURN SUBSTR (REPLACE (REPLACE (v_result, '{', ''), '}', ''), 6);
17  END synonyms;
18  /
Function created.
TEST@orcl> SHOW ERRORS
No errors.
TEST@orcl> SELECT synonyms ('oracle') FROM DUAL
  2  /
SYNONYMS('ORACLE')
(ORACLE|SUN)
1 row selected.
TEST@orcl> SELECT CTX_THES.SYN ('oracle', 'test_thes') FROM DUAL
  2  /
CTX_THES.SYN('ORACLE','TEST_THES')
{ORACLE}|{SUN}
1 row selected.