Oracle Database Privilege

Question

Hi,
I have been using Oracle database for few years whereby everything has been done by our vendor initially. So, I have no problem in creating table and granting access for viewing.
Now, this is the first time I install the Oracle DB (XE) and start everything from 0 and I really found that it is interesting. I have a of doubt after some trying. Hope that I can get the answer:
1.) I login as sys or dba to create new schema by using the command:
CREATE USER winnie IDENTIFIED BY winnie (As I understand Oracle Database automatically creates a schema when you create a user)
2.) I login as winnie and access to the winnie schema and create a table by using TOAD. I key in few records. When use the select * from mytable, there is an error message saying that the table or view is not existed. But if I use select * from winnie.mytable, then the select statement do return result. I really wonder, this is because if is the schema containing the table, If we omit schema, Oracle assumes the table is in your own schema. Then why I still have to reference the table by the schema name??
3.) When I try to create table by using the : create table employees as select * from otherschema.employee, the employees table is not created under the winnie schema. After checking by using select * from all_objects where object_name like 'EMP%', then only found that the table owner is SYS, WHY???? I have to use create table winnie.employees as select * from otherschema.employee then only the employees table will be successfully created in winnie schema.
4.) By default what are the privileges will be granted to a new schema???? for my case, I use - > grant dba to winnie, I even can't select the table that I create (login as winnie)
5.) I try to create another new schema name winwin, and create a table by using TOAD Create table menu, the table is successfully created, but yet it is not found under the table listing.
pls advise.
Wen Xi
Edited by: wen xi on Feb 23, 2009 8:16 AM

Answer 1

Please be careful not to get confused when using TOAD. TOAD sometimes behaves in a different manner to SQLPLUS. Below is an example.
Recently I found that a user doing a SELECT or DESC from a table on SQLPLUS received an error 'object does not exist' as the user did not have the SELECT privilege on that table.
When doing a DESC from TOAD however one could see the table columns. The reason for this is that the user had the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY privilege but not SELECT privilege on that table. The DESC command from TOAD was not the same as the DESC command from SQLPLUS. From SQLPLUS it returned an error saying object does not exist however TOAD created a query over the dictionary tables and having the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY privilege granted to the user, was able to display the columns.
The moral of the story is to use SQLPLUS as the standard if you want it to work across all platforms and instruments. TOAD does its own proprietary queries sometimes to diaplay results