Remote server calls

Question

I'm a sql server developer now working in an oracle shop. So please excuse in advance if this is dumb, but I have a question about querying remote databases.
Here it is:
I need to connect to a remote database within a pl/sql routine, and the account I need to connect to is not my user account. If my user account is "Jones" on both boxes, I would put something like this into the pl/sql, I think:
SELECT...
FROM table@remotesystem
But that won't work for me because I need to connect as "Smith" on the remote system.
I also tried to create a synonym, like this:
CREATE SYNONYM table FOR tablespace.table@remotesystem;
which executed just fine. But then when I tried to put the tablename "table" into the pl/sql FROM clause, I got an invalid username/password error.
What I need to do is somehow pass the whole connect string, either directly in the pl/sql or else in the create synonym statement. Getting the DBA to create a public synonym is not an option.
Is there a way to do this?
Thanks!

Answer 1

It all depends how you create the database link.
Do you always need to connect to the schema "Smith" on the remote system?
If the answer is yes, create the link as
CREATE DATABASE LINK remotesystem
CONNECT TO smith IDENTIFIED BY password
USING 'remote_database';An excellent overview written by Lewis Cunningham about the different types of database links can be found here
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/oracle/guide/archives/007023.asp?rss=1