Starting a Physical Standby DB which is configured with real-time apply

Question

Hi,
I wanted to get clarification on the correct procedure for starting and stopping a physical standby database. The Dataguard documentation states the following:
1. Start and mount the database:
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT;
2. Start log apply services:
To start Redo Apply, issue the following statement:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE RECOVER MANAGED STANDBY DATABASE
2> DISCONNECT FROM SESSION;
To start real-time apply, issue the following statement:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE RECOVER MANAGED STANDBY DATABASE
2> USING CURRENT LOGFILE;
My configuration is using real-time apply based on the information provided by the RECOVERY_MODE column of the V$ARCHIVED_DEST_STATUS view. Should I execute both ALTER statements or just the second one. If only the second one, how will the database re-synchronize, especially after a long down time. Also, must I do anything on the primary database prior to starting up the physical standby?
I'm using Oracle 10g SP1 on a linux server.

Answer 1

No. But you can recover until the last arch file generated on the primary, then you cancel the recovery and then use query#2 to start applying real-time. Refer to Note:343424.1 on Metalink.