* Enhance Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migration skills and documentation
- Update migration agent guidelines to prioritize extension tool usage for code migration.
- Refine migration phases with detailed steps for pre-migration review and schema migration.
- Add new reviewing skill references for PostgreSQL materialized view refresh and UNION ALL planner risks.
- Ensure consistency in collation handling and testing strategies across skills.
* - Review migration phases to ensure correct order of execution
- Add exit criteria to each migration phase
- Remove invocation of `ms-ossdata.vscode-pgsql` extension due to dependency on VSCode
- Update README.md to reflect changes in migration phases and exit criteria
- Update broken reference to custom agent in plugin.json
* Enhance downstream migration skills and following custom agent improvements
- Added new skill for migrating .NET data access code from Oracle to PostgreSQL.
- Updated README to include new migration skill.
- Improved existing skills with clearer file naming conventions and migration actions.
- Added reference documents for handling Oracle-specific functions and pagination.
- Created detailed guides for NVL, DECODE, ROWNUM, SYSDATE, and DUAL replacements.
* Clarify PostgreSQL schema immutability and stored procedure migration risks
* Update target schema path in migration documentation for clarity
* fix(skills): clarify Phase 3-only scope for Oracle test skills
Both Oracle test skills were ambiguously worded in ways that could
cause a model to invoke them during Phase 6 (PostgreSQL test migration)
instead of using them exclusively in Phase 3.
Key changes:
- Rewrite descriptions to explicitly state Phase 3-only usage and
warn against invoking during Phase 6
- Replace "scaffold for Oracle first" with "Oracle only" to remove
the false implication of a second PostgreSQL scaffolding step
- Replace "Tests validate behavior consistency when running against
Oracle or PostgreSQL" with clear Oracle-only framing
- Rename "DB-agnostic assertions" → "Assertion portability" and
explain the why (survive Phase 6 migration without rewrites)
- Fix datetime bullet in integration tests skill to use generic
Oracle column precision language instead of PostgreSQL type syntax
- Name Oracle NuGet package explicitly (Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Core)
* feat(oracle-to-postgres): gate Phase 1 on DDL presence; add DDL scan to Phase 2 risk analysis
- Phase 1 success criteria now requires Oracle DDL artifacts to be
confirmed present at the recorded location before proceeding.
If missing, the agent stops and prompts the user to provide them.
- Phase 2 risk analysis now explicitly scans DDL/Oracle/{ProjectName}/
as supplemental context, summarising procedure complexity indicators
(dynamic SQL, DBMS_* / UTL_* references, autonomous transactions,
pipelined functions, BULK COLLECT/FORALL, REF CURSOR, TYPE bodies)
rather than ingesting DDL files wholesale. This ensures schema-level
migration risk is captured even when it isn't visible in application
code alone.
* - Merge in latest 'main' changes
- Update custom agent plugin (eg resolve conflict and add new skill)
- Validate skills
- Run build
* chore(plugin.json): update version to 1.1.0
* feat(oracle-to-postgres): update version to 1.1.0 for migration expert plugin
* fix: add INOUT to ignore-words-list for PostgreSQL migration
---------
Co-authored-by: TCPrimedPaul <paul.delannoy@tc.gc.ca>
2.4 KiB
Oracle to PostgreSQL: NVL, DECODE, and Null-Handling Functions
Problem
Oracle provides several functions — NVL, NVL2, DECODE — that have no direct equivalents in standard SQL but are commonly used in Oracle stored procedures and inline SQL. PostgreSQL uses standard SQL alternatives: COALESCE, NULLIF, and CASE expressions.
Behavior Comparison
NVL
Oracle: NVL(expr, replacement) — returns replacement if expr is NULL, otherwise expr.
PostgreSQL: Use COALESCE(expr, replacement) — semantically identical for two arguments.
-- Oracle
NVL(column_name, 'default')
-- PostgreSQL
COALESCE(column_name, 'default')
NVL2
Oracle: NVL2(expr, not_null_val, null_val) — returns not_null_val if expr IS NOT NULL, null_val if NULL.
PostgreSQL: No direct equivalent — use CASE:
-- Oracle
NVL2(column_name, 'has value', 'no value')
-- PostgreSQL
CASE WHEN column_name IS NOT NULL THEN 'has value' ELSE 'no value' END
DECODE
Oracle: DECODE(expr, search1, result1, search2, result2, ..., default) — equality-based switch.
PostgreSQL: No DECODE function — use CASE WHEN:
-- Oracle
DECODE(status, 1, 'Active', 2, 'Inactive', 'Unknown')
-- PostgreSQL
CASE status
WHEN 1 THEN 'Active'
WHEN 2 THEN 'Inactive'
ELSE 'Unknown'
END
Note: DECODE in Oracle treats two NULL values as equal (unlike =). If any search value is NULL, use IS NULL in the CASE equivalent:
-- Oracle: DECODE treats NULL = NULL
DECODE(col, NULL, 'empty', col)
-- PostgreSQL
CASE WHEN col IS NULL THEN 'empty' ELSE col END
Migration Actions
1. Stored Procedures
Apply the direct substitutions above. Pay special attention to:
NVLon numeric expressions —COALESCEis type-sensitive in PostgreSQL; ensure both arguments are the same type or cast explicitly.DECODEwithNULLsearch values — replace withIS NULLguard in theCASEexpression.
2. Application Code (inline SQL strings)
Search C# string literals and query builders for NVL(, NVL2(, and DECODE(. Apply the same substitutions.
3. Tests
Write test cases that exercise NULL inputs specifically — the Oracle → PostgreSQL translation of NVL/COALESCE is straightforward, but edge cases around NULL equality in DECODE → CASE are a common source of silent behavioral differences.