Before comparing Oracle databases, you must add Oracle connections to the Workspace. The Add Connection functionality is accessed from the ribbon (the Home tab) or from the Add Oracle Connection link at the top left section of the Workspace.

On the Add Connection window, you can specify:

• Connection Name. A name for the Oracle connection.
• Authentication type. Indicates whether you want to use Oracle or operating system authentication. If Oracle authentication is specified, you also must complete the Username and Password fields.
• Role. Indicates the set of privileges associated with the connection. You can choose default, SYSDBA, or SYSOPER.

In the Basic Settings tab, you can choose the connection type and specify settings required by the connection. There are four connection type you can choose from:

• Basic Connection. Requires the name or IP of the host system for Oracle database, the port number and the service name. If the port number is 0, the default port 1521 is used.
• TNS Identifier. Requires a connect identifier that exists in the Oracle tnsnames.ora. You cannot use this type of connection to establish a connection to a remote Oracle database. The file tnsnames.ora must exist on the local system.
• Easy Connect. Requires an easy-connect string for the Oracle database. The format of the easy-connect string is username/password@[//]host[:port][/service_name]. Because the username and password are already included in the easy-connect string, the credentials specified at the top section of the Add Connection form are ignored when the easy-connect option is selected.
• Service Descriptor. Requires a connect descriptor in the format:

(DESCRIPTION =
     (ADDRESS_LIST =
          (ADDRESS =
               (PROTOCOL = TCP)(Host = <hostname>)(Port = <port>)))
     (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVICE_NAME = <sid>))
 )

The Test Connection link allows you to verify whether the settings are correct and the connection to Oracle database can be established. You can add Oracle connection to the workspace by clicking OK.