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Synonyms

Oracle Usage

Synonyms are database objects that serve as alternative identifiers for other database objects. The referenced database object is called the 'base object' and may reside in the same database, another database on the same instance, or on a remote server.

Synonyms provide an abstraction layer to isolate client application code from changes to the name or location of the base object.

In Oracle, synonyms are often used to simplify the object’s name to avoid referring to the other schema as well as for security reasons.

For example, table A resides in schema A, and the client application accesses it through a Synonym. Table A needs to be moved to another schema. To make the move seamless, only the Synonym definition should be updated. Without synonyms, the client application code must be rewritten to access the other schema or to change the connection string. Instead, you can create a Synonym called Table A and it will transparently redirect the calling application to the new schema without any code changes.

You can create synonyms for the following objects:

Syntax

CREATE [OR REPLACE] [EDITIONABLE | NONEDITIONABLE]
[PUBLIC] SYNONYM [schema .] synonym_name
FOR [schema .] object_name [@ dblink];

Use the EDITIONABLE and NONEDITIONABLE options to determine if this object will be private or public. For more information, see Editioned and Noneditioned Objects in the Oracle documentation.

Examples

The following example creates a synonym object local_emps that refers to the usa.emps table:

CREATE SYNONYM local_emps FOR usa.emps;

For more information, see CREATE SYNONYM in the Oracle documentation.

MySQL Usage

Aurora MySQL doesn’t support synonyms and there is no known generic workaround.

A partial workaround is to use encapsulating views as an abstraction layer for accessing tables or views. Similarly, you can also use functions or stored procedures that call other functions or stored procedures.

For more information, see MySQL Fully-Qualified Table Names, Views, User-Defined Functions, and Stored Procedures.