this tip comes from darl kuhn, dba at sun microsystems, in broomfield, co.
description: prior to oracle9i database release 2, you were required to rebuild the controlfile to rename your database.
now with oracle9i database release 2, you can use the "nid" utility automates this task. for example, if you want to change
your database name to brdstn here are the steps:
1. shutdown database
2. startup mount
3. $ nid target=/ dbname=brdstn
4. shutdown database
5. change init.ora/spfile name, i.e.: initbrdstn.ora
6. change db_name parameter in init.ora/spfile, i.e.: db_name='brdstn'
7. change oracle_sid to point to new database name
8. startup mount
9. alter database open resetlogs
10. take a backup