This
example is from a version 9 database but I understand it also applies
to later Oracle versions. There are several ways to create a database.
One method is to copy datafiles from another database and create a new
control file. If you do this, the user creation dates in the DBA_USERS
view will come from the source database. They will therefore be before
the creation date of the target database. You can see what I mean in the
SQL below, which I ran in a copy of a production database. The source
database was created in 2005 but the target database was not set up
until 2012.
SQL> select min(created) from dba_users;
MIN(CREATED
-----------
15-JUN-2005
SQL> select created from v$database;
CREATED
-----------
13-MAR-2012
SQL>
This
can be confusing when you first see it. I understand the same thing
happens if you create a new database with dbca using a template.
