January 2025, Release Update 23.7

Included are some notable Oracle AI Vector Search updates with Oracle Database 23ai, Release Update 23.7.

Note:

If you are using RAC instances, certain features must be enabled using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates to ensure that any patches are enabled on all nodes. For more information, see Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide.

Feature	Description
External Table support	Columns of type `VECTOR` can be included in external tables, providing the option to store vector embeddings used for AI workloads outside of the database while still using the database as a semantic search engine. If using RAC instances, you must enable Patch 37244967 using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates. Vectors in External Tables
Arithmetic and aggregate function support	The arithmetic operators for addition, subtraction, and multiplication along with the aggregate functions `SUM` and `AVG` can be used with vectors and columns of type `VECTOR`. Arithmetic operators are supported for use with vectors in both SQL and PL/SQL. If using RAC instances, you must enable Patch 37289468 using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates for support in PL/SQL. Arithmetic Operators Aggregate Functions
PL/SQL `BINARY` vector support	`BINARY` vectors can now be created and declared in PL/SQL, supported in the same way as they are in SQL. If using RAC instances, you must enable Patch 37289468 using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates. BINARY Vectors
PL/SQL `JACCARD` distance metric support	The distance metric `JACCARD` can be used in PL/SQL for similarity searches with `BINARY` vectors. In PL/SQL, there is no standalone shorthand `JACCARD_DISTANCE` function. Use `JACCARD` as the distance metric parameter of the `VECTOR_DISTANCE` function instead. If using RAC instances, you must enable Patch 37289468 using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates. VECTOR_DISTANCE For additional information about `VECTOR` operations supported by PL/SQL, see Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference
Globally Distributed Database support	Columns of type `VECTOR` can be included in sharded tables and duplicated tables in a distributed database, and vector indexes are supported on sharded tables in a distributed database, with some restrictions. Vectors in Distributed Database Tables Vector Indexes in a Globally Distributed Database "Restrictions" in Create Tables Using the VECTOR Data Type
In-Database Algorithms Support for VECTOR Data Type Predictors	`VECTOR` data type can be used as an input to the machine learning algorithms such as classification, anomaly, regression, clustering and feature extraction. Overview of Oracle AI Vector Search More information on using `VECTOR` data type in machine learning can be found in Vector Data Type Support
Support for Image Transformer Models with AI Vector Search Using the In-Database ONNX Runtime	ONNX Pipeline models provide methods for : Text Embedding - ONNX Pipeline Models : Text Embedding Image Embedding - ONNX Pipeline Models : Image Embedding Multi-modal Embedding - ONNX Pipeline Models : CLIP Multi-Modal Embedding Text Classification - ONNX Pipeline Models: Text Classification Reranking - ONNX Pipeline Models: Reranking Pipeline
Hybrid Vector Index for JSON	New `PATHS` field is added to the `DBMS_VECTOR_CHAIN.VECTORIZER` that allows specification of an array of path objects : CREATE_PREFERENCE New syntax in the `DBMS_HYBRID_VECTOR.SEARCH` API to allow searches restricted to paths. The `VECTOR` field accepts an `INPATH` parameter which an array of valid JSON paths to restrict the search : SEARCH Support for the creation of a LOCAL index on a HVI when the underlying vector `index_type` is IVF : CREATE HYBRID VECTOR INDEX Enhancements on `ALTER INDEX` : Support for replacing a vectorizer preference for an existing HVI index. Support for replacing only the model and/or vector `index_type` without specifying full vectorizer preference for an existing HVI index. Support for ‘up-converting’ an existing Text SEARCH or JSON SEARCH index to an HVI without a full rebuild of the textual/JSON parts of the index. ALTER INDEX Support for running optimization only on the `$VR` table for an HVI : Hybrid Vector Index Maintenance Operations
Included Columns in Neighbor Partition Vector Indexes	Included Columns are additional table columns that are stored in a Neighbor Partition vector index and are used to optimize query execution by eliminating the need to access these columns from the base table. If using RAC instances, you must enable Patch 37306139 using Oracle RAC two-stage rolling updates. Included Columns

Parent topic: Oracle Database 23ai Release Updates