Problem: What is the goal to have one user in more than one ROLE? Solution: This provides the user with some added flexibility without the need for the db admin to grant/revoke additional privileges. A user can specify a different role everytime he/she connects to the database. This would allow them to change their db privileges for different operations. For example, maybe there is a user that is a member of one role, lets call it EVERYDAY in which he/she only has rights to a subset of tables in the database. This user may be responsible for running end of month reports which require access to all tables in the database. The dba could have a MONTHLY role setup with access to all tables, thus, allowing the user to run the monthly reports. This user can login each day with the EVERYDAY role and do his/her normal work. At end of month the same user can login specifying the MONTHLY role and run the monthly reports. The user can assume 2 different sets of privileges and the dba doesn't have to do anything each month as far as grant/revoking privileges. This is a contrived example, but hopefully you get the point.
Last Modified: 26-OCT-00