when I log into my solaris box, my environment variables are not getting set, and i am getting this error? any ideas?
-sh: ORACLE_BASE=/u01/oracle: is not an identifier

part of .profile is:

export ORACLE_BASE=/u01/oracle
export ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_BASE/app/products/10.2.0/db_1
...

Switch to ksh or bash.

try:
You cannot have export on the line where the value is assigned to the variable.
The Bourne Shell does not export environment variables to children unless explicitly instructed to do so by using the export command.

I would say you can do it in all POSIX compliant shells but /usr/bin/sh and /sbin/sh aren't compliant under Solaris.

/bin/sh is a legacy shell that remains only for compatibility reasons with mostly hypothetical antique scripts.
It shouldn't be assigned to a real user because it lacks so many useful and standard features.

Nevertheless the .profile should be kept sh -compatible because it is used by sh, by whatever process or user might be assigned /bin/sh as a login shell. In this particular case, the hurdle is minimal.

I agree /etc/profile should be kept sh-compatible but I still think assigning /bin/sh to a real user is a poor practice and an annoyance to these users.

TRY THIS THIS CAUSE NO PROBLEM
run once .profile and then logout and then again login and check.