guys/gals...does anyone have a startup shell script for oracle/sybase...meaning at shutdown the databases stop themselves and at start up they start automatically...thanks much...

You don't need it.

I thought the same thing.

When you send an init 0-6 at the machine, oracle is capable of picking up where it left off. Unless you have the poopiest DBA in the world, you might lose 5 mins worth of data but thats it.

I tried this once until my DBA talked to me about it. It was damn near impossible to get the script to execute commands within the Oracle Admin (the listner) from a script. I was complileing C++ code for this.

This is related to solaris and oracle.
you can write your own script
for e.g
the normal commands that I issue to bring down a database is

svrmgrl
connect internal
shutdown immediate or shutdown normal.

( These are commands which i use to bring my database down.Yours may be different.)

now you can place these commands in a script file and have the script file execute when your system shuts down i.e in the directory where your run level 0 scripts are placed. ALso all the script files that bring down one or more services start with Alphabet K followed by a number. Similiar script for starting the database can be made and suppose if your system comes up at run level 3 then you need to place the startup script in the directory where your other run level 3 scripts are placed or in the directory where your other run level 2 scripts (run level 2 , i am saying b'cos run level 2 is an intermediate state when your system comes up in run level 3). Also the startup script should start with alphabet S followed by a number.
ALso in all these scripts your ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID parameter should be set otherwise you will get the sqllang error. Verify the startup and shutdown scripts by your DBA after you are done with them

Thanks guys. I am fully aware of the S & K scripts.In my last company we had start and shutdown scripts for oracle, infact for all applications. I will write the scripts and see how it goes. Thanks again for your help.