Monitoring recovery status via the data dictionary views
Suppose a media failure brings down the database. After the media failure is corrected, the DBA attempts to open the database (1). But the database fails to open because one of the datafiles is damaged and needs recovery (2). After the DBA restores the damaged datafile (this step is omitted here), the DBA issues the ALTER DATABASE RECOVER command to start the recovery process (3). The messages tell which archived redo log is needed for the recovery (4). Now the DBA checks the recovery information in V$RECOVERY_STATUS view (5).
The result shows the required archived log number required for the recovery and the starting time (6). The DBA queries V$RECOVERY_FILE_STATUS view (7) to confirm the recovery status of the datafile (8). The DBA performs actual recovery (9) and opens the database after the recovery is complete (10).