What does the "Maximum open cursors exceeded" error message mean?

When investigating the logs, I notice an error message similar to " [java] ORA-01000: maximum open cursors exceeded"; what does this mean?

Note that this article applies only to xMatters deployments using an Oracle database.

The following error message may appear in the log files:

1. [java] ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1  
2. [java] ORA-01000: maximum open cursors exceeded  

This message is an indication that the number of open_cursors set in the Oracle Server is too low for xMatters' current consumption.

To address this issue, the database administrator (DBA) must log into the Oracle database as the system user and execute the following SQL to retrieve the current setting for the maximum number of open cursors:

1. show parameter open_cursors;  

The DBA should choose a new maximum, and execute the following SQL to increase the number of open_cursors (replace <new_maximum> with the new maximum number):

1. alter system set open_cursors=500 scope=both;