Import Parameters
The following is a description of the parameters that may be specified to Import, either on a command line or in a parameter file:
- ANALYZE={Y | N}
Specifies whether the Import utility executes SQL ANALYZE statements found in the export file. See STATISTICS in the section Section 16.2.4. The default is ANALYZE=Y.
- BUFFER=buffersize
Specifies the size, in bytes, of the buffer used to load rows. This parameter determines the maximum number of rows in an array loaded by Import as:
rows = buffer / maximum_row_size
If you specify zero, Import loads one row at a time. Tables with LONG, LOB, BFILE, REF, ROWID, or type columns are always loaded one row at a time. The default is operating system dependent.
- CHARSET=charsetname
Applies to Oracle Version 6 export files only, and specifies the actual character set used at the time of export. The Import utility will verify whether the specified character set is ASCII or EBCDIC based on the character set in the Export file. If that file was created with Oracle7 or Oracle8, the character set is specified within the Export file, and conversion to the current database’s character set is automatic. There is no default.
- COMMIT={Y | N}
Specifies whether Import should commit after each array insert. The default is COMMIT=N, which causes Import to commit after loading each table. If COMMIT=N and a table is partitioned, each partition in the Export file is imported in a separate transaction. Specifying COMMIT=Y prevents rollback segments from growing too large, and is advisable if the table has a uniqueness constraint, since if the import is restarted, any rows that have already been imported are rejected with a non-fatal error. If a table does not have a uniqueness constraint and COMMIT=Y is specified, Import could produce duplicate rows when the data is reimported.
- DESTROY={Y | N}
Specifies whether existing datafiles making up the database should be reused if tablespaces are being recreated by Import. The default is DESTROY=N.
Warning
If datafiles are stored on a raw device, DESTROY=N does not prevent files from being overwritten.
- FEEDBACK=n
When set greater than zero, specifies that Import should display a progress meter in the form of a dot for each n number of rows imported. The default is FEEDBACK=0.
- FILE=filename[.extension]
Specifies the name of the file created by the Export utility to be used as input to import. The default filename is expdat.dmp.
- FROMUSER=(username[,username...])
Specifies a list of schemas containing objects to import. The default for users without the IMP_FULL_DATABASE role is a user-mode import, where objects for the current user are imported. If the specified user does not exist in the database, the objects will be imported into the schema of the current user unless TOUSER is also specified.
- FULL={Y | N}
Specifies whether or not to import the entire Export file. The default is FULL=N.
- GRANTS={Y | N}
Specifies whether to import grants that were exported. If the export was a user-mode export, the Export file contains only the grants granted by the owner. If the export was a full database mode export, the Export file contains all grants. The default is GRANTS=Y.
- HELP={Y | N}
Determines whether a help message with descriptions of the Import parameters is displayed. The default is HELP=N.
- IGNORE={Y | N}
Specifies how object creation errors are handled. If IGNORE=Y is specified, Import ignores creation errors when it attempts to create database objects. The default is IGNORE=N, which causes Import to log and/or display the object creation error before continuing.
- INCTYPE={SYSTEM | RESTORE}
Specifies that one of the following types of incremental import is to be run. The default is RESTORE.
- SYSTEM
Imports the most recent version of system objects, including foreign function libraries and object type definitions, but does not import user data or objects.
- RESTORE
Imports all user database objects and data contained in the Export file.
- INDEXES={Y | N}
Specifies whether indexes are to be recreated or updated after table data is imported. Use of INDEXES=Y assumes that INDEXES=Y was specified for the Export utility when the file was created. The default is INDEXES=Y. System-generated indexes such as LOB indexes, OID indexes, or unique constraint indexes are re-created by Import regardless of the setting of this parameter.
- INDEXFILE=filename[.extension]
Specifies a file to receive table, index, and cluster creation commands. Table and cluster commands are included as remarks, but can be edited. There is no default for this parameter, and it can only be used with the FULL=Y, FROMUSER, TOUSER, or TABLES parameters.
Tip
Since Release 7.1, the commented CREATE TABLE statement in the INDEXFILE has not included PRIMARY/UNIQUE KEY clauses.
- LOG=filename[.extension]
Specifies the name of an operating system file to receive informational and error messages. There is no default, and if LOG is not specified, messages will not be sent to a file.
- PARFILE=filename[.extension]
Specifies the name of an operating system file that contains a list of Import parameters. There is no default, and this parameter is used only when running Import in command-line mode.
- POINT_IN_TIME_RECOVER={Y | N}
Determines if Import will recover one or more tablespaces in an Oracle database to a prior point in time without affecting the rest of the database. The Export file must have been created with POINT_IN_TIME_RECOVER=Y. The default is POINT_IN_TIME_RECOVER=N.
- RECORDLENGTH=length
Specifies the length, in bytes, of records in the Export file being imported. This parameter is required if the Export file was created on an operating system that uses a different default value. The default is operating system specific.
- ROWS={Y | N}
Specifies whether to import the rows of table data. The default is ROWS=Y. If ROWS=N is specified, tables will be created but no data rows will be inserted.
- SHOW={Y | N}
If SHOW=Y is specified, the SQL statements contained in the Export file are listed to the display only, and objects are not imported. SHOW=Y can be used only with the FULL=Y, FROMUSER, TOUSER, or TABLES parameters. The default is SHOW=N.
- SKIP_UNUSABLE_INDEXES={Y | N}
Specifies whether Import skips building indexes set to the Index Unusable state. Without this parameter, row insertions that attempt to update unusable indexes fail. The default is SKIP_UNUSABLE_INDEXES=N.
- TABLES=(tablename[,tablename...])
Specifies a list of table names to import. Table names may not be qualified by a schema name. There is no default for this parameter.
- TOUSER=(username[,username])
Specifies a list of usernames whose schemas will be the target of the import. If multiple schemas are specified, the schema names must be paired with schema names in a corresponding FROMUSER parameter. For example:
FROMUSER=(scott,harry) TOUSER=(dave,brian)
- USERID= username/password@hoststring
Specifies the username/password@hoststring of the user performing the import if it is not specified on the command line. There is no default.