Re: 2Gb Exp problems 8.1.7

Peter van Rijn wrote:

> Oracle 7's "exp" really couldn't export to files larger than 2Gb. At
> least, many of the exp-utilities I knew couldn't. As Richard Powell
> explained in Note 62427.1:
>
> <quote>
> Today most platforms support large files and have 64bit APIs for such
> files.
> Releases of Oracle from 7.3 onwards usually make use of these 64bit APIs
<snipped>
> </quote>

Interesting... and a bit weird.

Unless you have a SDK that allows you to write 32bit software making use of 64bit software, I'm a bit doubtful as to the accuracy of the statement you quoted Peter.

For example, with Win16 development we had the Win32s API that allowed us to write 16bit Windows applications that supported some Win32 functionality. I am doubtful that Oracle 7 was developed using a 64bit subset-API kit that allows it to be used from 32bit applications.

The reverse however often happens. Running 16bit on 32bit or 32bit on 64bit. This is called thunking. The 32bit call is thunked to a corresponding 64bit call, with the operating system handling the 64bit issues for your 32bit app.

Also, 64bit does not really solve the ionode size issue, right?

File size and structure are related to the actual filesystem itself... and not whether you're using a 32bit or 64bit memory addressing model.

AFAIK, the 2GB file limit was a limitation of the file system supported and used by the operating system (the two goes hand-in-hand in the past, unlike with something like Linux these days where you can choose if you like an ext2 or ext3 fs).

Thus Oracle as a result was also limited to that max file size (so would any new version of Oracle running on an older filesystem not being able to support >2GB files).

I fail to see how the 64bit vs 32bit thing fit with file systems..

Or do I need another couple of cups of coffee?

--
Billy