Why does IMPORT not like LONG data type?

Oracle 7.3 WGS on NT 4.0.

In one of the tables in my schema, there is a column of LONG type (BTW, is it the best choice to store unlimited free text?). Occasionally I have to take the schema (i.e. my work) to home, other PC's, etc. I usually export the whole schema (i.e. user) and import it at the target location. Since I am importing the whole user, I always drop the existing user first and then import into the newely created user.

Since I have added the column of the type LONG to a table, my IMPORTS fail. It always trips while importing this particular table. The error message I get is ABNORMAL END OF FILE. Currently, there are only a few records in this table and the longest text in a record may be 10 or 15 characters. A few records may also contain nothing (NUL) in this field.

Since I don't know how to export *every* thing in a schema except a particular table, this is how I solve it at this time: I open the .DMP file in a binary editor and wipe out the section which holds the data (i.e. insert commands) for this table. The export then runs fine.

So far this solution is working since there is no data in this table that I care about. But tomorrow worries me. What am I missing here? Is it a known limitation with importing and exporting LONG types? If so, how is one supposed to transfer data from one location to another?

Thanks very much for your help!

Regards,
Nasir (nnoor_at_cris.com) Received on Sat Oct 04 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT