conventional path export with direct=y

This one is causing hair loss.

hp-ux 11.11, oracle 9.2.0.6

I have a script that has been running for a couple of years now with a series of direct path exports, no problems. I recently created a new schema that is a subset and ETL of an existing schema, through a series of imports and SQL modifications. The application that uses these schemata is a bit picky about its data, and doesn't seem to have a problem with any of the schemata.

The exp commands in the script are of the form (each on one line):

exp abcdef/xyz DIRECT=Y compress=N recordlength=65535 file=/oradata/exports/abcdef.exp log=/oradata/exports/abcdef.log

The result of this is an export with only about a quarter of the tables, and none of the other objects like views, stored procedures, triggers, etc. It just lists the tables that it exports, then says Export terminated successfully without warnings. It also says it is using conventional path!

I tried cut-and-paste of the command to an x-window session, it worked fine. I've examined the script with od -c, it doesn't have any spurious characters. There are a number of similar commands above and below the problem command that work fine. No errors in the alert log or any of the exp logs. There are also other types of exports that don't use direct=y that run after the ones with direct=y, no problems.

I've opened an SR, but it stalled out right away because I thought it was a one-time thing at first. But it is doing this consistently. The new schema does share the first three characters of its name with one of the others. But another new one also shares the first three characters of its name with another schema, with no problem. Not using any newfangled features like RAC or partitioning. There is a process that kills off user connections to this db before any of this runs.

This all somehow seems familiar. Am I missing something obvious? Any suggestions?

jg

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