Re: export/import and future oracle versions

In article <43s0o0$bp0_at_homer.alpha.net>, sahmad_at_mfa.com (Saad Ahmad) wrote:

> Does Oracle provide any guarentee in terms of
> being able to import a table exported today with
> Oracle V7, say 10 years from now in Oracle v xxx?
>
> For an archival/retrieval system, am I correct in
> assuming that export/import is not a good way to
> archive information ...?
>
> --
> **************************************************************
> * Saad Ahmad *
> * McHugh Freeman & Associates, Inc. *
> * Ph: (414) 798-8606 Ext. 457 *
> * Fax: (414) 798-8619 *
> * E-Mail: sahmad_at_mfa.com *
> **************************************************************

Saad,

I would find it risky to try to rely on a version of export/import to handle a file that was created 10 years in the past. I can't even get an export from 6.0.29 to load into a 6.0.37 database, and they aren't that far apart.

I am evaluating a couple of different techniques for saving the current contents of key tables in an archive that will (hopefully) be readable in 10 to 15 years. The best I can come up with is an ascii file, tab delimited, that is cut to CD-Rom in ISO 9660 format. I can use SQR to dump the table structure, column specifications, index structures, header information, and then table contents.

Any comments? I am open to other ideas, but this appears to be the most resilient technique I have seen.

Matt... Received on Mon Sep 25 1995 - 00:00:00 CET