PART I . Export/Import
Part I describes the Export and Import utilities. These utilities
are complementary. Export writes data from an Oracle database into a transportable
operating system file. Import reads data from this file back into an Oracle
database.
Export and Import are used primarily for the following tasks:
- upgrading to new releases of Oracle
- backing up Oracle databases
- moving data between Oracle databases
Export and Import allow you to accomplish the following tasks:
- store Oracle data in operating system files independent of any database
- store definitions of database objects (such as tables, clusters, and
indexes) with or without the data
- store inactive or temporary data
- back up only tables whose data has changed since the last export, using
either an incremental or a cumulative export
- restore tables that were accidentally dropped, provided they were exported
recently
- restore a database by importing from incremental or cumulative exports
- selectively back up parts of your database in a way that requires less
storage space than a system backup
- move data from an older to a newer version of Oracle or vice versa
- move data between Oracle databases
- move data between different hardware and operating-system environments
- move data from one owner to another
- move data from one tablespace or schema to another
- save space or reduce fragmentation in your database
