Captured data must be processed into a series of files called a trail, where it is stored for processing by the next Oracle GoldenGate process downstream. The basic configuration is:

• A local trail on the source system

• A remote trail on the target system

The actual trail name contains only two characters, such as ./dirdat/tr. Oracle GoldenGate appends this name with a nine-digit sequence number whenever a new file is created, such as ./dirdat/aa000000002. It is recommended that you establish naming conventions for trails, because they are linked to Oracle GoldenGate processes and may need to be identified for the purposes of troubleshooting.

On Windows systems, if the name of any directory in the trail path name begins with a number, the path must be specified with forward slashes, not backward slashes, when listing the trail in a parameter file. For more information, see Specifying Filesystem Path Names in Parameter Files on Windows Systems.

See What is a Trail? for more information about Oracle GoldenGate trails.