1. Reference for Oracle GoldenGate
  2. Oracle GoldenGate Common Components
  3. Oracle GoldenGate Parameters
  4. EXTFILE

EXTFILE

Valid For

Extract and Replicat

Description

Use the EXTFILE parameter to specify an extract file on the local system that will be created by an initial load Extract and read by an initial load Replicat when SPECIALRUN is used.

Use this parameter for initial load configurations. For online change synchronization, use the EXTTRAIL parameter.

EXTFILE must precede all associated TABLE or MAP statements. Multiple EXTFILE statements can be used to define different files.

Replicat only supports the file_name value and no options

You can encrypt the data in this file by using the ENCRYPTTRAIL parameter. See "ENCRYPTTRAIL | NOENCRYPTTRAIL" for more information.

Default

None

Syntax

EXTFILE file_name
[ APPEND]
[, PURGE]
[, FORMAT RELEASE major.minor]
[, MEGABYTES megabytes]
[, OBJECTDEFS | NO_OBJECTDEFS]
[, TRAILBYTEORDER {BIGENDIAN | LITTLEENDIAN | NATIVEENDIAN}]
file_name

The relative or fully qualified name of the trail. Use a maximum of two characters for the trail name. As trail files are aged, a six-character sequence number will be added to this name, for example /ogg/dirdat/ef000001. If using FORMAT RELEASE 11.2 or earlier, the trail file created is a static file that does not increment, and the naming convention is not limited to two characters.

APPEND

Adds the current data to existing data in the file. If you use APPEND, do not use PURGE.

PURGE

Deletes an existing file before creating a new one. If you use PURGE, do not use APPEND.

FORMAT RELEASE major.minor

Specifies the metadata format of the data that is sent by Extract to a trail, a file, or (if a remote task) to another process. The metadata tells the reader process whether the data records are of a version that it supports. The metadata format depends on the version of the Oracle GoldenGate process. Older Oracle GoldenGate versions contain different metadata than newer ones.

FORMAT RELEASE specifies an Oracle GoldenGate release version. major is the major version number, and minor is the minor version number. The X.x must reflect a current or earlier, generally available (GA) release of Oracle GoldenGate. Valid values are 11.1 through the current Oracle GoldenGate X.x version number, for example 11.2 or 12.1. The release version is programmatically mapped back to the appropriate trail format compatibility level. The default is the current version of the process that writes to this trail.

Note:

RELEASE versions earlier than 12.1 do not support three-part object names.

Note:

If using multiple trails in a single Extract, only RELEASE versions that are the same can coexist.

The following settings are supported for Oracle Database 12.2 and higher:

  • For Oracle Database 12.2 non-CDB or higher with compatibility set to 12.1, FORMAT RELEASE 12.2 or above is supported.

  • For Oracle Database 12.2 non-CDB or higher with compatibility set to 12.2, FORMAT RELEASE 12.2 or above is supported.

  • For Oracle Database 12.2 CDB/PDB or higher with compatibility set to 12.2, only FORMAT RELEASE values 12.3 or higher are supported. This is due to the use of local undo for PDBs, which requires augmenting the transaction ID with the PDB number to ensure uniqueness of trx IDs.

MEGABYTES megabytes

The maximum size, in megabytes, of a file in the trail. The default is 2000.

OBJECTDEFS | NO_OBJECTDEFS

Use the OBJECTDEFS and NO_OBJECTDEFS options to control whether or not to include the object definitions in the trail. These two options are applicable only when the output trail is formatted in Oracle GoldenGate canonical format and the trail format release is greater than 12.1. Otherwise, both options are ignored because no metadata record will be added to the trail.

TRAILBYTEORDER {BIGENDIAN | LITTLEENDIAN | NATIVEENDIAN}

Sets the byte format of the metadata in the file records. This parameter does not affect the column data. Valid only for trail files that have a FORMAT RELEASE version of at least 12.1. Valid values are BIGENDIAN (big endian), LITTLEENDIAN (little endian), and NATIVEENDIAN (default of the local system). The default is BIGENDIAN. See the GLOBALS version of TRAILBYTEORDER for additional usage instructions.

Examples

Example 1    
EXTFILE dirdat/ef
Example 2    
EXTFILE dirdat/ef, MEGABYTES 200
Example 3    
EXTFILE /ggs/dirdat/extdat, FORMAT RELEASE 12.3