By the time you are ready to instantiate the replication environment, all of your Extract and Replicat process groups must be configured with completed parameter files as directed in Add an Online Extract and Add a Replicat topics.

If the source database will remain active during the initial load, collision-handling logic must be added to the Replicat parameter file. This logic handles conflicts that occur because static data is being loaded to the target tables while Oracle GoldenGate replicates transactional changes to those tables.

To handle collisions, add the HANDLECOLLISIONS parameter to the Replicat parameter file to resolve:

• INSERT operations for which the row already exists.

• UPDATE and DELETE operations for which the row does not exist.

For more information about this parameter, see the Oracle GoldenGate Windows and UNIX Reference Guide.

The following are suggestions that can make the load go faster and help you to avoid errors.

• Data: Make certain that the target tables are empty. Otherwise, there may be duplicate-row errors or conflicts between existing rows and rows that are being loaded.

• Constraints: If you have not done so already, disable foreign-key constraints and check constraints. Foreign-key constraints can cause errors, and check constraints can slow down the loading process.

• Indexes: Remove indexes from the target tables. Indexes are not necessary for the inserts performed by the initial load process and will slow it down significantly. You can add back the indexes after the load is finished.

• Keys: To use the HANDLECOLLISIONS function to reconcile incremental data changes with the load, each target table must have a primary or unique key. If you cannot create a key through your application, use the KEYCOLS option of the TABLE and MAP parameters to specify columns as a substitute key for Oracle GoldenGate's purposes. If you cannot create keys, the affected source table must be quiesced for the load.