Oracle in a Nutshell

Command-Line Operation

Invoke the Export and Import utilities from the command-line interface with this basic syntax:

exp | imp userid {parametername = value ... | PARFILE = filename 
                  expModes }

The userid is the username or the username/password combination, combined with the @net_service_name keyword to identify the instance, if necessary. If a password is not specified, the utilities will prompt for it.

This syntax can be used to specify the parameters as part of the command. Each parameter specified on the command line is separated from other parameters with a space or comma. A single value for a parameter can be in parentheses. Multiple values for a parameter are in parentheses, separated by commas. The total length of the command cannot exceed the maximum length for a command on the platform-specific operating system.

Alternatively, you can store parameter values in a parameter file. In this case, specify the name of that file in the PARFILE filename clause as shown here:

exp greenie/****@bailey FULL=Y FILE=EXP.DMP ROWS=Y PARFILE=parms.dat

Even if you specify a parameter file, you can also include parameters on the command line. If a parameter file and a command-line parameter both refer to the same parameter, the last mention in the command line takes precedence. For example, if a parameter is mentioned both on the command line and in the parameter file, the value in the parameter file will take precedence if the PARFILE clause referencing this file comes after the command-line ...