Oracle Data Pump Export and Import

• The Data Pump Import PARALLEL parameter has been extended to include metadata during import operations. See Loading and Unloading of Data and also the Import PARALLEL parameter.

• The Data Pump Export PARALLEL parameter has been extended to include metadata during export operations. See Loading and Unloading of Data .

• You can now use wild cards when specifying file names on the Data Pump Import TRANSPORT_DATAFILES parameter. See TRANSPORT_DATAFILES.

• A new Data Pump import REMAP_DIRECTORY parameter lets you remap directories when you move databases between platforms. See REMAP_DIRECTORY.

• A new TRUST_EXISTING_TABLE_PARTITIONS flag on the Data Pump Import DATA_OPTIONS parameter enables data from multiple partitions to be loaded in parallel into a pre-existing table, which reduces the import time. See DATA_OPTIONS.

• A new VALIDATE_TABLE_DATA flag on the Data Pump Import DATA_OPTIONS parameter verifies the format number and date data types in table data columns. See the Import DATA_OPTIONS parameter.

• A new ENABLE_NETWORK_COMPRESSION option (for direct-path network imports only) on the Data Pump DATA_OPTIONS parameter tells Data Pump to compress data before sending it over the network. See the Import DATA_OPTIONS parameters.

• The DIRECT_PATH option on the Import ACCESS_METHOD parameter is now available for network imports. See ACCESS_METHOD.

• A new GROUP_PARTITION_TABLE_DATA flag on the Data Pump Export DATA_OPTIONS parameter enables data for all partitions to be loaded at once and in parallel. This can reduce the time to import the table data. See the Export DATA_OPTIONS parameter.

• Encrypted columns are now supported during transportable tablespace exports. See the Export TRANSPORT_TABLESPACES and the Import TRANSPORT_TABLESPACES parameters for more information about transportable tablespace mode.

• A new VERIFY_STREAM_FORMAT choice on the Data Pump Export DATA_OPTIONS parameter validates the format of a data stream before it is written to the Data Pump dump file. See DATA_OPTIONS.

• It is now possible to export 128-byte identifiers and import them into databases that support them.

• The DUMPFILE parameters for Data Pump Export and Import have new options available for substitution variables. See the Export DUMPFILE parameter and the Import DUMPFILE parameter.

• Oracle Data Pump Export and Oracle Data Pump Import support Data-Bound Collation.

  See Oracle Data Pump Behavior with Data-Bound Collation

• The length limit for most types of names has been increased to 128 bytes. The Data Pump ENCRYPTION and JOB_NAME parameters support this new maximum. The ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD parameter also supports it, with some restrictions. See ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD.

• Data Pump Export and Data Pump Import support the new big SCN size of 8 bytes. See the Export FLASHBACK_SCN and the Import FLASHBACK_SCN parameters.

• The contents of the Data Pump Export PARFILE and Import PARFILE parameters are now written to the Data Pump log file. See the Export PARFILE parameter and the Import PARFILE parameter.

• Network imports now support LONG columns.

  See NETWORK_LINK.

Oracle SQL*Loader

• A new SQL*Loader SDF_PREFIX parameter lets you specify a directory prefix which will be added to file names of LOBFILEs and secondary data files (SDFs) that are opened as part of a load operation. See SDF_PREFIX.

• A new SQL*Loader DEFAULTS parameter lets you control evaluation of default expressions. See DEFAULTS.

• A new SQL*Loader DIRECT_PATH_LOCK_WAIT parameter instructs direct path loads to wait for table locks before proceeding with the load. See DIRECT_PATH_LOCK_WAIT.

• A new SQL*Loader EMPTY_LOBS_ARE_NULL clause sets to NULL any LOB column for which there is no data available. See EMPTY_LOBS_ARE_NULL.

• A new SQL*Loader control file clause, DEFAULT EXPRESSION CACHE n , allows you to specify how many default expressions are evaluated at a time by a direct path load. See Specifying the Number of Default Expressions to Be Evaluated At One Time.

• SQL*Loader now supports 128-byte identifiers. This allows for longer table and column names and lets you load databases that use 128-byte identifiers.

• A new LLS clause is available for SQL*Loader control files which lets you indicate that a field in the data file is a LOB location specifier (LLS) field. See Loading Data Files that Contain LLS Fields.

• In SQL*Loader express mode, the ENCLOSED_BY, OPTIONALLY_ENCLOSED_BY, and TERMINATED_BY command-line parameters now accept strings as a value. See the following parameter descriptions: ENCLOSED_BY, OPTIONALLY_ENCLOSED_BY, and TERMINATED_BY.

Oracle External Tables

• You can now create partitioned external tables using the ORACLE_HDFS or ORACLE_HIVE access drivers. See Using the ORACLE_HDFS Access Driver to Create Partitioned External Tables and Using the ORACLE_HIVE Access Driver to Create Partitioned External Tables.

• A new XMLTAG clause for the ORACLE_LOADER access driver allows loading of subdocuments from an XML document. See XMLTAG.

• The ORACLE_LOADER and ORACLE_DATAPUMP access drivers now support 128-byte identifiers. This allows for longer table and column names and lets you load databases that use 128-byte identifiers.

• A new LLS clause is available for ORACLE_LOADER access parameters which lets you indicate that a field in the data file is a LOB location specifier (LLS) field. See LLS Clause.

Oracle LogMiner

• LogMiner now captures changes for objects with long identifiers (128 bytes).

• The UTL_FILE_DIR initialization parameter is deprecated. It is still supported for backward compatibility, but Oracle recommends that you instead use directory objects. This deprecation affects extracting LogMiner dictionaries to flat files. See Extracting the LogMiner Dictionary to a Flat File.

• LogMiner supports multitenant container databases (CDBs) that have pluggable databases (PDBs) with different character sets. See Using LogMiner in a CDB.

DBMS_METADATA and DBMS_METADATA_DIFF PL/SQL Packages