Objects exported by Data Pump Export Utility can be imported into a database using Data Pump Import Utility. The following describes how to use Data Pump Import utility to import objects

Importing Full Dump File

If you want to Import all the objects in a dump file you can type the following command.

$impdp hr/hr DUMPFILE=dpump_dir1:expfull.dmp FULL=y
        LOGFILE=dpump_dir2:full_imp.log

This example imports everything from the expfull.dmp dump file. In this example, a DIRECTORY parameter is not provided. Therefore, a directory object must be provided on both the DUMPFILE parameter and the LOGFILE parameter

Importing Objects of One Schema to another Schema

The following example loads all tables belonging to hr schema to scott schema

$ impdp SYSTEM/password DIRECTORY=dpump_dir1 DUMPFILE=hr.dmp
    REMAP_SCHEMA=hr:scott

If SCOTT account exist in the database then hr objects will be loaded into scott schema. If scott account does not exist, then Import Utility will create the SCOTT account with an unusable password because, the dump file was exported by the user SYSTEM and imported by the user SYSTEM who has DBA privileges.

Loading Objects of one Tablespace to another Tablespace.

You can use remap_tablespace option to import objects of one tablespace to another tablespace by giving the command

$ impdp SYSTEM/password DIRECTORY=dpump_dir1 DUMPFILE=hr.dmp
   REMAP_TABLESPACE=users:sales

The above example loads tables, stored in users tablespace, in the sales tablespace.

Generating SQL File containing DDL commands using Data Pump Import

You can generate SQL file which contains all the DDL commands which Import would have executed if you actually run Import utility

The following is an example of using the SQLFILE parameter.

$ impdp hr/hr DIRECTORY=dpump_dir1 DUMPFILE=expfull.dmp
       SQLFILE=dpump_dir2:expfull.sql

A SQL file named expfull.sql is written to dpump_dir2.

Importing objects of only a Particular Schema

If you have the IMP_FULL_DATABASE role, you can use this parameter to perform a schema-mode import by specifying a single schema other than your own or a list of schemas to import. First, the schemas themselves are created (if they do not already exist), including system and role grants, password history, and so on. Then all objects contained within the schemas are imported. Nonprivileged users can specify only their own schemas. In that case, no information about the schema definition is imported, only the objects contained within it.

Example

The following is an example of using the SCHEMAS parameter. You can create the expdat.dmp file used in this example by running the example provided for the Export SCHEMAS parameter.

$ impdp hr/hr SCHEMAS=hr,oe DIRECTORY=dpump_dir1
     LOGFILE=schemas.log  DUMPFILE=expdat.dmp

The hr and oe schemas are imported from the expdat.dmp file. The log file, schemas.log, is written to dpump_dir1

Importing Only Particular Tables

The following example shows a simple use of the TABLES parameter to import only the employees and jobs tables from the expfull.dmp file. You can create the expfull.dmp dump file used in this example by running the example provided for the Full Database Export in Previous Topic.

$impdp hr/hr DIRECTORY=dpump_dir1 DUMPFILE=expfull.dmp TABLES=employees,jobs

This will import only employees and jobs tables from the DUMPFILE.

Running Data Pump Import Utility in Interactive Mode

Similar to the DATA PUMP EXPORT utility the Data Pump Import Jobs can also be suspended, resumed or killed. And, you can attach to an already existing import job from any client machine.

For Example, suppose a DBA starts a importing by typing the following command at one client machine CLNT1 by typing the following command

$impdp scott/tiger@mydb FULL=y DIRECTORY=data_pump_dir  
     DUMPFILE=full.dmp LOGFILE=myfullexp.log JOB_NAME=myfullJob

After some time, the DBA wants to stop this job temporarily. Then he presses CTRL+C to enter into interactive mode. He will get the Import> prompt where he can type interactive commands

Now he wants to stop this export job so he will type the following command

Import> STOP_JOB=IMMEDIATE
Are you sure you wish to stop this job ([y]/n): y

The job is placed in a stopped state and exits the client.

After finishing his other work, the DBA wants to resume the export job and the client machine from where he actually started the job is locked because, the user has locked his/her cabin. So now the DBA will go to another client machine and he reattach to the job by typing the following command

$ impdp hr/hr@mydb ATTACH=myfulljob

After the job status is displayed, he can issue the CONTINUE_CLIENT command to resume logging mode and restart the myfulljob job.

Import> CONTINUE_CLIENT

A message is displayed that the job has been reopened, and processing status is output to the client.

Note: After reattaching to the Job a DBA can also kill the job by typing KILL_JOB, if he doesn’t want to continue with the import job.