Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Data Management:
Database Administration

Dumping 4GL database definitions

Use the Data Dictionary or Data Administration tool to dump database definitions. There are two ways to dump the database definitions:

Dump the entire database, including all its tables and fields.
Dump individual tables, sequences, or auto-connect records.

Whenever you run the dump utility to dump table definitions, the Data Dictionary or Data Administration tool creates a data definitions (.df) file that contains definitions of tables, fields, indexes, sequences, and auto-connect records, and all their characteristics. However, depending on whether you choose to dump all tables or only selected tables when you dump the definitions, the Data Dictionary or Data Administration tool might or might not write all definitions to the .df file.

Table 15–1 shows the definitions that are dumped in each case.

Table 15–1: Definitions dumped to the definition file 

Definitions	All tables	Selected tables
Tables, fields, and indexes	Yes	Yes
Sequence definitions	Yes	No
Auto-connect records	Yes	No
Collation	No	No
_User	No	No

If you dump individual tables, you must also dump the sequence definitions and auto-connect records separately. For instructions, see the "Dumping sequence definitions" section and the "Dumping auto-connect records" section.

To dump 4GL database or table definitions:

Access the Data Administration tool. The Data Administration main window appears.
Make sure you are using the database (the source) from which you want to dump the table definitions.
Choose Admin Dump Data and Definitions Data Definitions (.df file). The Data Administration tool lists all the tables defined for the database alphabetically.
Choose the table where you want to dump the definitions, or choose ALL.

If you choose ALL, the .df file will also contain the sequences and auto-connect record definitions, but not the collation/conversion table. The Data Administration tool displays a default name for the file that you can dump data definitions into (hidden tables are not dumped). This default file is always the name of the table or database with a .df extension. The Data Administration tool truncates table names to eight characters. When you dump only one table, the table dump name becomes the default for its corresponding contents dump file. For example, if you specify customer.d as the filename, when you dump the file contents, the default filename is customer.d. If you specify to dump all the tables, the default name is db-name.d.

Accept this default or enter a different name and choose OK. The Data Administration tool displays each object name as it writes its definition to the data definitions file.

You see each table name on the screen as the Data Administration tool writes its definition to the .df file. After all of the table definitions are dumped, the Data Administration tool displays a status message and prompts you to continue.

Choose OK to return to the Data Administration main window.