Dumping and Loading Data Files

The intended use for the following utilities is to dump the database from one Environment and load it into another:

  • Dump Database File (dbdump)

    This utility dumps database files to standard output; or you can save the data to a file for import.

  • Load Database file (dbload)

    This utility loads the database from a file created by dbdump.

Note: To have the system automatically dump and load the attachment files, use the expsysdb and impexp utilities. For instructions, see the Lawson Administration: Server Setup and Maintenance guide.

Considerations

  • Do not use the dbload utility to import data into a Lawson database from a non-Lawson application system.

  • Unless you use the dbdump -d option, the utility truncates fields larger than 80 columns (or 132 columns, with the -p option). To dump files containing fields with more than 80 columns, use dbdump -d or rngdbdump with either the -d or -c option.

  • If your data files have attachments, dump both the header and detail attachment files. They reside in the same data area as the data to which they are attached, and they are named as follows:

    L_HPrefix L_DPrefix

    where Prefix is the prefix of the data file the attachments are related to (for example L_HEMP, if the file name is EMPLOYEE), L_H indicates a header attachment file (the first 512 bytes of the attachment), and L_D indicates the detail attachment file (the remaining bytes, up to 32,000, of the attachment).