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[01.00] Where is the latest version of this FAQ?
[01.01] How about a summary of what DDL Extract Wizard does?
[01.02] Who wrote DDL Extract Wizard and why?
[01.03] How can I contact the publishers of DDL Extract Wizard?
[01.04] I have an idea for a new/better feature - do you want to hear about it?

Version and Operating System Questions

[02.01] What is the current release version of DDL Extract Wizard?
[02.02] What are the PC system requirements for DDL Extract Wizard?
[02.03] What are the server side requirements for DDL Extract Wizard?
[02.04] What server side operating systems does DDL Extract Wizard support?
[02.05] What Oracle database versions does DDL Extract Wizard support?
[02.06] What version of DDL Extract Wizard am I currently using?
[02.07] How can I see or edit my License key?
[02.08] How do I upgrade DDL Extract Wizard?
[02.09] Why did you rename the DBATool and call it the DDL Extract Wizard?
[02.10] Is there a Unix/Linux version of the DDL Wizard?

'How do I' and 'Can I' Type Questions

[03.01] Why doesn't the DDL Extract Wizard access the database directly instead of reading an export file?
[03.02] Why doesn't the DDL Extract Wizard handle export files containing data?
[03.03] Did the Oracle corporation provide you with details of the export file structure?
[03.04] Why doesn't the DDL Extract Wizard show the full DDL from the SYS and SYSTEM accounts?
[03.05] How can I see DDL such as PUBLIC SYNONYMS or role creation DDL?
[03.06] What differences in functionality are there between the DDL Extract Wizard supported and unsupported versions?
[03.07] I tried reading an export file and I get lots of "Unknown Object" errors?
[03.08] Why not use DBMS_MetaData to generate the DDL rebuild scripts?

[01.00] Where is the latest version of this FAQ?

The latest version of the DDL Extract Wizard FAQ can be found on the DDL Extract Wizard web site at http://www.DDLWizard.com/dtfaq.htm

The basic function of the DDL Extract Wizard is to read Oracle Export files and extract and display the DDL CREATE statements contained inside. It is also possible to add global (or individual) rules which manipulate the DDL statements to change optional parameters (storage clauses, database link passwords & etc). The extracted DDL statements can be saved as SQL build scripts or as an HTML tree documenting the schema structure.

The DDL Extract Wizard software is published by Net 2000 Ltd. in order to fulfill a real need in the Oracle database community. Net 2000 Ltd. also publishes other useful software for Oracle databases.

DataBee

Software designed to create a database which is a referentially correct subset of the data in a large Oracle database.

Data Masker

Software which replaces sensitive data in test and development data with realistic looking but false information.

The DDL Extract Wizard is published by Net 2000 Ltd. An email to any of the addresses on the Contact Page will get to us.

For sure we do. Please E-mail us

The current production release of the DDL Extract Wizard is v04.01

DDL Extract Wizard works on Windows 98, NT4, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. There are no really large hardware requirements - any reasonably new Pentium PC with more than 64Mb of memory should be sufficient. A reasonably large monitor is desirable (but not essential) and the screen resolution should be 800x600 or greater.

The DDL Extract Wizard software itself takes up very little space - 3 Mb of disk space should be more than sufficient. The Oracle Export files it reads can get fairly large. You might need to reserve 10 to 20Mb for them - depending on the number you wish to keep on hand and the size of each one.

Note: The DDL Extract Wizard does not connect to the Oracle database and has no requirement for SQLNet or any other network connectivity.

None. The DDL Extract Wizard reads Oracle export files that you create. It does not connect to the Oracle server and has no capability of doing so. It is your responsibility to FTP (or otherwise transfer) the export file to the PC so that the DDL Extract Wizard can read it.

All of them. The DDL Extract Wizard reads Oracle export files and export files are always server operating system independent.

DDL Extract Wizard can read export files created by all versions of 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Oracle database server.

Every copy of DDL Extract Wizard contains version information in the "About DDL Extract Wizard" dialog box. To see this dialog box start the DDL Extract Wizard application and click on the Wizard logo in the upper right hand corner.

To view the License Key dialog box press the Registration Key button in the "About DDL Extract Wizard" dialog box. See the FAQ question [02.06] for information on the "About DDL Extract Wizard" dialog box.

Just get the latest version from the web site (http://www.DDLWizard.com) and re-install. You do not need to uninstall first and you can skip as many versions as you wish. Your saved settings and license keys will be preserved.

Well the name DBATool seemed so generic and vague. Lots of people thought that it was just another TOAD clone - in reality the functions are completely different. A name change seemed to be a good idea. The functionality is the same - and some new features have been added.

Sorry there is no Unix or Linux version available yet. Reports from users indicate that the DDL Wizard works well under the WINE emulator.

For speed mostly - reading an export file is much faster. Accessing the DDL from the database is quite slow (at least 10 times slower). Assuming we did write the DDL Extract Wizard to access the database directly you would soon get annoyed at waiting 15 minutes to see the DDL each time you needed it. We would have to offer some sort of "Save Local Copy" functionality in order to speed things up for you. But then if we did that we would just have re-invented the Oracle export file.

Another reason in favor of reading export files rather than direct database access is that many types of DDL components cannot be recreated by looking at the DBA* views. The information simply isn't in there. Sometimes you have to dig around in the %$% tables owned by SYS to rebuild a DDL component. The structure and content of the system tables can and does change from release to release. Directly pulling the DDL from the database means that the idiosyncrasies of each Oracle version and sub version would have to be coped with. The Oracle Export utility already offers implicit support for the database release it is shipped with and writes the DDL out in a fairly consistent internal format.

The method the Oracle Export utility uses to store the data rows in an export file appears to vary considerably depending on the version and also on the type of data. At the moment, we are not sure that we have isolated all of the variations which would enable us to offer reasonably bug free and comprehensive support for export files containing data. Export files with data are usually too big to be useful and it is easier to generate them with ROWS=N option. We are considering supporting export files containing data in a future release.

No, but then we never asked them for it either.

Because someone might actually be crazy enough to run it and trash their database. Also, there are hundreds of synonyms, views, packages and procedures and it clutters up the display terribly for no real good reason. Think about it - the DDL is pretty useless (you create the SYS and SYSTEM account DDL through catalog and catproc). All of the DDL useful to a DBA - roles, user creates, tablespace creates &etc - is stripped out by the DDL Extract Wizard and placed under the PUBLIC pseudo user.

Use the FULL=Y option during the export file create and you will see all of this sort of DDL in the DDL Extract Wizard under the PUBLIC pseudo user.

None - both versions are fully functional. With a supported version you get support and the ability to specify the content and format of the DDL display headers and HTML output files.

Please check that, if you transferred the export file you are reading via FTP, you used BINARY mode for the transfer. The Windows default mode (ASCII) corrupts the export files and makes them unreadable.

This is the most common cause of this type of error. If this is not the issue please do let us know and we will progress it further. It may well be some sort of odd Oracle version specific export file variation that we have not seen before. These occasionally pop up - we quickly add support to the DDL Extract Wizard to handle these unknown objects.

The dbms_metadata package was only introduced in Oracle version 9. So using the dbms_metadata method would mean that the DDL Extract Wizard could not generate the DDL rebuild scripts from earlier versions.

The dbms_metadata package is also slow and does not provide completely accurate DDL under some circumstances - particularly partitioned tables. A much better way is to parse the Oracle Export file.