AlderPump is a GUI front-end to Oracle Data Pump - next generation facility to store and extract data out of Oracle databases. AlderPump provides real time monitoring and management of Data Pump jobs. It comes with wizard allowing creation of new jobs and covering 100% of Data Pump features - even those omitted in standard Oracle utilities expdp and impdp. AlderPump dumps are fully compatible and interchangeable with standard ones. File Manager transfers files between user workstation and database server machine and covers other file management tasks. Lite version of the product is free and never-expiring, Professional can be unlocked with a license.
AlderPump exists to ease life of Oracle professionals:
Monitor and manage DataPump jobs no matter what
how they were created - in real time.
No time to learn how dozens of DataPump
parameters work together? Use full-featured GUI wizard to create
and launch new jobs.
DataPump operates on server machine files.
Manage them with built-in File Manager.
No worries about compatibility: AlderPump is
fully compatible with expdp/impdp. And offers more...
Scripting? AlderPump builds corresponding
expdp/impdp command ready to be pasted into batch file as you work
your way through Job Creation Wizard.
Version independence: lift restrictions
imposed by version of your Oracle client software.
Real time monitoring and management
Want a quick glance at what's going on with the jobs?
AlderPump monitors and manages Data Pump jobs no matter how they were created. Launch jobs using command line with expdp/impdp, from within OEM, or AlderPump running on another computer - and monitor their progress from your AlderPump console. See log messages as they get generated, inspect parameters, inspect worker processes, pause, resume, or cancel a job - all from your workstation.
There is no need to keep AlderPump open all the time while job is running. Since work is performed on database server, any number of clients can monitor and control Data Pump jobs - from any workstation. AlderPump automatically detects and displays running jobs in real time.
Should a job run into space or performance problem, resolve the issue by dynamically adjusting its parameters. And while you're working on it, post message to job's log to prevent fellow DBAs from stepping on your toes.
New to Data Pump, confused about how all these parameters work together?
Perhaps the most powerful AlderPump component, Job Creation Wizard greatly simplifies creation of jobs. It provides access to all Data Pump parameters, displays usage hints, and prevents errors by disabling invalid combinations of parameters. Consistency tab warns about incompatible use of options - we check about 150 combinations (and adding more in each release) to ensure jobs are launched smoothly. This feature along saves hours of documentation reading and Internet browsing.
Internally Data Pump comes with flexible albeit extremely murky set of filters for specifying which objects should be processed. Command line utilities expdp and impdp simplify the picture by restricting available choices - at the cost of reduced functionality. AlderPump's "Object filters" tab does comprehensive jobs by exposing all available filters and ensuring they are valid for current combination of operation, mode, filter, and object type. But even with all these checks selecting objects correctly is a tough job. Objects Picker further simplifies the task by browsing database objects, types or tablespaces and marking them for inclusion or exclusion.
The Wizard comes in two flavors. Lite version available to all users, concentrates on quick tasks such as table export or schema import. It takes only few clicks to create and launch a job. Detailed tabs, available for registered users, reveal full potential of Oracle Data Pump allowing fine grained control on job creation.
Ever ran into situation when you've created similar job last month, but forgot its parameters? Sure you wrote them down, but that little scrap of paper is lost among zillions of others? DataPump parameters are not easy, once you've figured them right - save them to file for future use with AlderPump save/load job feature.
Ok, your export job has completed successfully. What now?
Being server-side component, Data Pump can only operate on files accessible by database server host. In order to manage result files DBA must be given FTP, SSH, or other access to the server's file system. This is not always safe from security perspective. AlderPump removes the barrier by providing GUI File Manager which allows handling of server side files while using built-in database machinery. Browse, rename, delete, view, upload and download server files without bothering your System or Security Administrators. And make the feature as secure as it needs to be by creating Oracle Directory objects and granting regular Oracle privileges.
Full functionality and compatibility
But there is more. Due to limited nature of command line, some features offered by DataPump API didn't make it to Oracle's expdp/impdp. All of them, however, are accessible from AlderPump. For example, AlderPump can separate tables and indexes into designated tablespaces during import 1. Or, load data into certain tables only - while with command line utilities it is all or nothing choice. Full list of AlderPump improvements can be found in AlderPump features section.
Command line generation and scripting
Ok, we get it. Bells and whistles are nice for one-off tasks, but what if
job should be run in a script deep at night?. And us, seasoned DBAs, are not
that much into these modern "GUI" colorings anyways.
There is still use of AlderPump in such situations: as you work clicking buttons and marking checkboxes, it builds corresponding expdp or impdp command on the fly. Whatever parameter gets modified, the change is immediately reflected on Command line tab ready to be copied into shell window or batch script. Thus you never get locked into exclusive use of AlderPump, there is always way out. AlderPump ensures that selected features are supported by command line tools and issues warnings otherwise.
In large mixed environments with various database versions - what should be
version of Oracle client installed on your workstation?
To utilize Oracle 11g features, you must either install 11g binaries on your computer or launch shell window on server machine. This is not always available nor desirable from security perspective. AlderPump works on any computer hosting Oracle client supported by .NET. This way you always have access to features of the database you are working on, not features of your client software. And to be backwards compatible, there is "Compatibility" radio button on "Operation and mode" tab to warn about features unsupported by the target database.