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About RMAN Commands

This chapter describes the basic elements of RMAN syntax. It includes the following sections:

Conventions Used in this Reference

This section explains the conventions used in this chapter including:

Text Conventions

The text in this reference adheres to the following conventions:

`UPPERCASE` `monospace`	Uppercase monospace text calls attention to RMAN keywords, SQL keywords, column headings in tables and views, and initialization parameters.
`lowercase` `monospace`	Lowercase monospace text calls attention to variable text in RMAN examples.
`italics`	Italicized monospace text calls attention to RMAN or SQL placeholders, that is, text that should not be entered as-is but represents a value to be entered by the user.

Syntax Diagrams and Notation

This section describes the conventions for RMAN command syntax.

Syntax Diagrams

This reference uses syntax diagrams to show Recovery Manager commands. These syntax diagrams use lines and arrows to show syntactic structure, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 CATALOG Command

Text description of the illustration catalog.gif

This section describes the components of syntax diagrams and gives examples of how to write RMAN commands. Syntax diagrams are made up of these items:

Keywords

Keywords have special meanings in Recovery Manager syntax. In the syntax diagrams, keywords appear in rectangular boxes and an uppercase font, like the word CATALOG in Figure 1-1. When used in text and code examples, RMAN keywords appear in uppercase, monospace font, for example, CATALOG DATAFILECOPY. You must use keywords in RMAN statements exactly as they appear in the syntax diagram, except that they can be either uppercase or lowercase.

The RMAN language is free-form. Keywords must be separated by at least one white space character, but otherwise there are no restrictions. A command can span multiple lines.

Placeholders

Placeholders in syntax diagrams indicate non-keywords. In the syntax diagrams, they appear in ovals, as in the word integer in Figure 1-1. When described in text, RMAN placeholders appear in lowercase italic, for example, 'filename'. Placeholders are usually:

Names of database objects (tablespace_name)
Oracle datatype names (date_string)
subclauses (datafileSpec)

When you see a placeholder in a syntax diagram, substitute an object or expression of the appropriate type in the RMAN statement. For example, to write a DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO 'database_name' command, use the name of the duplicate database you want to create, such as dupdb, in place of the database_name placeholder in the diagram.

Some placeholder values are enclosed in required or optional quotes. The syntax diagrams show single quotes, though in all cases double quotes are also legal in RMAN syntax. For example, you specify either 'filename' or "filename". For the SQL command, it is recommended that you use double quotes because the SQL statement itself may also contain a quote, and the most common type of quote in a SQL statement is a single quote. Single and double quotes do not mean the same in SQL as they do in RMAN.

The following table shows placeholders that appear in the syntax diagrams and provides examples of the values you might substitute for them in your statements.

quoted strings such as 'filename', 'tablespace_name', 'channel_name', 'channel_parms'

A string of characters contained in either single or double quotes. A quoted string may contain white space, punctuation, and RMAN and SQL keywords.

"?/dbs/cf.f"

'dev1'

nonquoted strings such as channel_id, tag_name, date_string

A sequence of characters containing no white space and no punctuation characters and starting with an alphabetic character.

ch1

integer

Any sequence of only number characters.

67843

Reserved Words

Table 1-1 is a list of RMAN reserved words. If you use one of these words by itself without surrounding it in quotes, then RMAN generates an error. These are examples of correct and incorrect entries:

ALLOCATE CHANNEL backup DEVICE TYPE DISK;         # incorrect
ALLOCATE CHANNEL 'backup' DEVICE TYPE DISK;       # correct
BACKUP DATABASE TAG full;                         # incorrect
BACKUP DATABASE TAG 'full';                       # correct

Table 1-1 RMAN Reserved Words (Page 1 of 2)

`ABORT`	`AFFINITY`	`AFTER`	`ALL`	`ALLOCATE`	`ALTER`	`AND`
`APPEND`	`ARCHIVELOG`	`AT`	`AUXILIARY`	`AUXNAME`	`AVAILABLE`	`BACKSLASH`
`BACKUP`	`BACKUPPIECE`	`BACKUPSET`	`BEFORE`	`BEGINLINE`	`BETWEEN`	`CANCEL`
`CATALOG`	`CHANGE`	`CHANNEL`	`CHANNEL_ID`	`CHECK`	`CLONE`	`CLONE_CF`
`CLONENAME`	`CMDFILE`	`CHECK`	`CLONE`	`CLONE_CF`	`CLONENAME`	`CMDFILE`
`COMMAND`	`COMPLETED`	`CONNECT`	`CONTROLFILE`	`CONTROLFILECOPY`	`COPY`	`CREATE`
`CROSSCHECK`	`CUMULATIVE`	`CURRENT`	`DATABASE`	`DATAFILE`	`DATAFILECOPY`	`DAYS`
`DBA`	`DBID`	`DEBUG`	`DEFINE`	`DELETE`	`DESTINATION`	`DEVICE`
`DISK`	`DISKRATIO`	`DROP`	`DUMP`	`DUPLEX`	`DUPLICATE`	`ECHO`
`EQUAL`	`EXECUTE`	`EXIT`	`EXPIRED`	`FILESPERSET`	`FOR`	`FORCE`
`FOREVER`	`FORMAT`	`FROM`	`FULL`	`GROUP`	`HIGH`	`HOST`
`ID`	`INACCESSIBLE`	`INCARNATION`	`INCLUDE`	`INCREMENTAL`	`INPUT`	`INTEGER`
`IMMEDIATE`	`JOB`	`K`	`KBYTES`	`LEVEL`	`LIBPARM`	`LIBRARY`
`LIKE`	`LIMIT`	`LIST`	`LOG`	`LOGFILE`	`LOGICAL`	`LOGSEQ`
`LOW`	`MAXCORRUPT`	`MAXOPENFILES`	`MSGLOG`	`MASK`	`MSGNO`	`MAINTENANCE`
`MOUNT`	`M`	`NAME`	`NEED`	`NEWNAME`	`NOCHECKSUM`	`NOCATALOG`
`NEWLINE`	`NOREDO`	`NORMAL`	`NOMOUNT`	`NOFILENAMECHECK`	`NULL`	`OF`
`OFFLINE`	`ORPHAN`	`OBSOLETE`	`OPEN`	`ON`	`OFF`	`ONLY`
`PARMS`	`PLSQL`	`PRINT`	`PFILE`	`PROXY`	`POOL`	`PIPE`
`RCVCAT`	`RELEASE`	`RELOAD`	`REPLACE`	`REPLICATE`	`REPORT`	`RECOVERABLE`
`RESET`	`RESTART`	`RESTORE`	`RESYNC`	`RMAN`	`RPCTESTRUN`	`READONLY`
`READRATE`	`RECOVER`	`REDUNDANCY`	`REGISTER`	`REUSE`	`SCHEMA`	`SCN`
`SCRIPT`	`SEND`	`SET`	`SETLIMIT`	`SETSIZE`	`SHUTDOWN`	`SIZE`
`SKIP`	`SLAXDEBUG`	`SQL`	`STARTUP`	`STEP`	`TABLESPACE`	`TAG`
`TARGET`	`TEST`	`THREAD`	`TIME`	`TIMEOUT`	`TO`	`TRACE`
`TRANSACTIONAL`	`TYPE`	`UNAVAILABLE`	`UNCATALOG`	`UNDERSCORE`	`UNRECOVERABLE`	`UNTIL`
`UPGRADE`	`VALIDATE`

RMAN Code Examples

This reference contains many examples of RMAN commands. These examples show you how to use elements of RMAN. This example shows the use of a BACKUP command:

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
  BACKUP DATABASE;
}

Note that examples are set off from the text and appear in a monospace font.

Command Entries

The description of each command or subclause contains the following sections:

Syntax	Shows the keywords and parameters that make up the statement.
	Note: Not all keywords and parameters are valid in all circumstances. Be sure to refer to the "Keywords and Parameters" section of each statement to learn about any restrictions on the syntax.
Purpose	Describes the basic uses of the statement.
Restrictions and Usage Notes	Lists requirements, restrictions, and guidelines for proper use of the command.
Keywords and Parameters	Describes the purpose of each keyword and parameter. Restrictions and usage notes also appear in this section.
Examples	Shows how to use various clauses and options of the statement.
	Note: Optional sections following the examples provide more information on how and when to use the statement.

1 About RMAN Commands