R3load Null value Import?

[tsenol]

Hello All!

I wish I'll find an answer for my imported question.

We'll do a OS migration from AIX/Oracle to Windows/ORacle.

In source system there are some custom tables as normal. But some of these custom tables are used by Oracle level programs(import some records or check some values).

In some of that tables for some columns, it has a NULL atributes, so We can insert NULL value (not space) in oracle level.

After R3load based copy, we saw that all this NULL columns changed to NOT NULL with a default value. 

We found that Both STR and APPLx.SQL files has a record with a NOT NULL constraint for this columns. As a try we changed STR and APPLx.SQL files as NULL constraint for this special columns.

We tried to export and import this tables with R3load again. In target system we saw that table is created with NULL constraint. But there is no NULL value.

Default value is added for this columns.

Do you have any idea?

[tsenol · Accepted solution]

Hello,

SAP answered my question like below.

It is standard behavior in SAP systems that, with regards to columns

without the "Initial Values" flag in SE11:

  * columns in new tables are created with NOT NULL constraint;

  * after a table conversion, normally NOT NULL constraint is

observed; the columns in the target table will be defined with NOT

NULL constraint;.

  * new columns in existing tables normally added with NULL condition

(this avoids a very time-intensive operation of updating the value in

the column using a full-table scan).

In your case, the tables will be created newly in the target system,
so it is expected that the table columns are defined as NOT NULL.

[stefan_koehler · Accepted solution]

Hi Ilke,

just to clarify one point in the SAP reply.

>> new columns in existing tables normally added with NULL condition(this avoids a very time-intensive operation of updating the value inthe column using a full-table scan).

This is not true anymore starting with Oracle 11g. SAP itself has also changed the application behavior regarding this "new" Oracle feature. For more details - please check SAPnote #1387135.

By the way it seems like your columns also have a defined default value (00000000).

Regards

Stefan