Data Definition Language Scripts:

The most atomic level backup of a database system is the actual (DDL) Data Definition Language code, usually SQL (Standard Query Language) or a SQL derivative. With minor modifications the DDL from one database system that conforms to SQL standards can be applied to any other that also complies to the standards.

Tables, indexes, constraints, views, packages, procedures, triggers and other structures may be a part of the DDL for a specific application. Each of these types of database objects should be built using separate scripts. Separate build scripts for sets of like database objects allow ease of modifications should the structure of the command to build these objects differs in the target database system. Unfortunately most database systems do not provide DDL generators to create these atomic level scripts. If you use a CASE (Computer Aided System Engineering) system to build your system many CASE systems allow generation of a specific type of object DDL and many support multiple database system syntax. However, if a CASE tool was not used, the only recourse is to manually generate the DDL scripts. Most systems will have Data Dictionary tables that can be queried like any other database tables allowing the DDL to be dynamically generated for each type of database object. When documenting the application do not forget to also document all initialization parameters and physical database structures. In Oracle the initialization parameters will be documented in the init_<SID>.ora file where the SID is the database identifier. The physical structures in Oracle are documented in the data dictionary tables or can be documented using simple Oracle system commands. Other databases have similar features.

SEE CODE DEPOT FOR FULL SCRIPTS

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