Copies an existing database.

Syntax

procopy -help source-db-name target-db-name [-newinstance][-silent][-relative][ -RO ]

Parameters

-help
Displays syntax for utility and specified subcommands. If the syntax displayed ends with ellipses, type the command shown followed by -help to view subcommand syntax.
source-db-name
Specifies the database you want to copy. You cannot copy the database if you have a server running on it.
target-db-name

Specifies the structure file or the new database. If you specify a directory without a filename, PROCOPY returns an error.

The value you specify can be any combination of letters and numbers, starting with a letter. Do not use ABL keywords or special characters, such as commas or semicolons. The maximum length of target-db-name varies depending on the underlying operating system. For specific limits, see your operating system documentation.

-newinstance
Specifies that a new GUID be created for the target database.
-silent
Suppresses the output of work-in-progress messages.
-relative
If your source database is a relative-path database, or if you have an existing relative-path .st file for your target, create the target database as a relative-path database. By default, copying a database creates a target with absolute path names.
-RO
Runs the utility in read-only mode. Use read-only mode to connect to databases on read-only media or to diagnose and repair issues on a stopped database before starting it. Read-only mode allows any number of connections concurrently, up to the maximum number of connections. This reduces bottlenecks and expedites disaster recovery on large databases.
Note: Use -RO with caution because it is designed to work only with a read-only connection. Unexpected errors may result if you specify -RO when using a single-user or multi-user connection.

PROCOPY copies a source database to a target database. If the target database exists, it must contain at a minimum the same type and number of storage areas and same extent types as the source database. However, the number of extents in the storage areas of the target database do not need to match the number of extents in the source database. PROCOPY will extend the existing extents in the target database to accommodate the possible increase in size.

If a target database does not exist, PROCOPY creates one using an existing .st file in the target database directory. If a .st file does not exist, PROCOPY creates the target database using the structure of the source database and places all of the extents in the same directory as the target database .db file, even when the source database resides in multiple directories.

Notes

  • If you do not supply the .db extension for databases, PROCOPY automatically appends it.
  • A target database must contain the same physical structure as the source. For example, it must have the same number of storage areas and the same database block size. Each storage area in the target must have the same values for records per block and blocks per cluster as the corresponding storage area in the source.
  • PROCOPY supports the use of internationalization startup parameters such as -cpinternal codepage and -cpstream codepage. See Database Startup Parameters for a description of each database-related internationalization startup parameter.
  • You can use this utility with a stopped database that has a read-only connection. See Read-only connections.
  • Databases supplied in the install directory for this release, contain the field for a database GUID, but the field contains the Unknown value (?) rather than a valid GUID. When PROCOPY is used to copy one of these databases, the GUID field of the target database is automatically set.