NAME

       db5.3_dump - Write database to flat-text format

SYNOPSIS

       db5.3_dump [-klNpRrV] [-d ahr] [-f output] [-h home] [-P password] [-s database] file

DESCRIPTION

       The db5.3_dump utility reads the database file file and writes it to the standard output using a portable
       flat-text format understood by the db5.3_load utility.  The file argument must be a file  produced  using
       the Berkeley DB library functions.

OPTIONS

       -d     Dump the specified database in a format helpful for debugging the Berkeley DB library routines.

              a      Display all information.

              h      Display only page headers.

              r      Do  not display the free-list or pages on the free list.  This mode is used by the recovery
                     tests.

              The output format of the -d option is  not  standard  and  may  change,  without  notice,  between
              releases of the Berkeley DB library.

       -f     Write to the specified file instead of to the standard output.

       -h     Specify  a  home directory for the database environment; by default, the current working directory
              is used.

       -k     Dump record numbers from Queue and Recno databases as keys.

       -l     List the databases stored in the file.

       -N     Do not acquire shared region mutexes while running.  Other problems,  such  as  potentially  fatal
              errors  in  Berkeley  DB,  will  be  ignored  as well.  This option is intended only for debugging
              errors, and should not be used under any other circumstances.

       -P     Specify an environment password.  Although Berkeley DB utilities  overwrite  password  strings  as
              soon  as  possible,  be aware there may be a window of vulnerability on systems where unprivileged
              users can see command-line arguments or where utilities are  not  able  to  overwrite  the  memory
              containing the command-line arguments.

       -p     If  characters in either the key or data items are printing characters (as defined by isprint(3)),
              use printing characters in file to represent them.  This option permits users to use standard text
              editors and tools to modify the contents of databases.

              Note:  different  systems may have different notions about what characters are considered printing
              characters, and databases dumped in this manner may be less portable to external systems.

       -R     Aggressively salvage data from a possibly corrupt file.  The -R flag differs from the -r option in
              that  it will return all possible data from the file at the risk of also returning already deleted
              or otherwise nonsensical items.  Data dumped in this fashion will  almost  certainly  have  to  be
              edited by hand or other means before the data is ready for reload into another database

       -r     Salvage  data  from  a  possibly  corrupt  file.  When used on a uncorrupted database, this option
              should return equivalent data to a normal dump, but most likely in a different order.

       -s     Specify a single database to dump.  If no database is specified, all  databases  in  the  database
              file are dumped.

       -V     Write the library version number to the standard output, and exit.

       Dumping  and  reloading  Hash databases that use user-defined hash functions will result in new databases
       that use the default hash function.  Although using the default hash function may not be optimal for  the
       new database, it will continue to work correctly.

       Dumping and reloading Btree databases that use user-defined prefix or comparison functions will result in
       new databases that use the default prefix and comparison functions.  In this case,  it  is  quite  likely
       that the database will be damaged beyond repair permitting neither record storage or retrieval.

       The only available workaround for either case is to modify the sources for the db5.3_load utility to load
       the database using the correct hash, prefix, and comparison functions.

       The db5.3_dump utility output format is documented in the Dump Output Formats section of the Berkeley  DB
       Reference Guide.

       The  db5.3_dump  utility  may be used with a Berkeley DB environment (as described for the -h option, the
       environment variable DB_HOME, or because the utility was run in a  directory  containing  a  Berkeley  DB
       environment).   In order to avoid environment corruption when using a Berkeley DB environment, db5.3_dump
       should always be given the chance  to  detach  from  the  environment  and  exit  gracefully.   To  cause
       db5.3_dump to release all environment resources and exit cleanly, send it an interrupt signal (SIGINT).

       Even  when  using  a  Berkeley  DB  database environment, the db5.3_dump utility does not use any kind of
       database locking if it is invoked with the -d,  -R,  or  -r  arguments.    If  used  with  one  of  these
       arguments,  the db5.3_dump utility may only be safely run on databases that are not being modified by any
       other process; otherwise, the output may be corrupt.

       The db5.3_dump utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

ENVIRONMENT

       DB_HOME
              If the -h option is not specified and the environment variable DB_HOME is set, it is used  as  the
              path of the database home, as described in DB_ENV->open.

AUTHORS

       Sleepycat  Software,  Inc.  This manual page was created based on the HTML documentation for db_dump from
       Sleepycat, by Thijs Kinkhorst <thijs@kinkhorst.com>, for the Debian system (but may be used by others).

                                                 28 January 2005                                   DB5.3_DUMP(1)