Overview

Db2 is a powerful relational database management system whose wide success in the DBMS community rests on its ability to facilitate fast application development and provide easy access to data. As users depend more and more on the Db2 DBMS for critical business applications, the need for continuous operations becomes crucial.

The need to unload data

Data in a Db2 table often must be moved or copied. For example, you might want to:

• Move data to a different Db2 subsystem, from a Db2 table to a sequential file for external processing, or to another relational database system or platform

• Extract a subset of rows from a table to use as test data, or to unload a Db2 table for changes to Db2 object definitions, such as those that the  ALTER and BMC AMI Change Manager for Db2 products perform

• Convert unloaded data to a different format during unload processing

The UNLOAD PLUS solution

BMC developed a product line to respond to the needs of DBAs, system administrators, and other Db2 users who require high-performance database administration and utility products. The UNLOAD PLUS product is an exceptionally flexible, high-performance tool that combines all of the basic unload tasks with additional unload utility functions.

UNLOAD PLUS benefits

UNLOAD PLUS provides the following significant benefits:

• Reduced costs of unloading Db2 data

  UNLOAD PLUS dynamically eliminates processing of partitions that do not meet the selection criteria. It also handles all of its own buffering and performs I/O operations at the lowest level possible.

• High availability of Db2 data

  UNLOAD PLUS ensures application availability with online access during execution. Working with either EXTENDED BUFFER MANAGER (XBM) or its SNAPSHOT UPGRADE FEATURE (SUF), UNLOAD PLUS unloads a consistent image of your data while enabling read and write access to a table space.

  The following features also provide availability benefits:

  • Exclusive technology that eliminates SQL -904 outages

  • Unique, high-performance option that works with LOADPLUS to reduce total processing time for unloading and reloading data

• Flexible processing options

  In addition to unloading directly from Db2 table spaces, you can unload data from other sources, such as VSAM linear data sets and several types of copy data sets.

  UNLOAD PLUS also provides flexibility through the following options:

  • Powerful, easy-to-use SELECT-like syntax for specifying the data that UNLOAD PLUS unloads

  • Powerful syntax that can extract all data from a table space with one command

    You can unload an entire table space without writing and maintaining multiple SELECT statements.

• Minimal interference with Db2 performance and resources because UNLOAD PLUS runs outside of Db2

• Expanded functionality to eliminate the need to perform additional tasks before and after data is unloaded

  For example, UNLOAD PLUS provides the following functions:

  • Comprehensive set of data type conversions to reduce the need for special application code

  • Ability to unload data from image copies even if an object has been changed or no longer exists

  • Ability to dynamically allocate primary and secondary unload data sets, reducing the need to include DD statements in your JCL

• Integration with BMC solutions for Db2