Re: Informix DS 7.24 Missing DBspace/chunk

Cheryl Kemp wrote: > > Jim Will wrote: > > > > When I try to create a DBspace by running the following command: > > onspaces -c -d ccbdbs1 -p /opt/informix/dev/chk25a -o 0 -s 250000> > The following message is returned: > > The chunk specified already exists. > > > > So then I try to drop the chunk with the following command: > > onspaces -d ccbdbs1 -p /opt/informix/dev/chk25a -o 0> > The following message is returned:. > > DBspace/BLOBspace does not exist. [SNIP] > Has that chunk been used previously and dropped?? If so, you have to > perform a level 0 archive before using that chunk again. > Cheryl Actually that is not true. The dire warning that onspace announces when you drop a chunk of dbspace is completely spurious. I do that al the time, drop a chunk and readd it somewhere else. The reason for the warning is that if you do not take an archive and you should have to restore the engine everything will be put back to the way it was before the change and level 1 & 2 backups and logs taken after the change will be useless. Also, worse yet, if you need to perform a warm or partial restore of the dbspace from which the chunk was dropped the restore may trash new data written to that chunk as part of its new dbspace. So yes for practical reasons it is important that you archive your database immediately after you are finished playing and it is probably a good idea to do it between dropping and adding, under the save early and often philosophy, but nothing dire will happen if you do not as long as the machine does not crash before you do. Certainly the engine will not complain about it (it does not even remember the chunk was ever there). Art S. Kagel