Data Comparison

From: raghu <raghu_vnin_at_yahoo.com>
Date: 26 Nov 2005 18:56:55 -0800
Message-ID: <1133060215.613572.225270@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>

Hi,

We are trying to compare two tables of similar structure. In other words, the missing and the different records are to be determined. The database is Oracle 9i.

The options being evaluated are

Minus Operator - Since the table has nearly 4 million records, I am not sure if this is a feasible option.
Cursors - For each table, cursors can be opened and the data can be compared. Fetching the records in blocks (using BULK COLLECT LIMIT) may not be possible because different records might be selected from each table. Moreover, comparing null values makes it even tougher.

Though time (taken for the comparison operation) is not a constraint, the number of database hits and the processing memory are to be certainly considered.

What are your thoughts? Are there any other ways to do the data comparison?

Thank you. Received on Sat Nov 26 2005 - 20:56:55 CST