Looks like I gave Wolfgang some bad advice: Wolfgang, Here's ascii list followed by partial hex dumps of a dmp file with an editor tool we have Last record in dmp file has 923 x'00's or nulls If you have a small dmp file you're trying to process maybe I could find where PERL is gagging. Kinda surprised it would confuse length with EOF marker. I don't think 'sed' would have that problem Easy to test and see if file size the same. >sed "s/Wolfgang/Breitlin/" expstat8A.dmp > nev.dmp >ll *dmp -rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 986112 Jun 17 23:00 expstat8A.dmp -rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 854330 Sep 29 16:57 nev.dmp >grep Breitlin new.dmp|wc 0 0 0 Ouch! They're not >ll *dmp -rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 986112 Jun 17 23:00 expstat8A.dmp -rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 854330 Sep 29 16:57 nev.dmp >diff expstat8A.dmp nev.dmp|pg Binary files expstat8A.dmp and nev.dmp differ 986112-854330 ------------- 131782 Maybe we need vi or my editor! Larry /usr/pub/ascii |000 nul|001 soh|002 stx|003 etx|004 eot|005 enq|006 ack|007 bel| |010 bs |011 ht |012 nl |013 vt |014 np |015 cr |016 so |017 si | |020 dle|021 dc1|022 dc2|023 dc3|024 dc4|025 nak|026 syn|027 etb| |030 can|031 em |032 sub|033 esc|034 fs |035 gs |036 rs |037 us | |040 sp |041 ! |042 " |043 # |044 $ |045 % |046 & |047 ' | |050 ( |051 ) |052 * |053 + |054 , |055 - |056 . |057 / | |060 0 |061 1 |062 2 |063 3 |064 4 |065 5 |066 6 |067 7 | |070 8 |071 9 |072 : |073 ; |074 < |075 = |076 > |077 ? | |100 @ |101 A |102 B |103 C |104 D |105 E |106 F |107 G | |110 H |111 I |112 J |113 K |114 L |115 M |116 N |117 O | |120 P |121 Q |122 R |123 S |124 T |125 U |126 V |127 W | |130 X |131 Y |132 Z |133 [ |134 \ |135 ] |136 ^ |137 _ | |140 ` |141 a |142 b |143 c |144 d |145 e |146 f |147 g | |150 h |151 i |152 j |153 k |154 l |155 m |156 n |157 o | |160 p |161 q |162 r |163 s |164 t |165 u |166 v |167 w | |170 x |171 y |172 z |173 { |174 | |175 } |176 ~ |177 del| | 00 nul| 01 soh| 02 stx| 03 etx| 04 eot| 05 enq| 06 ack| 07 bel| | 08 bs | 09 ht | 0a nl | 0b vt | 0c np | 0d cr | 0e so | 0f si | | 10 dle| 11 dc1| 12 dc2| 13 dc3| 14 dc4| 15 nak| 16 syn| 17 etb| | 18 can| 19 em | 1a sub| 1b esc| 1c fs | 1d gs | 1e rs | 1f us | | 20 sp | 21 ! | 22 " | 23 # | 24 $ | 25 % | 26 & | 27 ' | | 28 ( | 29 ) | 2a * | 2b + | 2c , | 2d - | 2e . | 2f / | | 30 0 | 31 1 | 32 2 | 33 3 | 34 4 | 35 5 | 36 6 | 37 7 | | 38 8 | 39 9 | 3a : | 3b ; | 3c < | 3d = | 3e > | 3f ? | | 40 @ | 41 A | 42 B | 43 C | 44 D | 45 E | 46 F | 47 G | | 48 H | 49 I | 4a J | 4b K | 4c L | 4d M | 4e N | 4f O | | 50 P | 51 Q | 52 R | 53 S | 54 T | 55 U | 56 V | 57 W | | 58 X | 59 Y | 5a Z | 5b [ | 5c \ | 5d ] | 5e ^ | 5f _ | | 60 ` | 61 a | 62 b | 63 c | 64 d | 65 e | 66 f | 67 g | | 68 h | 69 i | 6a j | 6b k | 6c l | 6d m | 6e n | 6f o | | 70 p | 71 q | 72 r | 73 s | 74 t | 75 u | 76 v | 77 w | | 78 x | 79 y | 7a z | 7b { | 7c | | 7d } | 7e ~ | 7f del| Here's parts of a hex dump of a statid table Beginning BROWSE /expstat8A.dmp ---------------------------------------- LINE 00000000 COL 001 095 COMMAND ===> SCROLL ==> PAGE ************************************* TOP OF DATA ************************************** EXPORT:V09.02.00 0004554553533233233 301580F24A609E02E00 UDLEUSER 54445545 54C55352 RTABLES 5544445 2412C53 1024 3333 1024 0 3 0 MIDDLE record or line number on left in EDIT mode. EDIT expstat8A.dmp ---------------------------------------------------------- COLUMNS 001 088 COMMAND ===> SCROLL ==> CSR 005167 c 0@ xh 1600C034000C0FFFFFFFF00760 23504E0032016EFEFEFEF70886 005168 01100C0 491504D 005169 c 0@ DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2004_Q2_M04 DL_FILE_ID DL 1600C0340FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF00445444454400 44 23504E003EF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092004F12FD04EFF04CF69C5F9470 4C 005170 0@ \+` DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2004_Q2_M05 DL_FILE_BLO 01100C034000C0526FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF004454 4445444 493504E004504FCB0EF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092004F12FD05EFF04CF6 9C5F2CF 005171 \. ), DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2004_Q2_M06 DL_FILE_BLO 01100C052100C1221FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF004454 4445444 496504FCEF50419C8EF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092004F12FD06EFF04CF6 9C5F2CF 005172 ),M 2 DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2004_Q3_M07 DL_FILE_BLO 01100C122400C1301FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF004454 4445444 49E50419CD50412E8EF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092004F13FD07EFF04CF6 9C5F2CF A FEW RECORDS FARTHER EDIT expstat8A.dmp ---------------------------------------------------------- COLUMNS 001 088 COMMAND ===> SCROLL ==> CSR 005215 = +_-!\ DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2003_Q3_M09 01000C01300C25225FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF 49540328D605BFD1CEF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092003F13FD09EF 005216 FILE_CRC32 DLEUSER 6!> A(D V V %" +_G+b xh 0444454543300444554500C03200B1011424100C00500C00500800C22100C2542600C0FFFFFF FF00760 069C5F32332704C5535240366190E38C9184F403266403266100403529605BF7B22017EFEFEF EF70886 005217 %" +_G+b DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2003_Q4_M10 01000C22100C25426FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF 496403529605BF7B2EF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092003F14FD10EF 005218 FILE_CRC32 DLEUSER >F 3-#`aN =A =A -R +_O ; xh 0444454543300444554500C04100B032266400C03400C03400800C02500C2541300C0FFFFFFF F00760 069C5F32332704C5535240396880EC3D301E4032D14032D1100403CD2605BFFAB2017EFEFEFE F70886 005219 -R +_O ; DOX8YE30THR C EMS_FILE Y2003_Q4_M11 01000C02500C25413FF00005453443354500400C0008004455444400533335535433FF 497403CD2605BFFABEF00B00F8815304821032015100D05D3F69C5C092003F14FD11EF 005220 FILE_CRC32 DLEUSER @%> "1 VE ! 'M 'M *' +_Y'X xh 0444454543300444554500C04200B0231541200C02400C02400800C22100C2552500C0FFFFFF FF00760 069C5F32332704C55352403E0590E8214659140337D40337D100403A72605BF9782017EFEFEF EF70886 ENDS WITH 923 hex'00's EDIT expstat8A.dmp ----------------------------------------------------------- 923 CHARS X'00' COMMAND ===> SCROLL ==> CSR 010287 + Acknowledged> Suspended 0210046666766666600577766666FF00FF 7BFC013BEF7C547549035305E454EF00FF 010288 CREATE INDEX "STATS" ON "STATS" ("STATID" , "TYPE" , "C5" , "C1" , "C2" , "C3" , " 4544542444452255455224422554552222554544222225554222224322222432222243222224 322222 32514509E458023414320FE0234143208234149420C02490520C023520C023120C023220C023 320C02 010289 EXIT 4545 5894 .A EXIT 4545 5894 .B 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000000000 ****** ************************************ BOTTOM OF DATA ************************************ ********************************************************************** The information contained in this communication is confidential, is intended only for the use of the recipient named above, and may be legally privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please re-send this communication to the sender and delete the original message or any copy of it from your computer system. Thank You. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l