I have had problems in the past with setting the data format. I tend to use the following method these days run { sql "alter session set nls_date_format=''YYYY-MM-DD:HH24:MI:SS''"; set until time = '2004-03-01:09:00:00'; allocate channel ch_1 type 'SBT_TAPE' format 'full_1_%s_%p_%t'; restore controlfile; } -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Remigiusz Sokolowski Sent: 22 November 2007 08:31 To: 'ORACLE-L' Subject: about rman, recovery and date format hi lastly I've had to recover one of databases. I use script below ---------- run { allocate channel d1 device type disk format '<path>/%d/%d_%T_%U.bkp' sql "alter session set nls_date_format=''yyyy-mm-dd hh24:mi:ss''"; set until time '2007-11-20 23:00:00'; restore database; recover database; } --------- During recover operation I 've got error ORA-01841: (full) year must be between -4713 and +9999, and not be 0 BJSS Limited, 1st Floor Coronet House, Queen Street, Leeds LS1 2TW. Registered in England with company number 2777575. http://www.bjss.co.uk -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l