If you use the Export utility to export tables with spatial data, the behavior of the operation depends on whether or not the spatial data has been spatially indexed:
If the spatial data has not been spatially indexed, the table data is exported. However, you must update the USER_SDO_GEOM_METADATA view with the appropriate information on the target system.
If the spatial data has been spatially indexed, the table data is exported, the appropriate information is inserted into the USER_SDO_GEOM_METADATA view on the target system, and the spatial index is built on the target system. However, if the insertion into the USER_SDO_GEOM_METADATA view fails (for example, if there is already a USER_SDO_GEOM_METADATA entry for the spatial layer), the spatial index is not built.
If you use the Import utility to import data that has been spatially indexed, the following considerations apply:
If the index on the exported data was created with a TABLESPACE clause and if the specified tablespace does not exist in the database at import time, the index is not built. (This is different from the behavior with other Oracle indexes, where the index is created in the user's default tablespace if the tablespace specified for the original index does not exist at import time.)
If the import operation must be done by a privileged database user, and if the FROMUSER and TOUSER format is used, the TOUSER user must be granted the CREATE TABLE and CREATE SEQUENCE privileges before the import operation, as shown in the following example (and enter the password for the SYSTEM account when prompted):
sqlplus system SQL> grant CREATE TABLE, CREATE SEQUENCE to CHRIS; SQL> exit; imp system file=spatl_data.dmp fromuser=SCOTT touser=CHRIS
For information about using the Export and Import utilities, see Oracle Database Utilities.