FIX: Distribution Agent Ignores Quoted Identifier Option on Initial Sync to Oracle Subscribers (278509)

SYMPTOMS

When using an Oracle relational database management system (RDBMS) as a subscriber in a replication environment, the initial snapshot may not be properly applied for Oracle tables that need to be created with the "Quoted Identifier" setting. This can later cause the distribution agent to return "Object Not Found" errors when distributing changes to the Oracle subscriber.

CAUSE

By default, the distribution agent strips off all identifier quotes when creating or referencing tables on an Oracle subscriber. The QuotedIdentifier command-line argument is provided to override this default behavior. Unfortunately, the parameter only takes effect for the distribution agent when it applies incremental changes, and not when it initially creates the table during snapshot application. This behavior causes problems with subscribing Oracle RDBMSs where it is required that a table be referenced with quotes if it was created with quotes, and vice versa.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem:

Avoid using quoted identifiers for subscribing tables on the Oracle server.
Manually synchronize the Oracle subscriber.
Let the snapshot complete and later transfer the data into the correct tables created with the Quoted Identifier setting.

STATUS

SQL Server 7.0

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 3 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

274799 INF: How to Obtain Service Pack 3 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0

For more information, contact your primary support provider.

SQL Server 2000

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 2000. This problem was first corrected in SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1.