5.3.2 Using character special files

Organization of this subsection
(1) Range of applicability of character special files
(2) Initial setting

(1) Range of applicability of character special files

The range of support for file system areas in which character special files can be used is shown in the following table:

Usage1OS
HP-UXSolarisAIX 5LLinux
DBYesYesYesYes2
SDBYesYesYesYes
SYSYesYesYesYes
UTL3YesYesYesYes
WORKYesYesYesNo
SVRYesYesYesNo
Legend:
Yes: Character special files can be used.
No: Character special files cannot be used.
1 The entries in the Usage column are HiRDB file system areas specified in the -k option of the pdfmkfs command.
2 For the Linux version, the following table shows for each type of RDAREA whether or not character special files can be used:
RDAREA typeStatus
Master directory RDAREAYes
Data directory RDAREAYes
Data dictionary RDAREAYes
User RDAREAYes
Registry RDAREAYes
Data dictionary LOB RDAREAYes
User LOB RDAREAYes
Registry LOB RDAREAYes
List RDAREANo
Legend:
Yes: Character special files can be used.
No: Character special files cannot be used.
3 The following utility files support character special files:
  • Backup files
  • Unload log files
  • Unload data files
  • Differential backup management files
  • Index information files

(2) Initial setting

If character special files are to be used, you must use the pdfmkfs command to make an initial setting that the HiRDB file system area will use character special files. If the character special files are symbolic links, specify the names of the links.

Modify the owner and access privileges of the file system area before making the initial setting. For details about the modifications, see 2.3.6(5) Change the owner and access privileges of the HiRDB file system area (applicable to character special files).

The following is an example of specifying the pdfmkfs command:

pdfmkfs -n 200 -l 20 -k DB /dev/raw/raw1