Partitioning a Non-partitioned table

You can partition a non-partitioned table in one of four ways:

A) Export/import method

B) Insert with a subquery method

C) Partition exchange method

D) DBMS_REDEFINITION

Either of these four methods will create a partitioned table from an existing non-partitioned table.

A. Export/import method
--------------------

1) Export your table:

exp pp/pp tables=numbers file=exp.dmp

2) Drop the table:

drop table numbers;

3) Recreate the table with partitions:

create table numbers (qty number(3), name varchar2(15))
partition by range (qty)
(partition p1 values less than (501),
partition p2 values less than (maxvalue));

4) Import the table with ignore=y:

imp pp/pp file=exp.dmp ignore=y

The ignore=y causes the import to skip the table creation and
continues to load all rows.


B. Insert with a subquery method
-----------------------------

1) Create a partitioned table:

create table partbl (qty number(3), name varchar2(15))
partition by range (qty)
(partition p1 values less than (501),
partition p2 values less than (maxvalue));

2) Insert into the partitioned table with a subquery from the
non-partitioned table:

insert into partbl (qty, name)
select * from origtbl;

3) If you want the partitioned table to have the same name as the
original table, then drop the original table and rename the
new table:

drop table origtbl;
alter table partbl rename to origtbl;

C. Partition Exchange method
-------------------------


ALTER TABLE EXCHANGE PARTITION can be used to convert a partition (or
subpartition) into a non-partitioned table and a non-partitioned table into a
partition (or subpartition) of a partitioned table by exchanging their data
and index segments.

1) Create table dummy_t as select with the required partitions

2) Alter table EXCHANGE partition partition_name
with table non-partition_table;


Example
-------

SQL> CREATE TABLE p_emp
2 (sal NUMBER(7,2))
3 PARTITION BY RANGE(sal)
4 (partition emp_p1 VALUES LESS THAN (2000),
5 partition emp_p2 VALUES LESS THAN (4000));
Table created.


SQL> SELECT * FROM emp;
EMPNO ENAME JOB MGR HIREDATE SAL
--------- ---------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
7369 SMITH CLERK 7902 17-DEC-80 800
7499 ALLEN SALESMAN 7698 20-FEB-81 1600
7521 WARD SALESMAN 7698 22-FEB-81 1250
7566 JONES MANAGER 7839 02-APR-81 2975
7654 MARTIN SALESMAN 7698 28-SEP-81 1250
7698 BLAKE MANAGER 7839 01-MAY-81 2850
7782 CLARK MANAGER 7839 09-JUN-81 2450
7788 SCOTT ANALYST 7566 19-APR-87 3000
7839 KING PRESIDENT 17-NOV-81 5000
7844 TURNER SALESMAN 7698 08-SEP-81 1500
7876 ADAMS CLERK 7788 23-MAY-87 1100
7900 JAMES CLERK 7698 03-DEC-81 950
7902 FORD ANALYST 7566 03-DEC-81 3000
7934 MILLER CLERK 7782 23-JAN-82 1300
14 rows selected.

SQL> CREATE TABLE dummy_y as SELECT sal
FROM emp WHERE sal<2000;
Table created.

SQL> CREATE TABLE dummy_z as SELECT sal FROM emp WHERE sal
BETWEEN 2000 AND 3999;
Table created.

SQL> alter table p_emp exchange partition emp_p1
with table dummy_y;
Table altered.

SQL> alter table p_emp exchange partition emp_p2
with table dummy_z;
Table altered.


D. DBMS_REDEFINITION
---------------------------------

Step by step instructions on how to convert unpartitioned table to partitioned one using dbms_redefinition package.

1) Create unpartitioned table with the name unpar_table
SQL> CREATE TABLE unpar_table (
id NUMBER(10),
create_date DATE,
name VARCHAR2(100)
);

2) Apply some constraints to the table:
SQL> ALTER TABLE unpar_table ADD (
CONSTRAINT unpar_table_pk PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

SQL> CREATE INDEX create_date_ind ON unpar_table(create_date);

3) Gather statistics on the table:
SQL> EXEC DBMS_STATS.gather_table_stats(USER, 'unpar_table', cascade => TRUE);
4) Create a Partitioned Interim Table:
SQL> CREATE TABLE par_table (
id NUMBER(10),
create_date DATE,
name VARCHAR2(100)
)
PARTITION BY RANGE (create_date)
(PARTITION unpar_table_2005 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01/01/2005', 'DD/MM/YYYY')),
PARTITION unpar_table_2006 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01/01/2006', 'DD/MM/YYYY')),
PARTITION unpar_table_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (MAXVALUE));

5) Start the Redefinition Process:

a) Check the redefinition is possible using the following command:
SQL> EXEC Dbms_Redefinition.can_redef_table(USER, 'unpar_table');
b)If no errors are reported, start the redefintion using the following command:
SQL> BEGIN
DBMS_REDEFINITION.start_redef_table(
uname => USER,
orig_table => 'unpar_table',
int_table => 'par_table');
END;
/

Note: This operation can take quite some time to complete.

c) Optionally synchronize new table with interim name before index creation:
SQL> BEGIN
dbms_redefinition.sync_interim_table(
uname => USER,
orig_table => 'unpar_table',
int_table => 'par_table');
END;
/
d) Create Constraints and Indexes:
SQL> ALTER TABLE par_table ADD (
CONSTRAINT unpar_table_pk2 PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

SQL> CREATE INDEX create_date_ind2 ON par_table(create_date);
e) Gather statistics on the new table:
SQL> EXEC DBMS_STATS.gather_table_stats(USER, 'par_table', cascade => TRUE);
f) Complete the Redefintion Process:
SQL> BEGIN
dbms_redefinition.finish_redef_table(
uname => USER,
orig_table => 'unpar_table',
int_table => 'par_table');
END;
/
At this point the interim table has become the "real" table and their names have been switched in the name dictionary.

g) Remove original table which now has the name of the interim table:
SQL> DROP TABLE par_table;
h)Rename all the constraints and indexes to match the original names.
ALTER TABLE unpar_table RENAME CONSTRAINT unpar_table_pk2 TO unpar_table_pk;
ALTER INDEX create_date_ind2 RENAME TO create_date_ind;
i) Check whether partitioning is successful or not:
SQL> SELECT partitioned
FROM user_tables
WHERE table_name = 'unpar_table';

PAR
---
YES

1 row selected.

SQL> SELECT partition_name
FROM user_tab_partitions
WHERE table_name = 'unpar_table';

PARTITION_NAME
------------------------------
unpar_table_2005
unpar_table_2006
unpar_table_2007