Supplemental logging places additional column data into a redo log whenever an operation is performed. The capture process captures this additional information and places it in LCRs. Supplemental logging is always configured at a source database, regardless of the location of the capture process that captures changes to the source database.

There are two types of supplemental logging: database supplemental logging and table supplemental logging. Database supplemental logging specifies supplemental logging for an entire database, while table supplemental logging enables you to specify log groups for supplemental logging of a particular table. If you use table supplemental logging, then you can choose between two types of log groups: unconditional log groups and conditional log groups.

Unconditional log groups log the before images of specified columns when the table is changed, regardless of whether the change affected any of the specified columns. Unconditional log groups are sometimes referred to as "always log groups." Conditional log groups log the before images of all specified columns only if at least one of the columns in the log group is changed.

Supplementing logging at the database level, unconditional log groups at the table level, and conditional log groups at the table level together determine which old values are logged for a change.

If you plan to use one or more apply processes to apply LCRs captured by a capture process, then you must enable supplemental logging at the source database for the following types of columns in tables at the destination database:

Any columns at the source database that are used in a primary key in tables for which changes are applied at a destination database must be unconditionally logged in a log group or by database supplemental logging of primary key columns.

If the parallelism of any apply process that will apply the changes is greater than 1, then any unique constraint column at a destination database that comes from multiple columns at the source database must be conditionally logged. Supplemental logging does not need to be specified if a unique constraint column comes from a single column at the source database.

If the parallelism of any apply process that will apply the changes is greater than 1, then any foreign key column at a destination database that comes from multiple columns at the source database must be conditionally logged. Supplemental logging does not need to be specified if the foreign key column comes from a single column at the source database.

If the parallelism of any apply process that will apply the changes is greater than 1, then any bitmap index column at a destination database that comes from multiple columns at the source database must be conditionally logged. Supplemental logging does not need to be specified if the bitmap index column comes from a single column at the source database.

Any columns at the source database that are used as substitute key columns for an apply process at a destination database must be unconditionally logged. You specify substitute key columns for a table using the SET_KEY_COLUMNS procedure in the DBMS_APPLY_ADM package.

The columns specified in a column list for conflict resolution during apply must be conditionally logged if more than one column at the source database is used in the column list at the destination database.

Any columns at the source database that are used by a DML handler or error handler at a destination database must be unconditionally logged.

Any columns at the source database that are used by a rule or a rule-based transformation must be unconditionally logged.

Any columns at the source database that are specified in a value dependency virtual dependency definition at a destination database must be unconditionally logged.

If you specify row subsetting for a table at a destination database, then any columns at the source database that are in the destination table or columns at the source database that are in the subset condition must be unconditionally logged. You specify a row subsetting condition for an apply process using the dml_condition parameter in the ADD_SUBSET_RULES procedure in the DBMS_STREAMS_ADM package.

If you do not use supplemental logging for these types of columns at a source database, then changes involving these columns might not apply properly at a destination database.

Note:

LOB, LONG, LONG RAW, and user-defined type columns cannot be part of a supplemental log group.