How do you read an Oracle .dmp file on a Mac?

Question

I have a ~1GB .dmp file I'd like to get the data out of and I'm on a Mac. Is there any way to do this without either buying Oracle or finding a windows machine?

Can you import .dmp files into PostgreSQL or other SQL/NoSQL databases that are easy to get running on a Mac (MySQL, SQLite3, MongoDB)?

If not, what are the options? Even being able to convert the .dmp to a CSV for free would work.

Answer 1

Since .dmp files are a proprietary Oracle format, I am not aware of any third party software that can read it entirely although using the 'strings' on the command line on a Mac or *nix machine should reveal some of the SQL DDL, you probably can't read the data itself. The free 'Oracle Express Edition' is available for Linux so on your Mac (Intel-based?) you could:

1. Install some virtualization software on Mac OSX that can run Linux such as Virtual Box or VMware.
2. Download and install the free Oracle 11.2 Express Ed. for Linux x64 or, if the licensing allows, use one of the Pre-built Developer VMs that has Oracle 11.2 already installed.