Single JSON Export

In single mode (-format single) the exporter writes one file — metadata.json by default — whose root is a Sqlflow object. The whole document is built in memory and serialized at once, so single mode is bounded by an approximately 1 GB single-document ceiling. For larger estates use the sharded export.

Serialization omits null values and empty collections, and boolean flags are emitted only when they are known to be true — an unknown or false flag is simply absent rather than written as false. So a real document contains a subset of the keys below, depending on the source database.

Root object — Sqlflow

Key	Type	Holds
createdBy	string	Tool and version, e.g. sqlflow-ingester v1.5.1.
physicalInstance	string	Source database host or IP.
createTime	string	Export time, yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.
servers	Server[]	The payload. In practice a single entry.
errorMessages	Error[]	Non-fatal errors collected during extraction. Omitted when empty.

Server

Key	Type	Holds
name	string	Server host name.
dbVendor	string	Dialect, the GSP EDbVendor enum name, e.g. dbvoracle (see values).
supportsCatalogs	boolean	The vendor has a catalog / database tier.
supportsSchemas	boolean	The vendor has a schema tier.
databases	Database[]	Catalogs, when supportsCatalogs is true.
schemas	Schema[]	Top-level schemas, on schema-only servers.
queries	Query[]	A flat list of every DDL / source object — views, materialized views, procedures, functions, triggers, packages and package bodies, and foreign-key constraints. In single mode this is where all SQL text lives.
dbLinks	DBLink[]	Oracle-style database links.

Where a table lands depends on the vendor's tiers: catalog + schema vendors nest tables under databases[].schemas[].tables[]; catalog-only vendors under databases[].tables[]; schema-only vendors (Oracle) under servers[].schemas[].tables[].

Database and Schema

A Database carries the object lists below. A Schema is identical except it has no nested schemas. Object names are normalized identifiers.

Key	Type	Holds
name	string	Catalog / schema name.
schemas	Schema[]	Nested schemas (Database only).
tables / views / others	Table[]	Tables, views, and other table-like objects (e.g. materialized views), pre-split by type.
procedures / functions / triggers	Procedure[]	Routine metadata, pre-split by type.
packages	Package[]	Packages (Oracle-style).
synonyms	Synonym[]	Synonyms / aliases.
sequences	Sequence[]	Sequences.
processes	Process[]	Process objects, where the vendor has them.

Table (also views, materialized views, and other table-like objects)

Key	Type	Holds
name	string	Object name.
type	string	table, view, materialized view, or another table-like type.
databaseName	string	Owning catalog. Always present.
schemaName	string	Owning schema. Always present.
columns	Column[]	The columns.
displayName, alias, subType, dbLink, fromDDL	string	Optional; usually absent.
coordinates	Coordinate[]	Optional source positions; absent in database exports.

Column

Key	Type	Holds
name	string	Column name.
dataType	string	SQL type with length / precision / scale embedded, e.g. NUMBER(10,2).
comment	string	Column comment.
primaryKey	boolean	Part of the primary key.
foreignKey	boolean	Part of a foreign key.
indexKey	boolean	Part of an index.
unqiueKey	boolean	Has a unique constraint. The key is spelled unqiueKey — this typo is part of the on-disk contract; read it verbatim.
nullable	boolean	Allows NULL. Tri-state: absent means unknown.
identity	boolean	Identity / auto-increment column.
computed	boolean	Computed / generated column.
persisted	boolean	Computed value is physically stored.
computedDefinition	string	The computed-column expression.
defaultValue	string	DEFAULT constraint expression.
defaultName	string	DEFAULT constraint name.
source	string	Optional source / derivation expression.

The extended attributes — nullable, identity, computed, persisted, computedDefinition, defaultValue, defaultName — are populated chiefly for SQL Server; other vendors typically leave them unset (and therefore absent).

Query — the DDL / source-code carrier

Every view, materialized view, procedure, function, trigger, package, and package body, plus every foreign key, appears here as an entry in servers[].queries[]. This is where all SQL text lives in single mode.

Key	Type	Holds
type	string	view, materialized view, procedure, function, trigger, package, package body, macro (Teradata), or foreignkey.
database	string	Owning catalog.
schema	string	Owning schema.
name	string	Object name.
groupName	string	Qualified / grouping name, typically schema.name.
sourceCode	string	The full DDL text. Absent when the object exists but its definition could not be read.
sourceUnavailable	boolean	true only when the object exists but its DDL could not be read (SQL Server / Azure SQL).
sourceUnavailableReason	string	encrypted, permission_denied, or unknown.

Foreign keys are synthesized as type: "foreignkey" entries whose sourceCode is an ALTER TABLE … ADD CONSTRAINT … FOREIGN KEY (…) REFERENCES …(…) statement. The catalog objects themselves only carry the per-column foreignKey: true flag; the actual constraint definition lives here.

Procedure (also functions and triggers)

Key	Type	Holds
name	string	Routine name.
type	string	procedure, function, or trigger.
databaseName / schemaName	string	Owning catalog / schema.
arguments	Argument[]	Parameters. Each Argument is { name, dataType, inout }, where inout is IN, OUT, or INOUT. Argument detail is populated mainly for Oracle.

The routine body is not stored here — it is a matching Query entry with the same database/schema/name and the DDL in sourceCode.

Other objects

Object	Keys
Package	name; procedures / functions / triggers; databaseName / schemaName. The spec / body DDL is a Query of type package / package body.
Synonym	name, sourceSchema, sourceName, sourceDbLinkName, and the owner keys database / schema (note: not databaseName/schemaName).
Sequence	name, incrementBy, and the owner keys database / schema.
DBLink	owner, name, userName, host.
Error	errorMessage, errorType, coordinate, file, originCoordinate.
Coordinate	x, y, hashCode. Rare; suppressed in database exports.

dbVendor values

Server.dbVendor records the dialect once, at the server level, as the GSP EDbVendor enum name. There is no per-object vendor field. Supported values:

dbvoracle, dbvmssql, dbvazuresql, dbvpostgresql, dbvmysql, dbvredshift, dbvgreenplum, dbvnetezza, dbvsnowflake, dbvteradata, dbvdb2, dbvhive, dbvimpala.

Example

A trimmed, annotated Oracle export:

{
  "createdBy": "sqlflow-ingester v1.5.1",
  "physicalInstance": "10.0.0.12",
  "createTime": "2026-06-20 14:31:09",
  "servers": [{
    "name": "10.0.0.12",
    "dbVendor": "dbvoracle",              // EDbVendor enum name
    "supportsCatalogs": true,
    "supportsSchemas": true,
    "databases": [{
      "name": "ORCL",
      "schemas": [{
        "name": "HR",
        "tables": [{
          "name": "EMPLOYEES", "type": "table",
          "databaseName": "ORCL", "schemaName": "HR",   // owner keys, always present
          "columns": [
            { "name": "EMPLOYEE_ID",   "dataType": "NUMBER(6)",  "primaryKey": true },
            { "name": "DEPARTMENT_ID", "dataType": "NUMBER(4)",  "foreignKey": true },
            { "name": "SALARY",        "dataType": "NUMBER(8,2)", "comment": "monthly" }
          ]
        }],
        "sequences": [
          { "name": "EMP_SEQ", "incrementBy": "1", "database": "ORCL", "schema": "HR" }
        ]
      }]
    }],
    "queries": [                          // ALL DDL text lives here in single mode
      {
        "type": "view", "database": "ORCL", "schema": "HR", "name": "EMP_DETAILS_V",
        "groupName": "HR.EMP_DETAILS_V",
        "sourceCode": "CREATE VIEW emp_details_v AS SELECT ..."
      },
      {
        "type": "foreignkey", "database": "ORCL", "schema": "HR", "name": "EMP_DEPT_FK",
        "sourceCode": "ALTER TABLE HR.EMPLOYEES ADD CONSTRAINT EMP_DEPT_FK FOREIGN KEY (DEPARTMENT_ID) REFERENCES HR.DEPARTMENTS (DEPARTMENT_ID)"
      }
    ],
    "dbLinks": [
      { "owner": "HR", "name": "REMOTE_DB", "userName": "reporting", "host": "//remote:1521/RPT" }
    ]
  }]
}

For the same objects split into a streamable, integrity-checked directory, see the sharded export.