Re: SQL Query of spool file data

On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 4:41 PM, Bradley Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Searching spooled files for "data" is like trying to find your real brother
(in the flesh) in a family picture. :)

Cute, but for most IT purposes, a recent-enough snapshot of data and
"the real, live data" are close enough that you could do with either.
In particular, they are both usually close enough to the same *type*
of object, and more-or-less convertible from one to the other. (That
is, the snapshot of an integer is either the same as or just as good
as an "actual" integer. But a picture of your brother cannot help you
move furniture.)

If possible, you'd be better off querying the actual data that was used to
create the spooled file if possible.

This is definitely true. But, as was later revealed, OP's use case
actually doesn't involve searching the contents of spooled files, but
rather the metadata (specifically, creation date).

John Y.