Originally posted by pipo
Well, there are solutions other than exp/imp.

One could possibly stop connexions on prod instance, migrate only tables through a DB*Link and then recreate indexes on the new instance.

-------- that will be your nightmare :-)

You could also imagine to create a mirror of the actual datafiles, move them, and recreate controlfiles on the new instance (I know it's neither documented nor recommanded, but it once worked).

-------- across the platform ?? i very much doubt it

I also know that there are tools (like Quest SharePlex) which allow you to do such a migration with a minimum downtime, nevertheless my client does not want to use any external (and expensive) tool

------- its again your choice to use tools (expensive) or exp/imp (free)
:/