Techniques exporting data and 
metadata from a source 
database environment to a 
target database environment are provided. The techniques include the steps of analyzing 
metadata that describes one or more items, the data for which is in a source 
database, where the one or more items include at least one of a view, a sequence, a dimension, a cube, an ETL mapping, and any 
database object for which the 
metadata is stored outside of the source and target databases. The data for each item resides in a 
data file associated with the source database. The data for each item is incorporated into the 
target database based on the metadata by providing the 
target database access to an incorporated 
data file, where the incorporated 
data file is the data file or a copy thereof. Techniques are also provided for exporting database data from the source database. The techniques include extracting metadata that describes one or more items, the data for which is in the source database, where the one or more items include at least one of the structures described above. The data for each item resides in a data file associated with the source database. After the exporting, a 
database server that manages the target database is provided access to an incorporated data file, where the incorporated data file is the data file or a copy thereof.