Exporting/importing/transporting is known as transformation and is described with entries in the Loader-specific system tables.

A transformation is identified using Loader and database details (connection information), a transformation type (export, import, transport), a transformation package (specification of the data to be transported), and the specification of the data streams (data carriers, data formats used). Loader uses metadata for the logical description of data and its transformation. This metadata can be in different formats. When the Loader system tables are filled, this information can be used to restart the transformation. The Loader syntax allows the transformation of the data of the entire database, of a database user, a schema, a table, or a set of qualified columns of a table or multiple tables. The data is collected in transformation packages. You can use the corresponding Loader commands to process the transformation packages.