A Replication Agent notifies Replication Server of actions in a primary database that must be copied to other databases. The Replication Agent reads the database transaction log and transfers log records for replicated tables and stored procedures to the Replication Server managing the database, which distributes the modifications to databases that subscribe to the data.
A Replication Agent is needed for every database that contains primary data and for every database where stored procedures that need to be replicated are executed. A database that contains replicated data and no stored procedures marked for replication does not require a Replication Agent.
Replication Agents communicate with Replication Server by executing commands in Log Transfer Language (LTL).
Refer to Chapter 5, “Introduction to Replication Agents,” in the Replication Server Design Guide for more information about LTL commands.
The Replication Agent you use depends on the data servers in your replication system. Supported Replication Agents are:
RepAgent – for Adaptive Server data servers. RepAgent, a thread in Adaptive Server, is the Replication Agent described in this book.
Replication Agents for non-Sybase data servers:
SQL Anywhere
DB2
Oracle
IMS
VSAM
You also can create a Replication Agent to replicate data from a foreign data server. Refer to Chapter 5, “Introduction to Replication Agents,” in the Replication Server Design Guide for details.