This is fairly mysterious, particularly since I've done this many other times without problems.
I created the directory C:\OracleImportTest on the server's filesystem, created a corresponding directory object DP_DIR in Oracle, and granted my user read and write access to it. I've been staring at it and trying different things all morning, but I still get the following results:
C:\test>impdp cgernon/**** DIRECTORY=dp_dir SERVICE_NAME=test1 DUMPFILE=export.dmp LOGFILE=import.log
Import: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Friday, 27 May, 2011 12:01:08
Copyright (c) 2003, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Connected to: Oracle Database 11g Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production
ORA-39002: invalid operation
ORA-39070: Unable to open the log file.
ORA-39087: directory name DP_DIR is invalid
"But Mercurial!" you say, "surely you screwed something up setting up the directory and either it doesn't exist or you don't have access to it!" I would be the first to agree that is the most likely cause of the problem, but performing the following queries to double-check leaves me in a state of complete confusion:
select * from all_directories;
OWNER DIRECTORY_NAME DIRECTORY_PATH
----- -------------- -------------------
SYS DP_DIR C:\OracleImportTest
select * from user_tab_privs where table_name = 'DP_DIR';
GRANTEE OWNER TABLE_NAME GRANTOR PRIVILEGE GRANTABLE HIERARCHY
------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------- ---------
CGERNON SYS DP_DIR SYS READ NO NO
CGERNON SYS DP_DIR SYS WRITE NO NO
Does anyone know of any other conditions that can trigger this error, or see anything I'm missing here? I am thoroughly mystified. Thanks!