Is it possible to replicate between different Oracle versions or patches? (4301524)

At times the customers have this question about the feasibility of replicating from a higher version of Oracle to a lower version of Oracle. The need can arise if the source database is planned to be upgraded for the time being and the target has been scheduled for upgrade in future, among others.

General Information

It is possible to replicate from a higher version of Oracle to a lower version unless one is using those features of higher version of Oracle not available in the lower version. If such features are used, Shareplex on target may encounter Oracle errors and the Post would exit in such an event barring some Oracle error codes. Since it is cumbersome to keep a tab on this condition (of using features common to both Oracle versions), customers are discouraged from following this route and consequently it is not a supported option. If this was only a transitory step, where the upgrade of Oracle happened on source to be followed by an upgrade on the target to the same Oracle version in near future, then it should be ok.