online versus online_cons

Hi

We have been using the online parameter in our backups.

brbackup -u / -c force -t online ....

I decided to test a restore and found it was impossible to restore from an online backup because the data files are never in a consistent state and keep looking for redo logs.

Using online_cons option you do not get this error because obviously it makes sure the datafiles are in a consistent state.

My question is ...does anyone know why SAP offers the online option if you cannot do a restore from it????

I'm using aix, oracle and netbackup.

Thanks

Jim