Example 1: Loading Variable length Data

Example 1demonstartes the following

A simple control file identifying one table and three columns to be loaded.
Including the data to be loaded in the control file itself, so there is no separate
data file.

Control File
The control file is example1.ctl
1) LOAD DATA
2) INFILE *
3) INTO TABLE dept_ldr_trg
4) FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
5) (deptno, dname, loc)
6) BEGINDATA
123,SALES,"DELHI"
124,"ACCOUNTING",HYDERABAD
125,"PACKING",KOLKATTA
126,FINANCE,"MUMBAI"
127,"HR",CHENNAI.
128,"ADMIN",PUNE
129,"RECRUITMENT","GURGAON"
,TRANSPORT,"NOIDA"
Points to note:
1. The LOAD DATA statement marks the beginning of the control file.
2. INFILE * specifies that data is found in the control file and not in an external file.
3. The INTO TABLE statement is required to identify the table to be loaded. Since
no option is mentioned, the default option is INSERT. By default SQL* Loader
requires the table to be empty before it inserts any records.
4. TERMINATED BY ',' specifies that the data is terminated by commas.
OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY specifies that the data may be optionally enclosed
by Quotations.
5. The names of the columns to be loaded are enclosed in parentheses. Since no data
type is specified, the default is a character of length 255.
6. BEGINDATA specifies the beginning of the data.
To run this example:
sqlldr scott/tiger control=example1.ctl log=example1.log
SQL Loader loads the dept_ldr_trg table and creates a log file example1.log.

The last record gets rejected and the same can be checked from the bad file and the log
file as the table dept_trg_ldr has a NOT NULL constraint on the deptno column.

Example 2 Loading Fixed format Fields

Example 2 demonstrates the following
A separate data file
Data conversions
Load dates using the data type DATE.
Usage of functions like TO_CHAR, TO_DATE, DECODE, UPPER etc
Using a sequence to insert unique values.
Inserting a constant value
Control File
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)

LOAD DATA
INFILE 'example2.dat'
INTO TABLE emp_ldr_trg
(empno
POSITION(01:04) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
ename
POSITION(06:15) CHAR "UPPER(:ename)",
job
POSITION(17:25) CHAR,
mgr
POSITION(27:30) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
hiredate
POSITION(63:73) DATE(11)"DD-MON-YYYY",
sal
POSITION(32:39) DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
comm
POSITION(41:48) DECIMAL EXTERNAL "NVL(:comm,0)",
deptno
POSITION(50:51) CHAR TERMINATED BY ':',
dname
POSITION(53:62) CHAR,
region
CONSTANT '31',
time_loaded "TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'HH24:MI:SS')",
date_loaded "TO_DATE(SYSDATE,'DD-MON-YYYY')",
load_seq
"test_ldr_seq.NEXTVAL",
annual_comm "DECODE((:job),'SALESMAN',(:comm*12),100)"
)

Points to note:
1. LOAD DATA marks the beginning of the control file.
2. The name of the data file follows INFILE.
3. The INTO TABLE statement identifies the table into which data is being loaded.
The table should be empty since we are loading the table in INSERT mode.
4. Lines 4 to 8 identify a column name and the location of the data in the data file to
be loaded into that column. EMPNO, ENAME, JOB, and so on are names of the
columns in the table emp_ldr_trg. The data types INTEGER EXTERNAL,
CHAR, DECIMAL EXTERNAL identify the data type of the data fields in the
file and not the corresponding columns in the emp_ldr_trg table.

5. The function UPPER is used to insert the employee name in Upper case into the
table.
6. The data to be loaded into the HIREDATE column appears in the format DDMON-YYYY.
7. NVL function is used insert 0 as commission in the column COMM if the
commission provided is null in the data file.
8. The department number in the data file is terminated by :
9. A constant value of 31 is inserted into the REGION column for all the records.
10. Timestamp is loaded into the TIME_LOADED column. TO_CHAR function is
used since the TIME_LOADED column is of data type VARCAHAR2.
11. SYSDATE is entered into the DATE_LOADED column and TO_DATE function
is used since the column is of type DATE.
12. Unique values are loaded into the LOAD_SEQ column from a sequence.
13. Usage of DECODE function is shown. If the job of a person is SALESMAN, then
the annual commission is commission*12, else the commission is 100.
14. The column specification should be enclosed in parenthesis.
Data File
Below are a few sample data lines from the file example2.dat.
1111 CLARK
1112 KING
1113 MILLER
1114 JONES
1115 ALLEN
1116 MARTIN

MANAGER 2111 6543.50

PRESIDENT 9832.00
CLERK 2112 720.00
MANAGER 2113 5432.75
SALESMAN 2114 1900.00
SALESMAN 2114 1385.50

10:MARKETING 15-MAR-1989
40
07-JUN-1976
10:MARKETING 25-JAN-1993
20:ADMIN 10-AUG-1989
300.00 30:SALES 05-MAR-1990
1400.00 30:SALES 22-MAR-1997

To run this example:

sqlldr scott/tiger control=example2.ctl log=example2.log data=example2.dat
All the 6 records get loaded into the table emp_ldr_trg.

Example 3: Loading combined physical records

Example 3 demonstrates the following

Combining multiple physical records to form one logical record with

CONTINUEIF.
Inserting negative numbers.
Indicating with REPLACE that the table should be emptied before loading new
data.
Specifying a discard file in the control file using DISCARDFILE.
Specifying the maximum number of discards using DISCARDMAX.

Rejecting records due to duplicate values in a unique index or due to invalid data
values.

Control File
LOAD DATA
INFILE 'example4.dat'
DISCARDFILE 'example4.dsc'
DISCARDMAX 999
REPLACE
CONTINUEIF THIS (1) = '*'
INTO TABLE emp_ldr_trg
(empno
POSITION(01:04) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
ename
POSITION(06:15) CHAR "UPPER(:ename)",
job
POSITION(17:25) CHAR,
mgr
POSITION(27:30) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
hiredate
POSITION(63:73) DATE(11)"DD-MON-YYYY",
sal
POSITION(32:39) DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
comm
POSITION(41:48) DECIMAL EXTERNAL "NVL(:comm,0)",
deptno
POSITION(50:51) CHAR TERMINATED BY ':',
dname
POSITION(53:62) CHAR,
region
CONSTANT '31',
time_loaded "TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'HH24:MI:SS')",
date_loaded "TO_DATE(SYSDATE,'DD-MON-YYYY')",
load_seq
"test_ldr_seq.NEXTVAL",
annual_comm "DECODE((:job),'SALESMAN',(:comm*12),100)"
)
Points to note:
1. DISCARDFILE specifies the name of the discard file as example3.dsc
2. DISCARDMAX specifies that a maximum of 999 discards are allowed before
terminating the run.
3. REPLACE specifies that if there is data in the table being loaded, SQL*Loader
should delete that data before loading new data.
4. CONTINUEIF specifies that if an asterisk is found in column 1of the current
record, then the next physical record after that record should be appended to it to
form the logical record. Note that column 1 in each physical record should then
contain either an asterisk or a non-data value
Data File
Below are a few sample data lines from the file example3.dat.
*1111 CLARK

MANAGER 2111 6543.50

10:MARKETING 15-MAR-1989
*1112 KING
PRESIDENT 9832.00
40
07-JUN-1976
*1113 MILLER
CLERK 2112 720.00
10:MARKETING 25-JAN-1993
*1114 JONES
MANAGER 2113 5432.75
20:ADMIN 10-AUG-1989
*1115 ALLEN
SALESMAN 2114 1900.00 300.00 30:SALES 05-MAR-1990
* MARTIN
SALESMAN 2114 1385.50 1400.00 30:SALES 22-MAR-1997
To run this example:
sqlldr scott/tiger control=example3.ctl log=example3.log data=example3.dat
All the records except for the last one get loaded into the table emp_ldr_trg.
MARTINs record gets rejected since we have a not null constraint on the empno column
of the table and the empno in this record is null.
Though a discard file name is mentioned, a discard file does not get created since there
are no records which are rejected due to conditions not satisfied in the control file.
The log file lists the records which are rejected.

Example 4 Loading data into multiple tables

Example4 demonstrates the following

Using a WHEN clause.

Loading into multiple tables.
Deriving multiple logical records from a single physical record.
Loading the same field (EMPNO) into multiple tables.
Use of SKIP option to indicate the number of records to skip
Indicating with APPEND that the records should get appended in the table
without deleting any records.

Control File
LOAD DATA
INFILE 'example4.dat'
BADFILE 'example4.bad'
DISCARDFILE 'example4.dsc'
APPEND
INTO TABLE emp_ldr_trg

WHEN deptno != ' '

(empno
POSITION(01:04) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
ename
POSITION(06:15) CHAR "UPPER(:ename)",
job
POSITION(17:25) CHAR,
mgr
POSITION(27:30) INTEGER EXTERNAL,
hiredate
POSITION(63:73) DATE(11)"DD-MON-YYYY",
sal
POSITION(32:39) DECIMAL EXTERNAL,
comm
POSITION(41:48) DECIMAL EXTERNAL "NVL(:comm,0)",
deptno
POSITION(50:51) CHAR TERMINATED BY ':',
dname
POSITION(53:62) CHAR,
region
CONSTANT '31',
time_loaded "TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'HH24:MI:SS')",
date_loaded "TO_DATE(SYSDATE,'DD-MON-YYYY')",
load_seq
"test_ldr_seq.NEXTVAL",
annual_comm "DECODE((:job),'SALESMAN',(:comm*12),100)"
)
INTO TABLE dept_ldr_trg
WHEN deptno != ' '
(deptno
POSITION(50:51) CHAR TERMINATED BY ':',
dname
POSITION(53:62) CHAR)
Points to note
1. The WHEN clause signifies that the records should get loaded only if the DEPTNO
is not null in the data file.
2. The records with DEPTNO as null are rejected and a discard file gets created with
those records.
3. EMP_LDR_TRG and the DEPT_LDR_TRG tables get loaded with the
corresponding data.
4. Use of SKIP option to indicate the number of records to skip.
5. Using APPEND option to append the records to the table without deleting any
existing records.
Data File
Below are a few sample data lines from the file example4.dat.
ENO ENAME
JOB
MGR SAM
COM
DN DNAME HIREDATE
1116 MARK
MANAGER 2115 6543.50
10:MARKETING 15-MAR-1989
1117 LUTHER PRESIDENT 9832.00
40
07-JUN-1976
1118 NANCY CLERK 2116 720.00
10:MARKETING 25-JAN-1993
1119 JONNY MANAGER 2117 5432.75
20:ADMIN 10-AUG-1989
1119 MONY
MANAGER 2117 5432.75
10-AUG-1989
To run this example:
sqlldr scott/tiger control=example4.ctl log=example4.log data=example4.dat skip=1

All the records except for the last one get loaded into the tables emp_ldr_trg and
dept_ldr_trg.
MONYs record gets rejected since the DEPTNO is null.
The discard file gets created with the records which are discarded. In this case with
MONYs record.