SQLLDR using Direct=True with Multiple Physical Records

I need to move data from a production table to the test table. I would like to use sqlldr with DIRECT=TRUE. The problem I have is there are multiple physical records on the file for one row on the table. To retrieve the data from the production side I execute the following SQL statement: SELECT COL1 || ','|| COL2 || ',' ||, etc. There are many varchar columns on this table; therefore, the number of physical lines can vary. The following are some scenarios I have tried along with the results:

• Added an "*" to the first position and tried using the "continueif this (1) = "*" " clause, but this seems to only work if there are only 2 physical records per row.
• Tried selecting the varchar columns using the rpad function. This allowed a consistent number of physical records. The problem came when trying to run the sqlldr with direct=true utilizing the ltrim function. In this old version of Oracle you cannot use SQL processing. I received the SQL*Loader-417 error.

Do you have any suggestions on how to load this data using sqlldr with direct=true?

This is in Oracle 8.0.5.0.0.

Thanks,

Tara Mason
Database Administrator
TARA.MASON_at_SAFETY-KLEEN.COM  

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