Experiences with loading external data into Oracle

Hello
  I am looking for information regarding loading batch or real time data from third party applications into Oracle. SQL*Loader is not appropriate for real time data and has limitations with batch data. Using a combination of SQL*Loader with Unix stream tools (sed/awk/perl) can get you fairly far in this regard. Since data formats tend to change (formatting, fields added, etc), maintenance of SQL*Loader scripts and sed/awk/perl scripts can be overwhelming. Our solution was to build a custom program which combines the power of SQL*Loader with sed/awk/perl into a single application. Our application solves many other needs which a sed/awk/perl/SQL*Loader solution couldn't.
  I am interested in hearing what people have to say about:

1) Existing commercial applications that address this problem
2) Needs which are difficult/impossible to handle with SQL*Loader
3) Custom solutions

Chris Hafey

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chafey_at_ecst.csuchico.edu    	http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~chafey