Re: NEWBIE: file structure for ORACLE

Alan Macaluso <anm_at_interport.net> writes:

>Howdy all,
 

>I'm relatively new to SQL/Oracle. I understand a bit of SQL. I've
>recently installed Oracle (Solaris) but have not configured it
>completely.
 

>Although it's not completely configured, I am going to have to start
>capturing user data (name, address, phone, etc) -- most likely some kind
>of delimited file (tab, semi-colon....).
 

>My question is this: is there some standard/prefered way to structure
>the file for import into Oracle??
 

>Any help, tips, suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
 

>Alan Macaluso

Alan,

There is no standard way to structure the file for loading into Oracle. The SQL*Loader program is flexible enough to be used with any delimeter, be it spaces, tabs, commas, etc.

The best delimiter is a character that is not contained in any field. For instance, if one field is a name, such as "Alan Macaluso" or an address, such as "23 Broadway Ave", then a space would not be ideal as a delimiter.

You can specify when loading the delimiter by commands such as TERMINATED BY ","
TERMINATED BY WHITESPACE (spaces and tabs) ENCLOSED BY '"' See the Oracle Utilities User's Guide for more specifics on SQL*Loader.

My personal preference is comma-delimited fields, with a line feed after each record.

Good luck!

-Ari Kaplan
Independent Oracle DBA Consultant

<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->
<-> Visit my Web Page: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~akaplan   <->
<->             email: akaplan_at_interaccess.com                    <->
<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->