How does SQL Loader distinguish between a tab and a space ?

I'm trying to load an Oracle table with data from a data file that has tab delimited data using SQL Loader. The table description is as follows :

 Name                                      Null?    Type
 ----------------------------------------- -------- --------------
 EMP_NO                                             NUMBER(3)
 EMP_NAME                                           VARCHAR2(11)
 EMP_JOB                                            VARCHAR2(5)


The control file is as follows :

LOAD DATA
APPEND INTO TABLE EMP
TRAILING NULLCOLS
(
emp_no   CHAR
   TERMINATED BY X'09' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"',
emp_name CHAR
   TERMINATED BY X'09' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"',
emp_job CHAR
   TERMINATED BY X'09' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
)

The data file is as follows :

123      "Su Ann"      DBA
234      Benjamin      ABC
321      Alex      WEX

Well, it is loading the 2nd and 3rd rows but not the first. The space between Su and Ann is the reason. The SQL Loader is taking that space as a tab and hence giving an error.

So, how do I tell the loader that there can be spaces in the data that need to be included  ? How would it distinguish between the space and a tab ?

I need an answer. There is no way I can work around this. I tried giving "\t", '     ',where the space is a tab instead of X'09' in the control file. Nothing worked.

I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance.Start Free Trial