Question

How to import pipe delimited txt file into Oracle 10g db table?

Asked by: GouthamAnand

I have a txt file with more than 1.5 lakh  Pipe(|) delimited records. I want to load those records into a Oracle table using Stored Procedure. If file does not exist it should come out of the Procedure. Also I need to delete the previous day records before inserting new records. I am using Oracle 10g. Can you please let me know how can I achieve this?

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Asked On
2009-09-24 at 07:58:25ID24758692
Tags

Oracle 10g

Topics

Oracle Database

,

Oracle 10.x

,

PL / SQL

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Answers

 

by: sdstuberPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:03:42ID: 25414078

lakh?

 

by: GouthamAnandPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:07:06ID: 25414112

Yes

 

by: GouthamAnandPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:15:10ID: 25414213

Sample Data in the file
Account|Business Partner|Account Status|collection action|Account Balance
00400854590|001073685|2|S2|192.6
00400854592|001064016|2|LG|326.3
00400855055|001088321|2|C1|1016.7
00400855089|001101355|2|C1|2075.5
----
----
----
like this more than 1.5 lakh records

 

by: sdstuberPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:17:42ID: 25414247

what is lakh?

 

by: AntelopePosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:19:06ID: 25414261

Use SQL*Loader or External tables to do this.  External table will allow you to do this directly in PL/SQL, without having to invoke SQL*Loader.  The external table will behave similar to a normal table, but the underlying data is really stored in a text file.  There is a ton of info on the Internet with External table examples.

Here is a good example with a comma delimited file.
http://www.orafaq.com/node/848

 

by: GouthamAnandPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:23:46ID: 25414320

1.5 lakh means 150,000 records

 

by: GouthamAnandPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:25:25ID: 25414333

UTL_FILE read to read the file and insert command is not good method to do this?
Please let me know.

 

by: gatorvipPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:26:02ID: 25414343

External tables and PL/SQL is the best approach for this type of ETL process, imo. The stored procedure will perform the following steps:

1. attempt to select from external table (linked to text file)
2. if error, file doesn't exist
3. if no error, file exists so proceed to next step
4. truncate current data table
5. insert into current data table, from external table




 

by: sdstuberPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:29:22ID: 25414381

utl_file will work,
but is far less efficient than using external tables and a lot more code.

 

by: GouthamAnandPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:41:48ID: 25414535

But how can we create the external table in Stored procedure? Can you please provide sample code with stored procedure?

 

by: sdstuberPosted on 2009-09-24 at 08:46:10ID: 25414586

you don't create it in the procedure.  you create the external table as a separate step.  You simply query it in the pl/sql

 

by: markgeerPosted on 2009-09-24 at 09:30:41ID: 25415144

Please note that "lakh" is a Hindi word, not an English word, so very few English speakers outside of India or Pakistan understand what that word means.  The common English word for a very large number is: million.  One million is equal to 10 lakh.

I agree with the other recommendations.  You should *NOT* use stored procedures to create tables.  That is not what Oracle PL\SQL is optimized for.  And yes, if the table already exists, you can use UTL_FILE to read a text file line-by-line and insert each record into the table, but a much more efficient approach is to use either SQL*Loader or an "external table" to make the data from the file available to your Oracle database.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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