[dba-SQLServer] Bulk insert

Occam's Razor

JWColby wrote:

>>The only caveat here is if you have empty fields in your file, a single
>>    
>>
>space is inserted instead of a null.
>
>What is it with all "the only caveat here" stuff?  I am sure that there is a
>darned good reason.
>
>In the end it is just easier to roll your own rather than work around the
>issues that the built in stuff seems to have.  I have 150 fields (in this
>data set).  Somehow I have to do an update on all 150 fields.  I suppose I
>could have my converter run 150 update queries to do each column.  Or 700
>update queries to do the next data set.  Or just do the stripping of the
>spaces external to SQL Server and be done with it.  Either way I still have
>to use my toy.
>
>Once I move up to VB.Net I will be able to use threads to do the stripping
>and the BULK INSERT Sproc in parallel.
>
>BTW, I have to do something very similar all over again once I get the data
>in.  I will need to export the entire table back out, 2 million record sets
>of data to delimited files for CAS / NCOA processing, dumping 100 million
>records out into ~50 files (just the address data this time).  The CAS /
>NCOA process theoretically will process all files placed into an input
>directory (input to that program), dumping the processed files into an
>output directory (output from that program).  At which point I have to pull
>all of the CASS / NCOAd files BACK out of that output directory into to yet
>another table.  And that is just the "pre-processing".
>
>You might be getting a clue by now why I do not want to be manually doing
>all the crapola involved with the solutions that do not involve an external
>control process.  Someday fairly soon I will have a completely automated
>system for doing all this.  I will be back to blowing bubbles and poking at
>Charlotte with a big stick.
>
>John W. Colby
>Colby Consulting
>www.ColbyConsulting.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>[mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of
>MartyConnelly
>Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 10:27 PM
>To: dba-sqlserver at databaseadvisors.com
>Subject: Re: [dba-SQLServer] Bulk insert
>
>Uhh, there is a one line fix to remove trailing blanks in SQL, different
>defaults for SQL Server versions and NChar and VChar.
>
>SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
>
> When a table is created with the setting turned on (the default), spaces
>are not trimmed when data is inserted into that table. When ANSI_PADDING is
>off, the spaces are trimmed.
>
>So if you SET ANSI_PADDING OFF, create your table, then set it back on
>again, when you bcp the data into the table, the excess trailing spaces will
>be eliminated. The only caveat here is if you have empty fields in your
>file, a single space is inserted instead of a null. If this is the case with
>your data file, you will need to do an update to set columns to null when
>len(yourcolumn) = 0.
>
>See BOL
>http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188340.aspx
>
>http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187403.aspx
>
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>
>  
>

-- 
Marty Connelly
Victoria, B.C.
Canada