SQL*LOADER and decode

Question

I'm setting up a sql*loader script and trying to use the decode function as referred to in 'Applying SQL Operators to Fields' I'm getting an error message ' Token longer than max allowable length of 258 chars'. Is there a limit to the size of the decode statement within sql*loader - or is it better to use a table trigger to handle this on insert? I ran the decode statement as a select through SQL*Plus and it works okay there. Oracle 8.0 Utilities shows example of decode in Ch. 5, but Oracle 9i Utilities Ch. 6 does not. Has anyone done this and what's the impact on performance of the load if I can get it to work? See my example below:
LOAD DATA
INFILE 'e2e_prod_cust_profile.csv'
APPEND
INTO TABLE APPS.RA_CUSTOMER_PROFILES_INTERFACE
FIELDS TERMINATED BY "," OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
(Insert_update_flag CHAR(1),
Orig_system_customer_ref CHAR(240),
customer_profile_class_name CHAR(30) NULLIF customer_profile_class=BLANKS
"decode(customer_profile_class_name,
'NORTHLAND Default','(MIA) Default',
'NORTHLAND Non Consolidated','(MIA) Non Cons',
'NORTHLAND Consolidated A','(MIA) Cons A',
'NORTHLAND Consolidated B','(MIA) Cons B',
'NORTHLAND Consolidated C','(MIA) Cons C',
'NORTHLAND Consolidated D','(MIA) Cons D',
'NORTHLAND Cons A NonZS','(MIA) Cons A NonZS',
'NORTHLAND Cons B NonZS','(MIA) Cons B NonZS',
'NORTHLAND Cons C NonZS','(MIA) Cons C NonZS',
'NORTHLAND Cons D NonZS','(MIA) Cons D NonZS',
'NORTHLAND International Billing','(MIA) International Billing',
customer_profile_class_name)",
credit_hold CHAR(1),
overall_credit_limit INTERGER EXTERNAL,
"e2e_cust_profile.ctl" 49 lines, 1855 characters
SQL*Loader-350: Syntax error at line 15.
Token longer than max allowable length of 258 chars
'NORTHLAND Consolidated D','(MIA) Cons D',
^

Answer 1

Your controlfile is incomplete and has some typos, but you could try something like:
create or replace function decode_profile_class_name (p_longname IN VARCHAR2)
return VARCHAR2
is
begin
  CASE p_longname
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Default'               THEN RETURN '(MIA) Default';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Non Consolidated'      THEN RETURN '(MIA) Non Cons';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Consolidated A'        THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons A';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Consolidated B'        THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons B';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Consolidated C'        THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons C';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Consolidated D'        THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons D';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Cons A NonZS'          THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons A NonZS';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Cons B NonZS'          THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons B NonZS';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Cons C NonZS'          THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons C NonZS';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND Cons D NonZS'          THEN RETURN '(MIA) Cons D NonZS';
    WHEN 'NORTHLAND International Billing' THEN RETURN '(MIA) International Billing';
    ELSE RETURN p_longname;
  END CASE;
end;
LOAD DATA
INFILE 'e2e_prod_cust_profile.csv'
APPEND
INTO TABLE APPS.RA_CUSTOMER_PROFILES_INTERFACE
FIELDS TERMINATED BY "," OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
Insert_update_flag          CHAR(1),
Orig_system_customer_ref    CHAR(240),
customer_profile_class_name CHAR(30) NULLIF customer_profile_class=BLANKS "decode_profile_class_name(:customer_profile_class_name)"
credit_hold                 CHAR(1),
overall_credit_limit        INTEGER EXTERNAL