SQL*Loader and multiple files

Question

Hello, am tasked with loading tables with 21+ million rows. Will SQL*Loader perform better with one large file or many smaller files? Is there any ideal file size for optimal performance? Thank you
David

Answer 1

Don, when I tried to loada 21M row table using direct, I get the following messages:
Record 2373: Rejected - Error on table STAGE_CUSTOMER.
ORA-03113: end-of-file on communication channel
SQL*Loader-926: OCI error while uldlfca:OCIDirPathColArrayLoadStream for table STAGE_CUSTOMER
SQL*Loader-2026: the load was aborted because SQL Loader cannot continue.
SQL*Loader-925: Error while uldlgs: OCIStmtExecute (ptc_hp)
ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLE
SQL*Loader-925: Error while uldlgs: OCIStmtFetch (ptc_hp)
ORA-24338: statement handle not executed
Here is the SQL*Loader log:
SQL*Loader: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production on Thu Apr 26 15:38:29 2007
Copyright (c) 1982, 2002, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Control File: stage_customer.ctl
Character Set UTF8 specified for all input.
First primary datafile stage_Customer_20070301.csv has a
utf8 byte order mark in it.
Data File: stage_Customer_20070301.csv
Bad File: stage_Customer_20070301.bad
Discard File: none specified
(Allow all discards)
Number to load: ALL
Number to skip: 0
Errors allowed: 1000
Continuation: none specified
Path used: Direct
Silent options: FEEDBACK
Table STAGE_CUSTOMER, loaded from every logical record.
Insert option in effect for this table: APPEND
TRAILING NULLCOLS option in effect
Column Name Position Len Term Encl Datatype
ROW_ID SEQUENCE (MAX, 1)
CUSTOMER_ACCT_NUM FIRST * , O(") CHARACTER
IS_DELETED NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:Is_Deleted) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
NAME_PREFIX NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
FIRST_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
MIDDLE_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
LAST_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
NAME_SUFFIX NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
NICK_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALT_FIRST_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALT_LAST_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
MARKETING_SOURCE_ID NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
HOME_PHONE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
WORK_PHONE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
MOBILE_PHONE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALTERNATE_PHONE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
EMAIL_ADDR NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALT_EMAIL_ADDR NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
BIRTH_DATE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "TRUNC(TO_DATE(:Birth_Date, 'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS'))"
SALES_CHANNEL_ID NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "decode(:Sales_Channel_id,NULL,NULL,NULL)"
ASSOCIATE_NUMBER NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALT_ASSOCIATE_NUMBER NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
UPDATE_LOCATION_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
UPDATE_DATE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "TRUNC(TO_DATE(:Update_Date, 'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS'))"
CUSTOMER_LOGIN_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
DISCOUNT_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
DISCOUNT_PERCENT NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
BUSINESS_NAME NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
POS_TAX_FLAG NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
POS_TAX_PROMPT NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:POS_TAX_PROMPT) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
POS_DEFAULT_TAX_ID NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
POS_TAX_ID_EXPIRATION_DATE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
POS_AUTHORIZED_USER_FLAG NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:POS_AUTHORIZED_USER_FLAG) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
POS_ALLOW_PURCHASE_ORDER_FLAG NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:POS_ALLOW_PURCHASE_ORDER_FLAG) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
ADDRESS1 NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ADDRESS2 NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ADDRESS3 NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
CITY NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
STATE_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
POSTAL_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
COUNTRY_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
ALLOW_UPDATE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:ALLOW_UPDATE) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
ACTION_CODE NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN UPPER(:action_code) IN ('FALSE','0') THEN 0 ELSE 1 END"
ACCOUNT_TYPE_ID NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
LOCALE_CD NEXT * , O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN :Locale_CD IS NOT NULL AND :Locale_CD LIKE '__-__' THEN :Locale_CD ELSE 'en-US' END"
IS_READY_FOR_PROCESSING CONSTANT
Value is '1'
IS_BUSINESS CONSTANT
Value is '0'
HAD_ERRORS CONSTANT
Value is '0'
Record 2373: Rejected - Error on table STAGE_CUSTOMER.
ORA-03113: end-of-file on communication channel
SQL*Loader-926: OCI error while uldlfca:OCIDirPathColArrayLoadStream for table STAGE_CUSTOMER
SQL*Loader-2026: the load was aborted because SQL Loader cannot continue.
SQL*Loader-925: Error while uldlgs: OCIStmtExecute (ptc_hp)
ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLE
SQL*Loader-925: Error while uldlgs: OCIStmtFetch (ptc_hp)
ORA-24338: statement handle not executed
Table STAGE_CUSTOMER:
0 Rows successfully loaded.
1 Row not loaded due to data errors.
0 Rows not loaded because all WHEN clauses were failed.
0 Rows not loaded because all fields were null.
Bind array size not used in direct path.
Column array rows : 5000
Stream buffer bytes: 256000
Read buffer bytes: 1048576
Total logical records skipped: 0
Total logical records read: 3469
Total logical records rejected: 1
Total logical records discarded: 0
Direct path multithreading optimization is disabled
Run began on Thu Apr 26 15:38:29 2007
Run ended on Thu Apr 26 15:38:30 2007
Elapsed time was: 00:00:01.18
CPU time was: 00:00:00.32