Sql*loader converst float to scientific format.

Question

hi all,
I have a table x with a column "colx" defined as a float(64). this column has values in it as follows: x.colx = 12345678.9123456
I create another table y with, you guessed it, "coly" as float(64).
If I create a sql*loader dat file called x2y.dat with the float data and load it into sql*loader as a float it converts it to scientific format.
Is there a way of avoiding this conversion.
Thanks all in advanced,
signed, oracle tard.

Answer 1

All, just some additional info that I dug up on Metalink that will help when unloading data from an oracle db and inserting it into another db using sql*loader. This script will ensure the float is preserved.
rocr
-- unload_fixed.sql
set tab off
set heading off feedback off echo off verify off
set space 1 pagesize 0 linesize 120
accept owner prompt 'What schema owns the table to be unloaded? '
accept table_name prompt 'What table is to be unloaded? '
accept default_precision prompt 'No. of digits for precision: '
accept default_scale prompt 'No. of digits for scale? '
-- Generate the unload script
spool unload_fixed2.sql
select 'SET HEADING OFF FEEDBACK OFF ECHO OFF VERIFY OFF'||chr (10)||
'SET SPACE 0 PAGESIZE 0 TERMOUT OFF TRIMSPOOL ON'
from dual;
-- Calculate the sum of all output field lengths and set the output record size
select 'SET LINESIZE '||
(sum (decode (data_type,
'CHAR', data_length,
'VARCHAR', data_length,
'VARCHAR2', data_length,
'DATE', 14,
'NUMBER', decode (data_precision, '',
&default_precision + 2,
greatest (data_precision - data_scale, 1) +
decode (data_scale, 0, 0, 1) + data_scale) + 1,
'FLOAT', &default_precision + 2,
data_length)))
from dba_tab_columns
where owner = upper ('&&owner') and
table_name = upper ('&&table_name');
-- Generate an appropriate SQL*Plus COLUMN command to control
-- formatting of each output field
select 'COLUMN '||rpad ('"'||column_name||'"', 32)||' FORMAT '||
rpad (decode (data_type,
'CHAR', 'A'||data_length,
'VARCHAR2', 'A'||data_length,
'VARCHAR', 'A'||data_length,
'DATE', 'A14',
'NUMBER', decode (data_precision, '',
rpad ('0', &default_precision - &default_scale,
'9')||'.'||rpad ('9', &default_scale, '9'),
rpad ('0', greatest (data_precision -
data_scale, 1), '9')||decode (data_scale, 0, '',
'.')||decode (data_scale, 0, '',
rpad ('9', data_scale, '9'))),
'FLOAT', rpad ('0', &default_precision - &default_scale,
'9')||'.'||rpad ('9', &default_scale, '9'),
'ERROR'),40)||' HEADING ''X'''
from dba_tab_columns
where owner = upper ('&&owner') and
table_name = upper ('&&table_name')
order by column_id;
-- Generate the actual SELECT statement to unload table data
select 'SPOOL &&owner..&&table_name..DAT' from dual;
column var1 noprint
column var2 noprint
select 'a' var1, 0 var2, 'SELECT '
from dual
union
select 'b', column_id, decode (column_id, 1, ' ', ' , ')||
decode (data_type, 'DATE', 'to_char ('||'"'||column_name||
'"'||', ''YYYYMMDDHH24MISS'') '||'"'||column_name||'"',
'"'||column_name||'"')
from dba_tab_columns
where owner = upper ('&&owner') and
table_name = upper ('&&table_name')
union
select 'c', 0, 'FROM &&owner..&&table_name'
from dual
union
select 'd', 0, ';'
from dual
order by 1,2;
select 'SPOOL OFF' from dual;
select 'SET TERMOUT ON' from dual;
spool off
-- Generate the SQL*Loader control file
set lines 120 pages 0
spool &&owner..&&table_name..CTL
select 'a' var1, 0 var2, 'OPTIONS(DIRECT=TRUE)'
from dual
union
select 'b', 0, 'LOAD DATA'
from dual
union
select 'c', 0, 'INFILE ''&&owner..&&table_name..DAT'''
from dual
union
select 'd', 0, 'BADFILE &&owner..&&table_name..BAD'
from dual
union
select 'e', 0, 'DISCARDFILE &&owner..&&table_name..DSC'
from dual
union
select 'f', 0, 'DISCARDMAX 999'
from dual
union
select 'm', 0, 'INTO TABLE &&owner..&&table_name'
from dual
union
select 'n', column_id, rpad (decode (column_id, 1, '(', ',')||
'"'||column_name||'"', 31)||
decode (data_type,
'CHAR', 'CHAR('||data_length||')',
'VARCHAR', 'CHAR('||data_length||')',
'VARCHAR2', 'CHAR('||data_length||')',
'DATE', 'DATE(14) "YYYYMMDDHH24MISS"',
'NUMBER', 'DECIMAL EXTERNAL ('||decode (data_precision,
'', &default_precision + 2,
greatest (data_precision - data_scale, 1) +
decode (data_scale, 0, 0, 1) + data_scale + 1)||')',
'FLOAT', 'DECIMAL EXTERNAL ('||to_char (&default_precision +
2)||')', 'ERROR--'||data_type)||' NULLIF ("'||
column_name||'" = BLANKS)'
from dba_tab_columns
where owner = upper ('&&owner') and
table_name = upper ('&&table_name')
union
select 'z', 0, ')'
from dual
order by 1, 2;
spool off
-- Cleanup
clear column
clear break
clear compute
undef owner
undef table_name
undef default_precision
undef default_scale