SQL Loader Help in 10g

Question

Hello,
Is it possible to forcefully abort the sql loader when a value is not present? I've the data file like this
1|XXX123|XXX|20121121||
4|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX||1|
5|XXX123|XXX||2|
5|XXX123|XXX|||
9|XXX123|XXX|||
Template:
record type|batch number|batch desc|date|detail line num|others
1,4,5,9 are the record types, if you see this line 5|XXX123|XXX||1| .. 1 represents a detail line number, My requirement is if the detail line number is null for record type 5 then I want to abort the sqlloader.
Is it possible?
Edited by: 940838 on Nov 21, 2012 11:54 PM

Answer 1

940838 wrote:
I think i am not clear in my requirement...
The question was how to abort the loader if the detail line number is not present in record type 5. It is however normal that detail line num is not mandatory for other record types. any insights.Hi,
you have been clear and I have made a quick test. Unfortunately you cannot do such check in SQL*Loader as the WHEN clause in control file does not allow any OR.
Even if you add this check using a constraint in your table and specify the maximum number of errors to be 0, SQL*Loader will load the records up to that error.
Let me show you an example:
1) create the table with a constraint that for record_type 5 detail_line_number cannot be null.
CREATE TABLE test
   record_type    INTEGER
, batch_number   VARCHAR2 (10)
, batch_desc     VARCHAR2 (10)
, batch_date     DATE
, detail_line_num INTEGER
, other          VARCHAR2 (10)
ALTER TABLE test
  ADD CONSTRAINT check_rec_5
     CHECK (   record_type = 5 AND detail_line_num IS NOT NULL
            OR record_type != 5) ENABLE;
            In this table you will not be able to load rows having record_type=5 and detail_line_num NULL as this will be considered as an error.
Let's prepare your input file:
1|XXX123|XXX|20121121||
4|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX||1|
5|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX|||
9|XXX123|XXX|||
1|XXX123|XXX|20121121||
4|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX||1|
5|XXX123|XXX||2|
5|XXX123|XXX|||
9|XXX123|XXX|||1|XXX123|XXX|20121121||
4|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX||1|
5|XXX123|XXX||2|
5|XXX123|XXX|||
9|XXX123|XXX|||1|XXX123|XXX|20121121||
4|XXX123|XXX|||
5|XXX123|XXX||1|
5|XXX123|XXX||2|As you can see the input file has the fourth line with record_type = 5 and detail_line_num NULL. This will be an error for the constraint.
Here the control file I have used:
--test.ctl
load data
INFILE 'test.dat'
APPEND
INTO TABLE test
FIELDS TERMINATED BY '|'
TRAILING NULLCOLS
record_type     ,
batch_number    ,
batch_desc      ,
batch_date      Date 'YYYYMMDD',
detail_line_num ,
other
)If I try to execute the SQL*Loader and ask to stop at first error in this way:
sqlldr userid=yourname/yourpass@yourdb control=test.ctl errors=0 rows=100SQL*Loader will load only 3 records because it encounters an error at line 4 and having specified errors=0 will not continue to load. Actually the process will continue until it reach the commit point (100 rows in this case) but it will not load any record after the error nor continue to read the file.
So if I check the table
SELECT * FROM test;
RECORD_TYPE BATCH_NUMBER BATCH_DESC BATCH_DATE            DETAIL_LINE_NUM OTHER    
          1 XXX123       XXX        21-11-2012 00:00:00                            
          4 XXX123       XXX                                                       
          5 XXX123       XXX                                            1           You will see only records until you have reached the error.
This cannot be avoided as documented in SQL*Loader reference manual:
<h3>Load Discontinued Because Maximum Number of Errors Exceeded</h3>
If the maximum number of errors is exceeded, SQL*Loader stops loading records into any table and the work done to that point is committed. As you can see SQL*Loader abort the processing but it will anyway commit the records until that error.
One alternative solution is to create an external table in Oracle and do all the checks you want before copying your external table into a database table, as BluShadow suggested.
Regards.
Al