Sqlldr not working in 10gAS

Question

Hi,
I've been having this problem for the last couple of days and have read all the threads on using the sqlldr command with HOST through Forms 9i to load data from application server into the database.
I've tried most of the suggestions but have still come up with a blank. Basically, this is the problem, I have a form that has to load a file that is on the c:\temp into the temp_table table in the database. I have the control file in the c:\temp folder on the application server. sqlldr works fine when I execute it from the command line in the application server with the exact same command I'm passing through the HOST command. But when I execute it through the HOST command, sqlldr doesn't even get loaded because, the log file specified is not even getting created.
The AS has 2 Oracle homes, 1 for 10g Suite and another for the oracle client which includes sqlldr. Both the paths are setup for the path variable in the .env file. I've also tried creating a bat file on the application server which runs perfectly when executed on the application server, but executes everything except the sqlldr command in the bat file. My bat file looks like this -
REM tam.bat
sqlldr>tam3.txt
path>tam4.txt
Out of this, tam3.txt gets created as a blank file, while tam4.txt contains the correct path, including the path to the sqlldr.exe
Is there anything I have missed in configuring this? My HOST command I was using which didn't work, looked something like -
sqlldr user/pass@db control=c:\temp\tam.CTL LOG=c:\temp\tam.LOG DATA=01.txt
Works perfectly when executed on the AS from a command prompt, but just won't work through the HOST command. The HOST command is able to produce other results just perfectly though.
Would really appreciate any help on this, have really been frustrated with this. I know this has been long and windy, but thought I'd give all the facts straight out.
Best regards
Tamim

Answer 1

It appears that you are using Windows and not a Unix platform.
At least two things need to happen in order for SqlLoader to work using HOST:
CHANGE THE SERVICE PROPERTIES
1. Open the Windows Management Console for Services and locate the service for the Mid Tier Oracle Process Manager (OPMN).
2. Open the properties for this service and select the Log on tab. Check the box labeled "Allow service to interact with Desktop". Apply and save changes. This will require that OPMN be restarted.
SCRIPT THE SQLLOADER CALL
Shells started with HOST do not contain any of the system variables. This means that PATH, CLASSPATH, ORACLE_HOME, etc are not set. So when you make a call to an app like SqlLoader which expects certain environment variables to be set, it will likely fail. The problem is that HOST does not report this failure back to the form. You need to script the call to SqlLoader. You must first set all the needed variables. Here are just a few:
PATH
ORACLE_HOME
ORACLE_SID
TNS_ADMIN
See Metalink Note 221533.1 for more info.