SQLLDR - Unable to use field defined as FILLER

Question

Why doesn't SUBSTR(VJOB_NO, 1, 1) work?
What am I doing wrong?
Portion of control file:
FIELDS TERMINATED BY "|" OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
TRAILING NULLCOLS
cycle_no CONSTANT '0002',
VJOB_NO FILLER CHAR,
spaces FILLER,
RETRIEVAL_STATUS EXPRESSION "CASE WHEN SUBSTR(VJOB_NO, 1, 1) ='C' THEN 'CE' ELSE 'X' END"
Portion of log file entry:
SQL*Loader: Release 9.2.0.1.0 -
CYCLE_NO CONSTANT
Value is '0002'
VJOB_NO NEXT * | O(") CHARACTER
(FILLER FIELD)
SPACES NEXT * | O(") CHARACTER
(FILLER FIELD)
RETRIEVAL_STATUS EXPRESSION
SQL string for column : "CASE WHEN SUBSTR(VJOB_NO, 1, 1) ='C' THEN 'CE' ELSE 'X' END"
Record 1: Rejected - Error on table INV_SUPPORT_RETRIEVAL_CONTROLS, column RETRIEVAL_STATUS.
ORA-00984: column not allowed here
Additional info:
-RETRIEVAL_STATUS is not in the input file, does exist in table
-When VJOB_NO is replaced with :MyCol which exists in both the file and the table, it works fine.

Answer 1

Yes, that works like what I currently have in production, with the CASE instead of DECODE though.
Just like the current temporary solution, VJOB_NO is loaded into RETRIEVAL_STATUS, then RETRIEVAL_STATUS is reduced.
I hope to be able to define VJOB_NO as FILLER, then place a value into RETRIEVAL_STATUS based on the value in VJOB_NO.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks.
I added Rec_ID for linkage; Re-executed prior tests with Rec_ID, no change in results.
==============================
Test input file - 1st record is a header, and vjob_no is allowed to be null.
Rec_ID|VJOB_NO|Filler
1|C1234567|xxx
2|D1234567890123456|xxx
3||xxx
==============================
Export of table after execution - Empty prior to test.
RETRIEVAL_STATUS,REC_ID
"CE",1
"X",2
"X",3
==============================
SQLLDR Log
SQL*Loader: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production on Tue May 23 16:59:04 2006
Number to load: ALL
Number to skip: 1
Errors allowed: 1000
Bind array: 64 rows, maximum of 256000 bytes
Continuation: none specified
Path used: Conventional
Silent options: FEEDBACK
Table MYTEST_1, 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
REC_ID FIRST * | O(") CHARACTER
RETRIEVAL_STATUS NEXT * | O(") CHARACTER
SQL string for column : "decode(SUBSTR(:RETRIEVAL_STATUS, 1, 1),'C', 'CE', 'X')"
CODE1 NEXT * | O(") CHARACTER
(FILLER FIELD)
Table MYTEST_1:
3 Rows successfully loaded.
0 Rows 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.
Message was edited by:
user508348
Message was edited by:
user508348