Import CSV into SQL (CODE) - sql

I want to import several CSV files automatically using SQL-code (i.e. without using the GUI). Normally, I know the dimensions of my CSV file. So, in many cases I create an empty table with, let say, x columns with the corresponding data types. Then, I import the CSV file into this table using BULK INSERT. However, in this case I don't know much about my files, i.e. information about data types and dimensions are not given.
To summerize the problem:
I receive a file path, e.g. C:...\DATA.csv. Then, I want to use this path in SQL-code to import the file to a table without knowing anything about it.
Any ideas on how to solve this problem?


Use something like this:
BULK INSERT tbl
FROM 'csv_full_path'
WITH
(
FIRSTROW = 2, --Second row if header row in file
FIELDTERMINATOR = ',', --CSV field delimiter
ROWTERMINATOR = '\n', --Use to shift the control to next row
ERRORFILE = 'error_file_path',
TABLOCK
)
If columns are not known, you could try with:
select * from OpenRowset
Or, do a bulk insert with only the first row as one big column, then parse it to create the dynamic main insert. Or bulk insert the whole file into a table with just one column, then parse that...


You can use OPENROWSET (documantation).
SELECT *
INTO dbo.MyTable
FROM
OPENROWSET(
BULK 'C:\...\mycsvfile.csv',
SINGLE_CLOB) AS DATA;
In addition, you can use dynamic SQL to parameterize table name and location of csv file.

Related

blob to table mssql

I have a table with a field for text files. These files have multiple lines that I need to copy to a temporary table. I tried using Bulk Import like this:
Bulk Import MyTable From (Select File From FilesTable where Key = 1)
but no success (Incorrect sintax near "(").
Some people have sugested that I use the path of the file but that's not an option because the files are in a table.

AFAICT this can be done with a simple INSERT INTO ... SELECT statement:
INSERT INTO MyTable (
File
)
SELECT
[File]
FROM
FilesTable
WHERE
[Key]=1;

Ignoring Columns at the end of Bulk Insert Statement

What I'm doing is inserting into a table using bulk insert from a csv. There are fixed number of columns which I need to input.
Code:
BULK INSERT #TEMP FROM 'c:\temp.csv'
WITH
(
FIELDTERMINATOR = ','
, ROWTERMINATOR = '\n'
, CODEPAGE = 'RAW'
,FIRSTROW =2
)
Input:
A,B,C,D,E
A,B,C,D,E
Problem:
The column containing the values E are not to be written into the table because there is no column to store those values. When I take these values into the table, the last column is shown like this:
D,E
D,E
Question:
Is there any way to prevent the insertion of column E into the table without using a format file? I cannot use OPENROWSET to get these values as there are some permission issues.

As others have mentioned, you cant ignore a field while doing bulk insert. If you don't have access to the format file, then import into your temp table, and drop the columns you don't need.

How to insert data from text file into my table?

I have text files which contain one word per line, and I would like to add this content to a column in my table, the column type is Varchar, how can I accomplish that?

You can treat your file as a special case of CSV - it's a CSV file with only one column.
See this article for how to bulk insert from a CSV file.
BULK
INSERT CSVTest
FROM 'c:\csvtest.txt'
WITH
(
FIELDTERMINATOR = ',',
ROWTERMINATOR = '\n'
)
GO

You can also use import wizard provided in the management studio. You can check this link for your reference.

Passing default values to a column in Bulk insert

I am trying to get data from a csv file with the following data.
Station code;Priority vehicle;DateBegin;DateEnd
01;y;20100214;20100214
02;n;20100214;20100214
03;;20100214;20100214
Now I want a value 'n' in the table when no data is provided for the column 'Priority vehicle' in csv file.
I am writing the query as
BULK INSERT dbo.#tmp_station_details
FROM 'C:\station.csv'
WITH (
FIELDTERMINATOR ='';'',
FIRSTROW = 2,
ROWTERMINATOR = ''\n''
)

Check the full explanation here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187887.aspx
"By default, when data is imported into a table, the bcp command and BULK INSERT statement observe any defaults that are defined for the columns in the table. For example, if there is a null field in a data file, the default value for the column is loaded instead. "
My suggestion is to specify a default value for the Priority vehicle column and the Null value from the csv file will be overwritten to your SQL table with the default value specified in the table design.

SQL Bulk Insert with FIRSTROW parameter skips the following line

I can't seem to figure out how this is happening.
Here's an example of the file that I'm attempting to bulk insert into SQL server 2005:
***A NICE HEADER HERE***
0000001234|SSNV|00013893-03JUN09
0000005678|ABCD|00013893-03JUN09
0000009112|0000|00013893-03JUN09
0000009112|0000|00013893-03JUN09
Here's my bulk insert statement:
BULK INSERT sometable
FROM 'E:\filefromabove.txt
WITH
(
FIRSTROW = 2,
FIELDTERMINATOR= '|',
ROWTERMINATOR = '\n'
)
But, for some reason the only output I can get is:
0000005678|ABCD|00013893-03JUN09
0000009112|0000|00013893-03JUN09
0000009112|0000|00013893-03JUN09
The first record always gets skipped, unless I remove the header altogether and don't use the FIRSTROW parameter. How is this possible?
Thanks in advance!

I don't think you can skip rows in a different format with BULK INSERT/BCP.
When I run this:
TRUNCATE TABLE so1029384
BULK INSERT so1029384
FROM 'C:\Data\test\so1029384.txt'
WITH
(
--FIRSTROW = 2,
FIELDTERMINATOR= '|',
ROWTERMINATOR = '\n'
)
SELECT * FROM so1029384
I get:
col1 col2 col3
-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
***A NICE HEADER HERE***
0000001234 SSNV 00013893-03JUN09
0000005678 ABCD 00013893-03JUN09
0000009112 0000 00013893-03JUN09
0000009112 0000 00013893-03JUN09
It looks like it requires the '|' even in the header data, because it reads up to that into the first column - swallowing up a newline into the first column. Obviously if you include a field terminator parameter, it expects that every row MUST have one.
You could strip the row with a pre-processing step. Another possibility is to select only complete rows, then process them (exluding the header). Or use a tool which can handle this, like SSIS.

Maybe check that the header has the same line-ending as the actual data rows (as specified in ROWTERMINATOR)?
Update: from MSDN:
The FIRSTROW attribute is not intended
to skip column headers. Skipping
headers is not supported by the BULK
INSERT statement. When skipping rows,
the SQL Server Database Engine looks
only at the field terminators, and
does not validate the data in the
fields of skipped rows.

I found it easiest to just read the entire line into one column then parse out the data using XML.
IF (OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#data') IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #data
CREATE TABLE #data (data VARCHAR(MAX))
BULK INSERT #data FROM 'E:\filefromabove.txt' WITH (FIRSTROW = 2, ROWTERMINATOR = '\n')
IF (OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#dataXml') IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #dataXml
CREATE TABLE #dataXml (ID INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED, data XML)
INSERT #dataXml (data)
SELECT CAST('<r><d>' + REPLACE(data, '|', '</d><d>') + '</d></r>' AS XML)
FROM #data
SELECT d.data.value('(/r//d)[1]', 'varchar(max)') AS col1,
d.data.value('(/r//d)[2]', 'varchar(max)') AS col2,
d.data.value('(/r//d)[3]', 'varchar(max)') AS col3
FROM #dataXml d

You can use the below snippet
BULK INSERT TextData
FROM 'E:\filefromabove.txt'
WITH
(
FIRSTROW = 2,
FIELDTERMINATOR = '|', --CSV field delimiter
ROWTERMINATOR = '\n', --Use to shift the control to next row
ERRORFILE = 'E:\ErrorRows.csv',
TABLOCK
)

To let SQL handle quote escape and everything else do this
BULK INSERT Test_CSV
FROM 'C:\MyCSV.csv'
WITH (
FORMAT='CSV'
--FIRSTROW = 2, --uncomment this if your CSV contains header, so start parsing at line 2
);
In regards to other answers, here is valuable info as well:
I keep seeing this in all answers: ROWTERMINATOR = '\n'
The \n means LF and it is Linux style EOL
In Windows the EOL is made of 2 chars CRLF so you need ROWTERMINATOR = '\r\n'

Given how mangled some data can look after BCP importing into SQL Server from non-SQL data sources, I'd suggest doing all the BCP import into some scratch tables first.
For example
truncate table Address_Import_tbl
BULK INSERT dbo.Address_Import_tbl
FROM 'E:\external\SomeDataSource\Address.csv'
WITH (
FIELDTERMINATOR = '|', ROWTERMINATOR = '\n', MAXERRORS = 10
)
Make sure all the columns in Address_Import_tbl are nvarchar(), to make it as agnostic as possible, and avoid type conversion errors.
Then apply whatever fixes you need to Address_Import_tbl. Like deleting the unwanted header.
Then run a INSERT SELECT query, to copy from Address_Import_tbl to Address_tbl, along with any datatype conversions you need. For example, to cast imported dates to SQL DATETIME.