Oracle PL-SQL : Import multiple delimited files into table - sql

Question

I have multiple files (f1.log, f2.log, f3.log etc)
Each file has the data in ; & = delimited format. (new lines are delimited by ; and fields are delimited by =) e.g.
data of f1:
1=a;2=b;3=c
data of f2:
1=p;2=q;3=r
I need to read all these files and import data into table in format:
filename number data
f1 1 a
f1 2 b
f1 3 c
f2 1 p
[...]
I am new to SQL. Can you please guide me, how can do it?

Answer 1

Use SQL*Loader to get the files into a table. Assuming you have a table created a bit like:
create table FLOG
(
FILENAME varchar2(1000)
,NUM varchar2(1000)
,DATA varchar2(1000)
);
Then you can use the following control file:
LOAD DATA
INFILE 'f1.log' "str ';'"
truncate INTO TABLE flog
fields terminated by '=' TRAILING NULLCOLS
(
filename constant 'f1'
,num char
,data char
)
However, you will need a different control file for each file. This can be done by making the control file dynamically using a shell script. A sample shell script can be:
cat >flog.ctl <<_EOF
LOAD DATA
INFILE '$1.log' "str ';'"
APPEND INTO TABLE flog
fields terminated by '=' TRAILING NULLCOLS
(
filename constant '$1'
,num char
,data char
)
_EOF
sqlldr <username>/<password>#<instance> control=flog.ctl data=$1.log
Saved as flog.sh it can then be run like:
./flog.sh f1
./flog.sh f2