SQL/MX 3.2.1 Reference Manual (H06.26+, J06.15+)

SQL/MX Utilities
HP NonStop SQL/MX Release 3.2.1 Reference Manual—691117-005
5-32
Considerations for import
Input File Considerations––import
Fixed Input File
In a fixed input file, specified by using the -W FIXED option, different columns might
have different lengths, but for each column, all rows must be the same length. You
should pad column values that are shorter than the column width with spaces or
NullValue characters to ensure that every row has exactly the same number of bytes
for a given column.
Delimited Input File
A delimited input file, specified by using the -W DELIM option or by default, uses field
and row delimiters and field qualifiers if needed. If you specify a format file, import
uses the delimiters in the file.
If you do not specify a format file, import uses these default delimiters:
This example shows a row from a delimited file with default coding and field qualifiers:
"135","Jane Jackson","100 East St.","Cupertino","CA","95014"
You are not required to use field qualifiers. In this record, the fields are correctly
delimited by a comma(,), and field qualifiers are not needed:
135,Jane Jackson,100 East St.,Cupertino,CA,95014
Using a Field Qualifier
Use a field qualifier to include field or row delimiters as part of the field data. For
example, suppose that your input file uses a comma (,) to delimit the fields in a record.
Suppose further that a record contains a field consisting of these characters:
Jackson,Jane
You can use a field qualifier to ensure that the comma (,) is included in this field. You
are not required to use a field qualifier for other fields in the row. For example:
135,"Jackson,Jane",100 East St.,Cupertino,CA,95014
If your field data contains a default field qualifier of double quote ("), enclose this field
data within field qualifiers. For example:
135,"Re: "Meeting Request" subject", 01-JUL-1985
Field delimiter One or more characters used to separate fields in a row or
record. The default is a comma (,).
Row or record
delimiter
One or more characters used to separate rows or records. The
default is the new line character (\n).
Field qualifier A character used to enclose a field of a row (or record). The
default is a double quotation mark(").