SQL*Loader Basics

SQL*Loader is an Oracle-supplied utility that allows you to load data from a flat file into one or more database tables. It has a powerful data parsing engine that supports data present in any format in the data files. It can load data from multiple datafiles during the same load session as well as can load data into multiple tables during the same load session. SQL*Loader can manipulate the data before loading it, using SQL functions.

SQL*Loader’s Capabilities:

SQL*Loader can read from multiple input files in a single load session.
SQL*Loader can handle files with fixed-length records, variable-length records, and stream-oriented data.
SQL*Loader supports a number of different datatypes, including text, numeric, zoned decimal, packed decimal, and various machine-specific binary types.
Not only can SQL*Loader read from multiple input files, but it can load that data into several different database tables, all in the same load session.
SQL*Loader allows you to use Oracle’s built-in SQL functions to manipulate the data being read from the input file.
SQL*Loader includes functionality for dealing with whitespace, delimiters, and null data.
In addition to standard relational tables, SQL*Loader can load data into object tables, varying arrays (VARRAYs), and nested tables.
SQL*Loader can load data into large object (LOB) columns.
SQL*Loader can handle character set translation between the input data file and the database.