solidDB Speed Loader can load data in various formats. The file that contains the data is called an import file. The format of the import file is specified in a control file. Detailed information about the loading process is output into a log file.
Control file
The control file provides information about the structure of the import file. It specifies the following information:
▪ Name of the import file
▪ Format of the import file
▪ Table and columns to be loaded
Note Each import file requires a separate control file. solidDB Speed Loader loads data into one table at a time.
Import file (data file)
The import file is the file that contains the data to be loaded into the solidDB database. solidDB Export (solexp) produces this type of data file.
The import file can contain the data either in a fixed-length or a delimited format:
▪ In fixed-length format data records have a fixed length, and the data fields inside the records have a fixed position and length.
▪ In delimited format, data records can be of variable length. Each data field and data record is separated from the next with a delimiting character such as a comma (this is the format used by solexp). Fields that contain no data are automatically set to NULL.
Data fields within a record can be in any order as specified by the control file.
▪ Data in the import file must be of a suitable type. For example, numbers that are presented in a float format cannot be loaded into a field of type INTEGER or SMALLINT.
▪ Data of type VARBINARY and LONG VARBINARY must be hexadecimal-encoded in the import file.
▪ When using any fixed-width field, regardless of the data type, solloado or solload expects the import file to have the specified width, even when NULL is used.
Message log file
During loading, solidDB Speed Loader produces a log file that contains the following information:
▪ Date and time of the loading
▪ Loading statistics, such as the number of rows successfully loaded, the number of failed rows, and the load time (if specified)
▪ Any error messages
If the log file cannot be created, the loading process is terminated. By default the name of the log file is generated from the name of the import file by substituting the file extension of the import file with the file extension .log. For example, my_table.ctr creates the log file my_table.log. To specify another file name, use the option -l.
solidDB Speed Loader and solid.ini configuration files
A configuration file is not required for the solidDB Speed Loader. The configuration values for the server parameters are included in the solidDB configuration file solid.ini.
Client copies of the file can be made to provide the connection information that is required for solidDB Speed Loader.
If no server name is specified in the command line, solidDB Speed Loader reads the server name to connect to from the solid.ini file.
For example, to connect to a server by using the UNIX Pipes protocol and with the server name solid1, the following lines must be in the solid.ini file: