The default file format is a delimited text file with the following characteristics:
- Rows are separated by a new line.
- Fields are separated by a comma (,)
- Character-based fields are delimited with double quotes (")
Before performing import or export operations, you must ensure that the
chosen delimiter character is not contained in the data to be imported or
exported. If you chose a delimiter character that is part of the data to be
imported/exported unexpected errors might occur. The following restrictions
apply to column and character delimiters:
- Delimiters are mutually exclusive
- A delimiter cannot be a line-feed character, a carriage return, or a blank
space.
- The default decimal point (.) cannot be a character delimiter.
The record delimiter is assumed to be a new-line character. The record
delimiter should not be used as any other delimiter.
Character delimiters are permitted with the character-based fields (CHAR,
VARCHAR, and LONG VARCHAR) of a file during import, any pair of character
delimiters found between the enclosing character delimiters is imported into
the database. For example, suppose you have the following character string:
"what a ""great"" day!"
The preceding character string gets imported
into the database as:
What a "great" day!
During export, the rule applies in reverse. For example, suppose you have
the following character string:
"The boot has a 3" heel."
The preceding
character string gets exported to a file as:
"The boot has a 3""heel."
The following example file shows four rows and four columns in default
file format:
1,abc,22,def
22,,,"a is a zero-length string, b is null"
13,"hello",454,"world"
4,b and c are both null,,
The export procedure outputs the following values:
1,"abc",22,"def"
22,,,"a is a zero-length string, b is null"
13,"hello",454,"world"
4,"b and c are both null",,