The Bulk tab allows you to specify DataDirect Bulk Load data source settings. The fields are optional unless otherwise noted. On this tab, provide values for the options in the following table; then, click Apply.

Figure 1. Bulk tab

The Bulk Tab of the ODBC Db2 Driver Setup dialog box

Connection Options: Bulk Default
Enable Bulk Load Disabled
Field Delimiter No default value
Record Delimiter No default value
Bulk Binary Threshold 32
Batch Size 1024
Bulk Character Threshold -1

If your application is already coded to use parameter array batch functionality, you can leverage DataDirect Bulk Load features through the Enable Bulk Load connection option. Enabling this option automatically converts the parameter array batch operation to use the database bulk load protocol.

If you are not using parameter array batch functionality, you can export data to a bulk load data file, verify the metadata of the bulk load configuration file against the structure of the target table, and bulk load data to a table. Use the following steps to accomplish these tasks.

  1. To export data from a table to a bulk load data file, click Export Table from the Bulk tab. The Export Table dialog box appears.
    Figure 2. Export Table dialog box

    The Export Table dialog of the ODBC Db2 Wire Protocol Driver Setup dialog box

    Both a bulk data file and a bulk configuration file are produced by exporting a table. The configuration file has the same name as the data file, but with an XML extension. See DataDirect Bulk Load for details about these files.

    The bulk export operation can create a log file and can also export to external files. See External overflow files for more information. The export operation can be configured such that if any errors or warnings occur:

    • The operation always completes.
    • The operation always terminates.
    • The operation terminates after a certain threshold of warnings or errors is exceeded.
    The following fields are available on the Export Table dialog box:
    • Table Name: A string that specifies the name of the source database table containing the data to be exported.
    • Export Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file of the bulk load data file to which the data is to be exported. It also specifies the file name of the bulk configuration file. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the bulk data file. These files must not already exist; if one or both of them already exists, an error is returned.
    • Log Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk log file. The log file is created if it does not exist. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the log file. Events logged to this file are:
      • Total number of rows fetched
      • A message for each row that failed to export
      • Total number of rows that failed to export
      • Total number of rows successfully exported

      Information about the load is written to this file, preceded by a header. Information about the next load is appended to the end of the file.

      If you do not specify a value for Log Filename, no log file is created.

    • Error Tolerance: A value that specifies the number of errors to tolerate before an operation terminates. A value of 0 indicates that no errors are tolerated; the operation fails when the first error is encountered.

      The default of -1 means that an infinite number of errors is tolerated.

    • Warning Tolerance: A value that specifies the number of warnings to tolerate before an operation terminates. A value of 0 indicates that no warnings are tolerated; the operation fails when the first warning is encountered.

      The default of -1 means that an infinite number of warnings is tolerated.

    • Code Page: A value that specifies the code page value to which the driver must convert all data for storage in the bulk data file. See Character set conversions for more information.

      The default value on Windows is the current code page of the machine. On UNIX/Linux, the default value is 4 (ISO 8559-1 Latin-1).

    • Click Export Table to connect to the database and export data to the bulk data file or click Cancel.

      To verify the metadata of the bulk load configuration file against the structure of the target database table, click Verifyfrom the Bulk tab. See Verification of the bulk load configuration file for details. The Verify dialog box appears.
      Figure 3. Verify dialog box

      The Verify Driver dialog of the ODBC Db2 Wire Protocol Driver Setup dialog box

    • Table Name: A string that specifies the name of the target database table into which the data is to be loaded.
    • Configuration Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk configuration file. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the configuration file.
    • Click Verify to verify table structure or click Cancel.
  2. To bulk load data from the bulk data file to a database table, click Load Tablefrom the Bulk tab. The Load File dialog box appears.The load operation can create a log file and can also create a discard file that contains rows rejected during the load. The discard file is in the same format as the bulk load data file. After fixing reported issues in the discard file, the bulk load can be reissued using the discard file as the bulk load data file.
    Figure 4. Load File dialog box

    The Load File dialog of the ODBC Db2 Wire Protocol Driver Setup dialog box

    The export operation can be configured such that if any errors or warnings occur:

    • The operation always completes.
    • The operation always terminates.
    • The operation terminates after a certain threshold of warnings or errors is exceeded.

    If a load fails, the Load Start and Load Count options can be used to control which rows are loaded when a load is restarted after a failure.

    The following fields are available on the Load File dialog box.

    • Table Name: A string that specifies the name of the target database table into which the data is loaded.
    • Load Data Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk data file from which the data is loaded. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the bulk data file.
    • Configuration Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk configuration file. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the configuration file.
    • If you do not specify a value for Configuration Filename, the bulk configuration file name is assumed to be bulk_data_file_name.xml.
    • Log Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk log file. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the log file. Specifying a value for Log Filename creates the file if it does not already exist. Events logged to this file are:
      • Total number of rows read
      • Message for each row that failed to load
      • Total number of rows that failed to load
      • Total number of rows successfully loaded

      Information about the load is written to this file, preceded by a header. Information about the next load is appended to the end of the file.

      If you do not specify a value for Log Filename, no log file is created.

    • Discard Filename: A string that specifies the path (relative or absolute) and file name of the bulk discard file. The file name must be the fully qualified path to the discard file. Any row that cannot be inserted into database as result of bulk load is added to this file, with the last row rejected added to the end of the file.

      Information about the load is written to this file, preceded by a header. Information about the next load is appended to the end of the file.

      If you do not specify a value for Discard Filename, a discard file is not created.

    • Error Tolerance: A value that specifies the number of errors to tolerate before an operation terminates. A value of 0 indicates that no errors are tolerated; the operation fails when the first error is encountered.

      The default of -1 means that an infinite number of errors is tolerated.

    • Load Start: A value that specifies the first row to be loaded from the data file. Rows are numbered starting with 1. For example, when Load Start is 10, the first 9 rows of the file are skipped and the first row loaded is row 10. This option can be used to restart a load after a failure.

      The default value is 1.

    • Read Buffer Size (KB): A value that specifies the size, in KB, of the buffer that is used to read the bulk data file for a bulk load operation.

      The default value is 2048.

    • Warning Tolerance: A value that specifies the number of warnings to tolerate before an operation terminates. A value of 0 indicates that no warnings are tolerated; the operation fails when the first warning is encountered.

      The default of -1 means that an infinite number of warnings is tolerated.

    • Load Count: A value that specifies the number of rows to be loaded from the data file. The bulk load operation loads rows up to the value of Load Count from the file to the database. It is valid for Load Count to specify more rows than exist in the data file. The bulk load operation completes successfully when either the number of rows specified by the Load Count value has been loaded or the end of the data file is reached. This option can be used in conjunction with Load Start to restart a load after a failure.

      The default value is the maximum value for SQLULEN. If set to 0, no rows are loaded.

    • Click Load Table to connect to the database and load the table or click Cancel.