You must create a bulk loader description file before you can run the Bulk Loader utility. You use the Data Administration tool or the Data Dictionary to create the description file. The default filename is table-dumpname.fd. If you choose more than one table, the Data tool adds the extension .fd to the name of the database. It then places all of the bulk loader information in that one file.

Note: For information on how to dump table data into contents files, see Dumping user table contents with a Data tool.

To create a bulk loader description file:

  1. Access the appropriate Data tool (the Data Administration tool if you are using a graphical interface or the Data Dictionary if you are using a character interface).
  2. Choose Admin > Create Bulk Loader Description File. The Data tool alphabetically lists all the tables defined for the database.
  3. Select the tables for which you want to create bulk loader description files. Use the Select Some and Deselect Some buttons to select or deselect groups of tables. For a character interface, use F5 and F6. The Data tool prompts you for the bulk load filename. The default filename is table-dumpname.fd.
  4. Specify the filename or accept the default.
  5. Specify a code page or accept the default.
  6. Click OK to create the bulk load description file. After creating the file, the Data tool displays a status message and prompts you to continue.
  7. Choose OK to return to the Data Administration or Data Dictionary main window.

The following figure shows a description file created with the Data Administration tool.

Figure 1. Dictionary-created description file example


In this example, customer is the name of the database table, customer.d is the name of the data file you want to load, and customer.e is the name of an error file that the Bulk Loader creates if errors occur during the bulk load. The field names in the customer table are Cust-num, Name, Address, etc.