Chapter 8: Importing Data

The Import Data tool is designed for programmers who need sample data for testing. This tool is not intended to be used to load large quantities of data. If you want to load large quantities of data, you should contact IBM or other third-party vendors who provide a number of products that can handle this better than Host Compatibility Option. You should take care in using this tool to ensure that the database does not become unusable. You should back up your data regularly to provide a means of recovering from loss of data.

Limitations

The Import Data tool has the following limitations:

Data for all columns in a table must be in import file. There is no ability in this tool to limit the column data being inserted.
Import formats WSF (Lotus worksheet) and IXF (mainframe) are not supported.
IXF and DEL files are imported using IBM's IMPORT application programming interface. Some options of the API are not supported. See IBM DB2 Command Reference for list of all available options.
DSNTIAUL files are converted to ANSI delimited format and then use the DEL IMPORT API.
LOB data types are not supported in DSNTIAUL format.
LOB data types generated as part of file in IXF and DEL formats. See IBM's DB2 Command Reference for other limitations.

Command Line Interface

The Import Data tool can also be run as a batch function. The command line syntax to run the tool is:

mfhco import db=databasename tbl=tablename file=filename [fmt=format] 
    [log=logfile] [chardel=chardelimiter] [coldel=coldelimiter] 
        [date=dateformat] [plus=sign]

At least one space must occur before each parameter. There must be an "=" between some parameters and their values. If you omit parameters that have a default value, Host Compatibility Option uses the default value. See Examples for specific syntax.

Parameters

import	Invokes the Import Data command-line processor. This parameter is positional.
databasename	Name of the database to import to.
tablename	Name of table to be imported. You can specify both the schema and the table name, separated with a period.
filename	Filename to import data to.
format	Format to import data. Valid values are IXF, DEL, and DSNTIAUL. You can use DSN for DSNTIAUL.
logfile	File to write processing messages to. If this parameter is not specified, a logfile with a default logfile name is created using the project name.
chardelimiter	Delimiter used to enclose character data when import format is DEL specified. Default is double quotes (").
coldelimiter	Delimiter used to indicate the end of column data when import format DEL is specified. Default is comma (,).
dateformat	Format to import date fields in if importing data in DSNTIAUL or DEL format. Default is the format for your country. Valid values for DSNTIAUL are ISO, USA, EUR, and JIS. ISO is only valid option for DEL format.
sign	Generate positive numeric data with plus signs when importing data in DEL format. Valid values are "Y" for yes to generate plus signs or "N" to not generate plus signs. Default is "Y".

Example

mfhco import db=db2demo fmt=dsn tbl=demo.product file=product.dsn chardel=' log=import.log