SQL Server - Bulk Load

SQL Server - Bulk Load

In this article

Overview

You can use this Snap to execute an SQL Server bulk load. This Snap uses the bcp utility program internally to perform the bulk load action. The input data is first written to a temporary data file, and then the bcp utility program loads the data from the data file into the target table.

Snaps that require bcp utility must be set up within your Groundplex configuration. The SnapLogic Platform does not support the installation of utilities or processes on Cloudplexes. Learn more.

Snap Type

The SQL Server - Bulk Load Snap is a Write-type Snap that inserts bulk data in one request.

Prerequisites

Install the BCP utility on the Groundplex nodes where you want to execute this Snap.

  • Starting from 4.42 August GA (main32088), BCP version 18.x is supported for SQL Server Snap Pack.

  • With version 18.x, the BCP utility enforces SSL certificate verification by default. If your SQL Server Bulk Load pipelines use v18.x of the BCP utility, the Snap fails with a certificate verification error. Versions lower than 18.x are not affected.
    Workaround: In the SQL server Account, configure the URL property and value to trustServerCertificate=true to allow the Snap to work with BCP v18.x and above.

  1. Download and install the BCP Utility in your Windows or Linux environment.

    1. Installing BCP on Linux

    2. Installing BCP on Windows

  2. Verify that you can run the bcp command. To verify BCP installation, enter bcp on the terminal or the command line console and press Enter.

    Better Code Block

    The output should look similar to the following. These are the command-line options that can be used with the BCP utility. If you see this output, it indicates that the BCP utility is installed and ready for use.

    Better Code Block

     

  3. Ensure the path to the bcp command is correctly provided in the Snap.

When using a Windows host as a SnapLogic node with the service installed (jcc.bat install_service), ensure that the service account used on the service credentials can access the database for the bulk copy program utility (BCP) to work. Removing the database permissions result in the error, Unable to invoke BCP". However, you might still be able to execute the bcp -v command on the command line outside the Snaplogic node, despite the lack of service account database permissions.

Support for Ultra Pipelines

Behavior Change

  • Before the 4.33patches21119 release, empty strings and null values were treated as null when loaded into the SQL server. However, starting from the 433patches21119 release, data in the format of an empty string inserted into a string-based column is stored as an empty string in the SQL server. Similarly, inserting null data into a string-based column is stored as null in the SQL server.
    To ensure consistent handling of both empty strings and null values, we recommend you to update the data to match how you would like it to be represented in the database before performing a bulk load operation.

Known Issues

The SQL Server - Bulk Load Snap returns 0 rows copied for tables containing spatial-type columns.

Limitations

None.

Snap Views

Type

Format

Number of Views

Examples of Upstream and Downstream Snaps

Description

Type

Format

Number of Views

Examples of Upstream and Downstream Snaps

Description

Input

Document

  • Min: 1

  • Max: 2

  • JSON Generator

  • Binary to Document

By default, this Snap has one document input view by default. A second view can be added for metadata for the table as a document so that the target absent table can be created in the database with a similar schema as the source table. This schema is usually from the second output of a database Select Snap. If the schema is from a different database, there is no guarantee that all the data types would be properly handled.

The target table's columns need to be mapped upstream using a Mapper Snap. The Mapper Snap will provide the target schema, which reflects the target table's schema. Learn more: SQL Server - Bulk Load | Table Creation

Output

Document

  • Min: 0

  • Max: 1

  • JSON Generator

  • Binary to Document

A document that represents the result of the bulk load operation.

Error

Error handling is a generic way to handle errors without losing data or failing the Snap execution. You can handle the errors that the Snap might encounter when running the Pipeline by choosing one of the following options from the When errors occur list under the Views tab:

  • Stop Pipeline Execution: Stops the current pipeline execution if the Snap encounters an error.

  • Discard Error Data and Continue: Ignores the error, discards that record, and continues with the remaining records.

  • Route Error Data to Error View: Routes the error data to an error view without stopping the Snap execution.

Learn more about Error handling in Pipelines.

Snap Settings

  • Asterisk (*): Indicates a mandatory field.

  • Suggestion icon (): Indicates a list that is dynamically populated based on the configuration.

  • Expression icon (): Indicates whether the value is an expression (if enabled) or a static value (if disabled). Learn more about Using Expressions in SnapLogic.

  • Add icon (): Indicates that you can add fields in the field set.

  • Remove icon (): Indicates that you can remove fields from the field set.

Field Name

Field Type

Description

Field Name

Field Type

Description

Label*

 

Default ValueSnowflake - Bulk Load
Example: Load Employee Tables

String

Specify a unique name for the Snap.

Schema Name

 

Default Value: N/A
Example: schema_demo

String/Expression/Suggestion

 

Specify the database schema name. If it is not defined, the suggestion for the Table Name will retrieve all table names of all schemas. The property is suggestible and will retrieve available database schemas during suggest values.

You can pass the values using the pipeline parameters, but not the upstream parameter.

Table Name*

 

Default Value: N/A
Example: employees_table

String/Expression/Suggestion

 

Specify the table on which to execute the bulk load operation.

  • You can pass the values using the pipeline parameters, but not the upstream parameter.

  • Currently, the BCP utility in the Linux environment has a limitation while processing the table names. When loading the data into a selected table, if the table name contains the characters '$%' or '!$', the combination works fine; however, BCP does not support if the table name contains the characters vice-versa as'%$' and '$!'.

Examples: Supported by BCP: "dbo"."sqldemo#^&$%"   Not supported by BCP: "dbo"."sqldemo#^&%$"

Create table if not present

 

Default Value: Deselected

Checkbox

 

 

 

Select this checkbox to enable the Snap to automatically create a table if a table does not exist.

The data types for the columns in the new table depend on the data types from the upstream Snap. If a second input view exists, the Snap reads and uses the data types for the columns from this input view. Learn more: SQL Server - Bulk Load | Table Creation

BCP absolute path

 

Default Value: N/A
Example: C:\bcp.bat

String

Specify the absolute path of the bcp utility program in JCC's file system. If empty, the Snap looks for it in JCC's environment variable PATH.

bcp.bat should include the ".exe" extension to ensure the executable is actually referenced.

Handling Unrecognized Character sets in the Data set. As the Snaplex uses the OS's default character set, it cannot recognize characters in other languages. Due to this, unrecognized characters in the data set are replaced with junk values when performing bulk load operations. To mitigate this, create a bcp.bat file and include the following line:

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Use the path to this bcp.bat file in the BCP absolute path.

This is only applicable to Windows-based Snaplexes.

Maximum error count*

 

Default Value10
Example: 12

Integer

Specify the maximum number of rows which can fail before the bulk load operation is stopped.

Batch size

 

Default Value: N/A
Example: 1000

Integer/Expression

Specify the number of records batched per request. If the input has 10,000 records and the batch size is set to 100, the total number of requests batched would be 100.

Minimum Value: 1

Snap Execution

 

Default Value: Execute only
Example: Validate & Execute

Dropdown list

Select one of the three modes in which the Snap executes. Available options are:

  • Validate & Execute: Performs limited execution of the Snap, and generates a data preview during Pipeline validation. Subsequently, performs full execution of the Snap (unlimited records) during Pipeline runtime.

  • Execute only: Performs full execution of the Snap during Pipeline execution without generating preview data.

  • Disabled: Disables the Snap and all Snaps that are downstream from it.