Home Forums Article Discussions Article Discussions by Author Discuss Content Posted by Jeff Moden Skipping Columns (& other tricks) Using BCP Format Files (SQL Spackle) RE: Skipping Columns (& other tricks) Using BCP Format Files (SQL Spackle)

  • January 23, 2014 at 7:47 am

    #1682789

    KenpoDBA (1/23/2014)

    I love any piece that ends with "crack filled".

    Good job on this one. It's to the point and gives good practical advice.

    I notice though that with everyone who talks about this topic, nobody ever

    says what the space between the cols is in the format file.

    Is it a tab, a couple spaces, can it be mixed, etc?

    So in your example would it be:

    1<space><space>SQLCHAR

    1<tab>SQLCHAR

    1<tab><space>SQLCHAR

    Or can it just be any whitespace we want...

    Good point. I've never tried tabs (I avoid tabs even in code because of the different tab sizes of whatever reader someone is using) but I would imagine that tabs would work as the correct "white space". I'll try it after work and see.

    Thanks for the feedback.

    --Jeff Moden

    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

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