NAME

     freebcp — bulk loading utility for Sybase and Microsoft databases

SYNOPSIS

     freebcp [[⟨database⟩.]⟨owner⟩.]⟨object_name⟩ {in | [query]out} datafile {-c | -n | -f formatfile}
             [-S servername] [-D dbname] [-U username] [-P password] [-b batchsize] [-F firstrow] [-L lastrow]
             [-e errfile] [-I interfaces] [-m maxerror] [-t field_term] [-r row_term] [-h hints] [-T textsize]
             [-A packet_size] [-O options] [-i inputfile] [-o outputfile] [-C charset] [-EdVv]

DESCRIPTION

     freebcp is a utility program distributed with FreeTDS.  freebcp replicates (in part at least) the
     functionality of the bcp utility programs distributed by Sybase and Microsoft.  freebcp makes use of the
     DB-Library bcp API provided by FreeTDS. This API is also available to application developers.

     The manual pages or online help for Sybase or SQL Server can be referenced for more detailed information on
     bcp functionality.

TABLES AND FILES

     database
             The name of the database containing object to be copied.  Optional if the table/view is in the
             default database for username.

     schema  The schema of the object being copied. If not provided, the default schema for username is used.

     object  The name of the database object you wish to access, typically a table. It can also be a view.  All
             views can be read; some can be written, subject to constraints.  With queryout, object can also be
             an SQL query.

     in      Copy data from a host file to a database table.

     out     Copy data from a database table to a host file.

     queryout
             indicates that table_name is in fact SQL, rather than a database object.  freebcp will execute the
             query and write the results to a file. (It is a good idea to have the query return one and only one
             result set.)

     datafile
             The name of an operating system file.

OPTIONS

     -A packet_size
             Set the size of a TDS packet to packet_size.  Not sure why you would want to do this, except as an
             experiment.

     -D dbname
             The name of the default database to use.  Overrides default database associated with the login
             account.  Causes freebcp to issue a USE dbname command immediately after logging in, before
             commencing BCP operations.

     -E      Write the data in datafile to the table's IDENTITY column. Without this flag, the identity data
             present in the datafile will be ignored, and new IDENTITY values will be generated for the imported
             rows.

     -F firstrow
             The first row to copy from the input file or database table. The default is the first row, row 1.

     -I interfaces
             The name and location of the interfaces file to search when connecting to servername. Overrides
             freetds.conf.

     -L lastrow
             The last row to copy from an input file  or database table. The default is the last row.

     -O options
             SQL text to set connection options prior to the bcp operation.  If options is a valid filename, the
             SQL is read from the file instead. Sometimes needed for queryout.  Example: -O `SET
             QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON'.

     -P password
             The password associated with username.

     -S servername
             The name of the Database Server to which to connect.

     -T textsize
             For text or image columns, set the maximum number of characters to request from the server.
             Defaults to the setting in freetds.conf.  If not specified anywhere, defaults to the full size of
             the data.

     -U username
             A database login name.  For TDS 7+ connections, a domain login is attempted if username is not
             provided.

     -b batchsize
             The number of rows per batch of data copied. Batching applies only when you are bulk copying into
             the database. Each batch of data is effectively “committed” into the database. The default value
             for batchsize is 1000.

     -c      The host data file is (or will be) in "character" format, i.e., a text file. Encoding is determined
             by the client charset attribute in freetds.conf.

     -d      Turn off any logging. (Unintuitive, perhaps.)

     -e errfile
             Write errors to errfile.  For uploads.  Includes line and column information, and the row data.

     -f formatfile
             The format of the host data file is described by formatfile.  The layout of formatfile is identical
             to that understood by the Sybase and Microsoft bcp utilities, but is too complicated to describe
             here.

     -h hints
             Set bcp hints. For valid values, cf.  bcp_options() in the FreeTDS Reference Manual.

     -m maxerror
             Stop after encountering maxerror errors. Default 10.

     -n      The host data file is in “native” format.  This is a format that freebcp will be able to process,
             but is not portable or readable.

     -r row_term
             The row terminator for a character file.  May be more than one character.  Default is newline
             ('\n'). Cf.  -c, above.

     -t field_term
             The field terminator for character file. Also known as a column delimiter. May be more than one
             character.  Default is tab ('\t'). Cf.  -c, above.

     -v

     -V      Print the version information and exit.

     -i inputfile
             Read input data from file specified.

     -o outputfile
             Write output data to file specified.

     -C charset
             Specify character set to use to talk to server.

ENVIRONMENT

     DSQUERY default servername

NOTES

     When connecting to a Sybase database server, it is required that the TDS 5.0 protocol be used. When
     connecting to a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database server, the TDS 7 (or later) protocol is required.

     Sybase and Microsoft define different versions of the bcp portion of TDS 4.2.  Because FreeTDS has no way
     of knowing which type of server it's connected to, freebcp does not support version 4.2 of the TDS
     protocol.

HISTORY

     freebcp first appeared in FreeTDS 0.60

AUTHORS

     The freebcp utility was written by Bill Thompson <thompbil@exchange.uk.ml.com>

BUGS

     Currently, there is no support for text data types in freebcp, when SQL Server 2000 is the target server.