MSSQLDataWriter

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Short Description

MSSQLDataWriter loads data into MSSQL database.

Component	Data output	Input ports	Output ports	Transformation	Transf. required	Java	CTL	Auto-propagated metadata
MSSQLDataWriter	database	0-1	0-1

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Ports

Port type	Number	Required	Description	Metadata
Input	0	^[1]	Records to be loaded into the database	Any
Output	0		For information about incorrect records	Input 0 (plus three Error Fields for MSSQLDataWriter
^[1] If no file containing data for loading (Loader input file) is specified, the input port must be connected.

This component has one optional input port and one optional output port.

Metadata

MSSQLDataWriter does not propagate metadata.

Metadata on the output port 0 contain three additional fields at their end: number of incorrect row, number of incorrect column, error message.

Table 54.4. Error Fields for MSSQLDataWriter

Field number	Field name	Data type	Description
LastInputField + 1	<anyname1>	integer	Number of incorrect row
LastInputField + 2	<anyname2>	integer	Number of incorrect column
LastInputField + 3	<anyname3>	string	Error message

MSSQLDataWriter Attributes

Attribute	Req	Description	Possible values
Basic
Path to bcp utility	yes	Name of bcp utility, including path. SQL Server Client Connectivity Components must be installed and configured on the same machine where Clover runs. Bcp command line tool must be available.
Database	yes	Name of the database where the destination table or view resides.
Server name		Name of the server to which bcp utility should connect. If bcp utility connects to local named or remote named instance of server, Server name should be set to `serverName\instanceName`. If bcp utility connects to local default or remote default instance of server, Server name should be set to `serverName`. If it is not set, bcp connects to the local default instance of server on localhost. The same meaning is true for the `serverName` which can be set in Parameters. However, if both Server name attribute and the `serverName` parameter are set, `serverName` in Parameters is ignored.
Database table	^[1]	Name of the destination table.
Database view	^[1]	Name of the destination view. All columns of the view must refer to the same table.
Database schema		Owner of table or view. It does not need to be specified if the user performing the operations is the owner. If it is not set and the user is not the owner, SQL Server returns an error message and the process is cancelled.
User name	yes	Login ID to be used when connecting to the server. The same can be set by specifying the value of the `userName` parameter in the Parameters attribute. If set, `userName` in Parameters is ignored.
Password	yes	Password for the login ID to be used when connecting to the server. The same can be set by specifying the value of the `password` parameter in the Parameters attribute. If set, `password` in Parameters is ignored.
Advanced
Column delimiter		Delimiter used for each column in data. Field values cannot have the delimiter within them. The same can be set by specifying the value of the `fieldTerminator` parameter in the Parameters attribute. If set, `fieldTerminator` in Parameters is ignored.	\t (default) \| any other character
Loader input file	^[2]	Name of input file to be loaded, including path. See Loader input file for more information.
Parameters		All parameters that can be used as parameters by the bcp utility. These values are contained in a sequence of pairs of the following form: `key=value`, or `key` only (if the `key` value is the boolean `true`) separated from each other by semicolon. If the value of any parameter contains semicolon as its part, such value must be double quoted. See Parameters for more information.
^[1] One of these must be specified. ^[2] If input port is not connected, Loader input file must be specified and contain data. See Loader input file for more information.

Details

MSSQLDataWriter loads data into a MSSQL database using the MSSQL database client. SQL Server Client Connectivity Components must be installed and configured on the same machine where CloverETL runs. The bcp command line tool must be available.

MSSQLDataWriter reads data through the input port or from a file. If the input port is not connected to any other component, data must be contained in file that should be specified in the component using Loader input file attribute.

If you connect some other component to the optional output port, it can serve to log the rejected records and information about errors. Metadata on this error port must have the same metadata fields as the input records plus three additional fields at its end: number of incorrect row (integer), number of incorrect column (integer), error message (string).

MSSQLDataWriter is a bulk loader suitable for uploading many records to database. To insert several records, you can also use DBOutputTable, which does not require bcp utility.

Loader input file

You can or you must specify another attribute (Loader input file), depending on an edge being connected to the input port. It is the name of input file with data to be loaded, including its path.

If it is not set, a loader file is created in Clover or OS temporary directory (on Windows) or named pipe is used instead of temporary file (on Unix). The file is deleted after the load finishes.
If it is set, specified file is created. It is not deleted after data is loaded and it is overwritten on each graph run.
If an input port is not connected, the file must exist, must be specified and must contain data that should be loaded. It is not deleted nor overwritten.

Parameters

Parameters serve to pass additional parameters to bcp utility. All of the parameters must have the form of key=value or key only (if its value is true). Individual parameters must be separated from each other by colon, semicolon or pipe. Note that colon, semicolon or pipe can also be a part of some parameter value, but in this case the value must be double quoted.

Among the optional parameters, you can also set userName, password or fieldTerminator for User name, Password or Column delimiter attributes, respectively. If some of the three attributes (User name, Password and Column delimiter) will be set, corresponding parameter value will be ignored.

If you also need to specify the server name, you should do it within parameters. The pattern is as follows: serverName=[msServerHost]:[msServerPort]. For example, you can specify both server name and user name in the following way: serverName=msDbServer:1433|userName=msUser.

Notes and Limitations

MSSQLDataWriter does not write lists and maps.

Examples

Loading data to MSSQL database

Load records (productID, amount) to table products of MSSQL database sales on mssql.example.com. Database schema is dbo, username is smithj and password is smithy.

Solution

Install bcp utility.

Set up the following attributes of MSSQLDataWriter.

Attribute	Value
Path to bcp utility	C:/Program Files/Microsoft SQL Server/Client SDK/ODBC/110/Tools/Binn/bcp.exe
Database	sales
Server name	mssql.example.com
Database table	products
Database schema	dbo
User	smithj
Password	smithy

In case the server uses a non-standard port number, append the port number after Server name.

mssql.example.com,1437

The port number is separated by a comma, not by a semicolon.

Troubleshooting

To test that the connection to database works, you can read some database table with bcp utility directly:

bcp [database_name].[database_schema].[tablename] out outputfile -U user -S serverHostName,port -c

e.g.

bcp master.dbo.products out products.txt -U doejohn -S mssql.example.com,1435 -c

You can use the utility to check that you can insert records into database table:

bcp [database_name].[database_schema].[tablename] in inputfile -U user -S serverHostName,port -c