Using CSV data as external table in Oracle DB

If you want to import CSV data into an Oracle database you can use the SQL*Loader command line tool. You simple create a control file that describes how to load the data and then call the sqlldr command with the control file name as an argument:

example.ctl

LOAD DATA
INFILE example.csv
INTO TABLE example_table
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ';'
(ID, NAME, AMOUNT, DESCRIPTION)

> sqlldr username/password example.ctl

But there’s another way to load CSV data into an Oracle database: External tables.

External tables

Oracle’s external tables feature allows you to query data from a file on the filesystem like a regular database table.

First you have to create a directory in the file system and put your CSV file inside:

mkdir -p /path/to/directory

example.csv

1;Water;250
2;Beer;500
3;Wine;150

Now connect to the database as “SYS as SYSDBA”, define the directory as a database object and grant read/write access to your user:

CREATE OR REPLACE DIRECTORY
  external_tables_dir AS '/path/to/directory';
GRANT READ,WRITE ON DIRECTORY
  external_tables_dir TO example_user;

Now you can connect as example_user and create an external table for the CSV file:

CREATE TABLE example_table (
  id NUMBER(4,0),
  name VARCHAR2(50),
  amount NUMBER(8,0)
)
ORGANIZATION EXTERNAL (
  DEFAULT DIRECTORY external_tables_dir
  ACCESS PARAMETERS (
    RECORDS DELIMITED BY NEWLINE
    FIELDS TERMINATED BY ';'
  )
  LOCATION ('example.csv')  
);

The relevant part here is the ORGANIZATION EXTERNAL block. It references the directory and the CSV file inside the directory and allows you to specify format parameters of the CSV file such as record and field delimiters.

Now you can query the table like a regular table:

SELECT * FROM example_table

ID NAME  AMOUNT
-- ----- ------
1  Water 250
2  Beer  500
3  Wine  150

Access information and errors such as bad or discarded records are stored in log files in the specified directory. The default names of these log files consist of the table name and an ID, e.g. example_table_12345.log , example_table_12345.bad and example_table_12345.dsc .