Importing large text file to table

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Importing large text file to table

rash3554

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October 26, 2016 at 7:40 pm

#331595

Hi there,
I was given a text file with 750 columns and 5,000,000,000 rows. Size of text file is about 5GB. Is it possible to put these in a single table? I was only told that none of the columns exceed VARCHAR(2000).
I tried using "SQL Server Import and Export Wizard" but get an error saying that memory is not enough.
How can I resolve this issue?
Thx
MR

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DamianC SSCrazy Eights Points: 8023 More actions · Answer 1

This might help:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190421(v=sql.105).aspx">

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190421(v=sql.105).aspx

bcp will attempt to load in one transaction so use bcp -b <transactions> e.g. 10000

- Damian

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004406 More actions · Answer 2

rash3554 (10/26/2016)
Hi there,
I was given a text file with 750 columns and 5,000,000,000 rows. Size of text file is about 5GB. Is it possible to put these in a single table? I was only told that none of the columns exceed VARCHAR(2000).
I tried using "SQL Server Import and Export Wizard" but get an error saying that memory is not enough.
How can I resolve this issue?
Thx
MR

Something is wrong here. If there are 5 Billion rows and the file is only 5GB, then each row would only be 1 byte.

--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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