How to: Create a Bulk Copy Format File (ODBC)
New: 14 April 2006
A complete sample shows how to use bulk copy functions to create both a data file and a format file. The complete sample code is in the file BulkCopyWithFormat.cpp, which you can download from the SQL Server Downloads page on MSDN. This sample was developed using Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 and was developed for ODBC version 3.0 or later.
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To create a bulk copy format file
Allocate an environment handle and a connection handle.
Set SQL_COPT_SS_BCP and SQL_BCP_ON to enable bulk copy operations.
Connect to SQL Server.
Call bcp_init to set the following information:
- The name of the table or view to bulk copy from or to.
- The name of the data file that contains the data to copy into the database or that receives data when copying from the database.
- The name of a data file to receive any bulk copy error messages (specify NULL if you do not want a message file).
- The direction of the copy: DB_OUT to the file from the table or view.
Call bcp_columns to set the number of columns.
Call bcp_colfmt for each column to define its characteristics in the data file.
Call bcp_writefmt to create a format file describing the data file to be created by the bulk copy operation.
Call bcp_exec to execute the bulk copy operation.
A bulk copy operation run in this way creates both a data file containing the bulk copied data and a format file describing the layout of the data file.
See Also
Concepts
Using Data Files and Format Files
Other Resources
How to: Bulk Copy with the SQL Server ODBC Driver (ODBC)