NAME

Oracle::Loader - Perl extension for creating Oracle PL/SQL and control file.

SYNOPSIS

  use Oracle::Loader;

  $ldr = Oracle::Loader->new;
  $ldr->init;                     # only sets vbm(N),direct(N),reset(Y)
  $ldr->init(%args);              # set variables based on hash array
  $ldr->sync;                     # syncronize variables 
  $ldr->cols_ref($arf_ref);       # column definition array ref
  $ldr->param->dat_fn($fn);       # assign $fn to dat_fn
  $ldr->conn->Oracle($i, $v);     # assign $v to the connection array
  $ldr->disp_param;               # display parameters 
  $ldr->crt_sql;                  # create PL/SQL file 
  $ldr->crt_ctl;                  # create control file 
  $ldr->crt_sql($crf,$fh,$apd,$tab,$rst);
  $ldr->crt_sql($crf,$fn,$apd,$tab,$rst);
  $ldr->crt_ctl($crf,$fh,$apd,$dat,$rst);
  $ldr->crt_ctl($crf,$fn,$apd,$dat,$rst);
  $ldr->create($typ,$cns,$sfn,$phm);
  $ldr->load($typ,$cns,$ctl,$phm,$log);
  $ldr->batch($typ,$cns,$sdr,$phm,$ext);
  $ldr->report_results($typ,$cns,$sdr,$ofn,$ext);
  $ldr->report_errors($typ,$cns,$sdr,$ofn,$ext);
  $ldr->read_log($sub,$log,$rno);

  $rv      = $ldr->param->sql_fn; # get sql file name
  $rv      = $ldr->param->dat_fn; # get data file name
  $rv      = $ldr->param->vbm;    # the same as the above
  $ary_ref = $ldr->cols_ref;      # get column def array ref
  %ary     = $ldr->get_param;     # get all the parameters
  

Notation and Conventions

   $ldr    a display object
   $crf    column definition array reference
   $fh     a file handler
   $fn     an output file name 
   $apd    N/Y, append to output file or not
   $tab    table name
   $dat    input data file name 
   $rst    Y/N, whether to reset the corresponding variables
   $typ    database type: Oracle, MSSQL, CSV, etc
   $cns    connection string: usr/pwd@db
   $sfn    sql program file name
   $ctl    sqldr control file name
   $sdr    source directory where definition files stored
   $phm    program home directory
   $log    sqlldr log file name
   $ext    definiton file extension such as '.def', '.var', etc.
   $sub    calling sub: result (report_results) or 
           error (report_errors)

   $drh    Driver handle object (rarely seen or used in applications)
   $h      Any of the $??h handle types above
   $rc     General Return Code  (boolean: true=ok, false=error)
   $rv     General Return Value (typically an integer)
   @ary    List of values returned from the database, typically a row 
           of data
   $rows   Number of rows processed (if available, else -1)
   $fh     A filehandle
   undef   NULL values are represented by undefined values in perl
   \%attr  Reference to a hash of attribute values passed to methods

DESCRIPTION

This is my seocnd object-oriented Perl program. The Loader module creates data definition language (DDL) codes for creating tables and control file to be used to load data into the tables. It creates DDL codes based on column definitons contained in an array or read from a definition file. It also has reporting functions to generate SQL*Load error reports and load result reports.

The column definition array could be built from Data::Describe module. It is actually an array with hash members and contains these hash elements ('col', 'typ', 'wid', 'max', 'min', 'dec', 'dft', 'req', and 'dsp') for each column. The subscripts in the array are in the format of $ary[$col_seq]{$hash_ele}. The hash elements are:

  col - column name
  typ - column type, 'N' for numeric, 'C' for characters, 
        'D' for date
  max - maximum length of the record in the column
  wid - column width. It is the max of the column length. If 
        'wid' presents, the max and min are not needed.
  min - minimum length of the record in the column
  dec - maximun decimal length of the record in the column
  dft - date format string, e.g., YYYY/MM/DD, 
        MON/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS
  req - whether there is null or zero length records in the 
        column only 'NOT NULL' is shown
  dsp - column description 

The module will use column definitons to create DDL codes and control file using crt_sql and crt_ctl methods.

METHODS

  • the constructor new()

    Without any input, i.e., new(), the constructor generates an empty object. If any argument is provided, the constructor expects them in the hash array format, i.e., in pairs of key and value.

  • init(%attr)

    Input variables:

      %attr - argument hash array 

    Variables used or methods called:

      param - get attribute value 
      conn  - get connection information
      sync  - syncronize the variables

    How to use:

      # use default value to initialize the object
      $self->init; 
      $self->init(%a); # use %a to initialize

    Return: the initialized object.

    This method initiates the parameters for the object.

  • sync (%args)

    Input variables:

      %args - argument hash array 

    Variables used or methods called:

      param - get attribute value 
      conn  - get connection information
      sync  - syncrolize the variables

    How to use:

      # use default value to syncronile the object
      $self->sync; 
      $self->sync(%a); # use %a to syncronize

    Return: the initialized object.

    This method syncronizes the parameters.

  • debug($n)

    Input variables:

      $n   - a number between 0 and 100. It specifies the
             level of messages that you would like to
             display. The higher the number, the more 
             detailed messages that you will get.

    Variables used or methods called: None.

    How to use:

      $self->debug(2);     # set the message level to 2
      print $self->debug;  # print current message level

    Return: None.

    The debug level will be set to $n.

  • disp_param

    Input variables: None

    Variables used or methods called: None.

    How to use:

      $self->display;    

    Return: none.

    This method displays the parameters and their values.

  • read_definitoin ($dfn, $typ)

    Input variables:

      $dfn - definition file name. If not specified, 
             I<param->def_fn> method will be called.
      $typ - definition file type. Not implemented at 
             this version.

    Variables used or methods called: None.

      param->def_fn - get definition file name
      param->reset  - reset parameters?
      cols_ref      - get/set column reference

    How to use:

      $self->read_definition($fn); 

    Return: none.

    This method reads a column definition file and sets the definition column array. It espects the definiton file to contain one column definition per line with vertical bar delimiting the definition. Here are the definitions:

      1. SAS Dataset Name and Path|
      2. ASCII File Name and Path|
      3. Variable Name|
      4. Variable Length|
      5. Variable Type (1=num 2=char 3=date)|
      6. Variable Date Format|
      7. Variable Label|
      8. All Values Exist?

    Here is an example:

      #SAS|ASCII|VarName|VarLength|VarType|DateFmt|VarLabel|NotNull
      ||STUDYNO|3|number||Study Number|not null
      ||CENTERNO|3|number||Center Number|
      ||PATIENTS|7|number||Center Patients|
      ||VISITS|7|number||Center Patients|
      ||RECORDS|7|number||Center Patients|
      ||Fax_In|6.1|number||Mean # Days from Visit to Fax In|
      ||DB_Entry|6.1|number||Mean # Days from Visit to DB entry|
      ||DB_Clean|6.1|number||Mean # Days from Visit to DB clean|
      ||clean_now|5.1|number||Percent Records Clean Now|
      ||job_id|9|number||Report Job number|not null
  • crt_sql($arf,$ofn,$apd,$tab,$rst,$drp)

    Input variables:

      $arf - array ref containing column definitions.
             If not specified, it defaults to I<cols_ref>. 
      $ofn - output file name. The file will contains
             the sql codes. It defaults to I<out_fh> or
             I<sql_fn>.
      $apd - whether to append if the output file 
             exists. It defaults to I<param->append>.
      $tab - database table name. It defaults to
             I<param->dbtab>.
      $rst - whether to reset parameters based on the
             specified parameters here. It defaults to
             I<param->reset>.
      $drp - whether to drop the table before create it.
             The default is 'Y'. 

    Variables used or methods called:

      param  - get parameters

    How to use:

      $self->crt_sql($arf, 'mysql.sql','Y', 'mytab'); 

    Return: create PL/SQL codes for creating Oracle tables.

    This method creates PL/SQL codes based on the columns defined in the definition array. You can access the array reference as ${$arf}[$i]{$k}. The $k could be 'col', 'typ', 'wid', 'max', 'min', 'dec', 'dft', and 'req'. Some special keys are stored in the first element of the array, i.e., ${$arf}[0]. They are

      table_name - table name. It is used as the last 
                   resource in getting a table name.  
      table_desc - table title/description used to 
                   create table comments. 
  • crt_ctl ($arf, $ofn, $apd, $dat, $rst, $drp)

    Input variables:

      $arf - array ref containing column definitions.
             If not specified, it defaults to I<cols_ref>. 
      $ofn - output file name. The file will contains
             the sql codes. It defaults to I<out_fh>
             or I<ctl_fn>.
      $apd - whether to append if the output file 
             exists. It defaults to I<param->append>.
      $dat - input data file name. It defaults to
             I<param->dat_fn>.
      $rst - whether to reset parameters based on the
             specified parameters here. It defaults to
             I<param->reset>.
      $drp - whether drop records before appending

    Variables used or methods called:

      param  - get parameters

    How to use:

      $self->crt_sql($arf, 'mysql.ctl','N', 'mytxt.dat'); 

    Return: create control file to be used by sql*loader.

    This method creates a SQL*Loader control file.

  • check_infile ($ctl,$typ)

    Input variables:

      $ctl - control file name
      $typ - routine type: load, create, etc.

    Variables used or methods called:

      echoMSG   - echo messages

    How to use:

      $self->check_infile($inf);

    Return: boolean, i.e., 1 for OK, 0 for not OK.

    This method checks whether there is INFILE parameter in control file, whether the infile exisit and has non-zero size.

  • create ($typ, $cns, $sfn, $phm)

    Input variables:

      $typ - DB type: Oracle, MSSQL, etc. It defaults to
             Oracle
      $cns - connection string: usr/pwd@db
      $sfn - sql file name
      $phm - program (sqlldr) home directory 

    Variables used or methods called:

      param   - class method to get parameters

    How to use:

      $self->create; 
      $self->create('', 'usr/pwd@db'); 

    Return: None.

    This method creates the tables by running SQL*Plus or other program corresponding to its database.

  • load ($typ, $cns, $ctl, $phm, $log)

    Input variables:

      $typ - DB type: Oracle, MSSQL, etc. It defaults to
             Oracle
      $cns - connection string: usr/pwd@db
      $ctl - control file name
      $phm - program (sqlldr) home directory 
      $log - log file name

    Variables used or methods called:

      param   - class method to get parameters

    How to use:

      $self->load; 
      $self->load('', 'usr/pwd@db'); 

    Return: None.

    This method loads that data into a corresponding table. For Oracle, sqlldr is used to load the data into the table.

  • batch ($typ, $cns, $sdr, $phm, $ext)

    Input variables:

      $typ - DB type: Oracle, MSSQL, etc. It defaults to
             Oracle
      $cns - connection string: usr/pwd@db
      $sdr - source directory containing all the definition files
      $phm - program (sqlplus, sqlldr, etc.) home directory 
      $ext - definition file extension such as "def", "var", etc.
             It uses 'def_ex' if it is set, otherwise default to
             'def'.

    Variables used or methods called:

      param   - class method to get parameters
      crt_sql - create PL/SQL codes
      crt_ctl - create Oracle control file

    How to use:

      $self->batch; 
      $self->batch('', 'usr/pwd@db', '/my/load/dir'); 

    Return: None.

    This method calls read_definition, crt_sql, crt_ctl, create, load methods to run through all the definition files in a source directory.

  • read_log ($typ, $ifn, $rno)

    Input variables:

      $typ - type of information that is extracted from the log file.
             The types are: result or error
      $ifn - log file name
      $rno - record number

    Variables used or methods called:

      param   - class method to get parameters
      sort_array    - sort a numeric array 
      compressArray - compress an array of numbers 
                      into a list of range or comma 
                      delimited numbers

    How to use:

      $self->read_log('','mylog.log');

    Return: None.

    This method reads a SQL*Loader log file and return loading result or loading errors based on request.

  • report_results ($typ, $cns, $sdr, $ofn, $ext)

    Input variables:

      $typ - database type: Oracle, MSSQL
      $cns - connection string: usr/pwd@db
      $sdr - source directory containing all the 
             definition files
      $ofn - output file name  
      $ext - log file extension such as "log", "lst",
             etc.

    Variables used or methods called:

      param    - class method to get parameters
      read_log - read an Oracle log file

    How to use:

      $self->report_results;

    Return: None.

    This method reads all the SQL*Loader log files in a load directory and generates a nice report with the following fields:

       1 - Success Rate
       2 - Oracle table name
       3 - Rows successfully loaded
       4 - Rows not loaded due to data errors
       5 - Rows not loaded because all WHEN clauses were 
           failed
       6 - Rows not loaded because all fields were null
       7 - Total logical records skipped
       8 - Total logical records read
       9 - Total logical records rejected
      10 - Total logical records discarded
      11 - Start time
      12 - End time
      13 - Elapsed time
      14 - CPU time
  • report_errors ($typ, $cns, $sdr, $ofn, $ext)

    Input variables:

      $typ - database type: Oracle, MSSQL
      $cns - connection string: usr/pwd@db
      $sdr - source directory containing all the 
             definition files
      $ofn - output file name  
      $ext - log file extension such as "log", "lst",
             etc.

    Variables used or methods called:

      param    - class method to get parameters
      read_log - read an Oracle log file

    How to use:

      $self->report_errors;

    Return: None.

    This method reads all the SQL*Loader log files in a load directory and generates a nice error report with the following information:

      SQL*Loader error report
      ========================
      # Output format:
      # ORA-#####   counts
      # ORA-#####:table_name:colum_name (count) record range

FAQ

What are the parameters?

            CSV = []                            
         DirSep = /                             
         Oracle = [DBI:Oracle:orcl,usrid,userpwd]
     add_center =                               
         append = N                             
         bad_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.bad
       cols_ref = ARRAY(0x1787a4)               
         commit = N                             
           conn = ConnType::CSV,ConnType::Oracle
         ctl_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.ctl
         dat_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.dat
        db_type = Oracle                        
         dbconn = usrid/userpwd@orcl          
         dbhome = /export/home/oracle7          
          dbpwd = userpwd                       
          dbsid = orcl                          
          dbtab = p083p001                      
           dbts = data_ts                       
          dbusr = userid                       
         def_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.def
         direct = N                             
         dis_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.dis
         log_fn = /dlb/data/S083/load/s083p001.log
         out_fh =                               
      overwrite = Y                             
      relax_req = Y                             
          reset = Y                             
          spool = /tmp/xx_tst.lst               
         sql_fn = /tmp/xx_tst.sql               
        src_dir =                               
   study_number =                               
        ts_iext = 21k                           
        ts_next = 2k                            
            vbm = Y                             
  • database parameters

    Currently only two connection types are available: CSV and Oracle. None of them has been implemented to use in creating tables or loading data. This consideration is intended to be implemented in the future versions.

    You can get the connection information using these methods:

        # create the loader object
        $ldr = new Oracle::Loader;
        # get CSV connection array reference
        $a = $ldr->conn->CSV;   
        # get Oracle connection array reference
        $b = $ldr->conn->Oracle;
        # output the contents
        print "CSV: @$a\n";
        print "Oracle: @$b\n"; 

    You can set the connection using these methods:

        $ldr->conn->CSV(0, "DBI:CSV:f_dir=/tmp");
        $ldr->conn->Oracle(0, "DBI:Oracle:sidxx");
        $ldr->conn->Oracle(1, "usrid");
        $ldr->conn->Oracle(2, "usrpwd");
      Or 
        $ldr->param->dbconn("usrid/usrpwd@db");
        $ldr->sync;
      Or
        $ldr->param->dbsid('sidxx');
        $ldr->param->dbusr('orausr');
        $ldr->param->dbpwd('orapwd');
        $ldr->sync;

    Other database parameters:

        # set Oracle tablespace name
        $ldr->param->dbts('USER_DATA'); 
        # set tablespace intial extent
        $ldr->param->ts_iext('10k'); 
        # set tablespace next extent
        $ldr->param->ts_next('5k');
        # set table name
        $ldr->param->dbtab('s083ae'); 
        # set database type
        $ldr->param->db_type('Oracle');
        # database executable home directory
        $ldr->param->dbhome('/export/home/oracle7');
  • input/output file names

    There are two ways to run this program: in single or batch mode. If it runs in single mode the input file name defined in def_fn is used; otherwise, the definiton files in the source directory are searched. The source directory is defined through parameter src_dir. These are the parameters related to input files:

        # set definition file name
        $ldr->param->def_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.def');
        # set source directory containing all the definition 
        # files
        $ldr->param->src_dir('/data/S083/load'); 

    The important parameter is cols_ref. This parameter is re-set by running read_definition method. If we did not set def_fn or src_dir, we can set cols_ref parameter directly, and the action methods such as crt_sql and crt_ctl will use the array referenced by cols_ref parameter to create SQL and control files. You could use Data::Describe module to form column definitions and pass the reference to cols_ref in the Loader.

    These are the parameters related to SQL file:

        # set sql file name
        $ldr->param->sql_fn('/tmp/xx_tst.sql');
        # set spool file name 
        $ldr->param->spool('/tmp/xx_tst.lst');

    The only parameters related to report file names are study_number and src_dir. If no report file name is specified in report_results or report_errors methods, the report file name is formed using study_number. If no study_number, then the directory name one level above src_dir is used. For instance, if we have

        $ldr->param->study_number('90');
        $ldr->param->src_dir('/tmp/S083/load'); 

    then the report file names are 'S090_ldr.rst' and 'S090_ldr.err' for result report and error report respectively. The report files will be resided under '/tmp/S083/load'. If we reset the study_number to null, then the report file names will be 'S083_ldr.rst' and 'S083_ldr.err' for result and error reports respectively.

    These are the parameters related to control file:

        # set control file name
        $ldr->param->ctl_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.ctl');
        # set data file name for SQL*Loader
        $ldr->param->dat_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.dat');
        # set discard file name
        $ldr->param->dis_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.dis');
        # set bad file name
        $ldr->param->bad_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.bad');
        # set log file name
        $ldr->param->log_fn('/tmp/load/s083p001.log');

    If an output file handler is defined, the SQL codes or control codes will be written to the file handler. The sql_fn or ctl_fn will be ignored.

  • boolean parameters

    The boolean parameters are used to turn on or off some of the features or functions this program have. They use Y or N (or null). Here is a list of the parameters (the first one is the default value):

      add_center (N/Y): whether to add center number or 
                        foreign key to all the tables.
          append (N/Y): whether to append the output to 
                        existing file such as SQL or 
                        control file.
          commit (N/Y): whether to actually create tables 
                        and load data into the tables.
          direct (N/Y): whether to use direct path in 
                        SQL*Loader to load data into the 
                        tables.
       overwrite (N/Y): whether to over write existing files 
                        if they already exist. 
       relax_req (Y/N): whether to relax the constraints 
                        defined in the definition file. If 
                        yes, then only the constraints in 
                        column names containing 'ID' are 
                        enabled.
           reset (Y/N): whether to re-set the parameters if 
                        new values are passed in through a 
                        method such as I<crt_sql>, I<crt_ctl>, 
                        I<load>, I<create>, etc.
             vbm (N/Y): whether to display more information 
                        about the progress.                             
  • miscellaneous parameters

    We only have one miscellaneous parameter, i.e., DirSep. It is currently set to '/' for Unix system. It could be determined by using Perl special variable - '$^O' ('$OSNAME'). Here is how to change it to NT directory separater:

        $ldr->param->DirSep('\\');

How to create a Loader object?

You can create an empty Loader object using the following methods:

  $ldr = Oracle::Loader->new();
  $ldr = new Oracle::Loader;

If you have an hash array %p containing all the parameters, you use the array to initialize the object:

  $ldr->init(%p);

You can create your hash array to define your object attributes as the following:

  %p = (
    'vbm'       => 'Y',    # use verbose mode 
     'cols_ref' => \@C,    # array_ref for col defs
    );
  $ldr = Oracle::Loader->new(%attr);

How to change the array references in the display object

You can pass data and column definition array references to display objects using the object constructor new or using the set methods:

  $ldr = Oracle::Loader->new($arf, $crf); 
  $ldr->set_data_ref(\@new_array);
  $ldr->set_cols_ref(\@new_defs);     

How to access the object?

You can get the information from the object through all the methods described above without providing a value for the parameters.

Future Implementation

Although it seems a simple task, it requires a lot of thinking to get it working in an object-oriented frame. Intented future implementation includes

  • add MSSQL type so that it can create T-SQL codes and DTS codes

  • a debugger option

    A method can also be implemented to turn on/off the debugger.

  • a logger option

    This option will allow output and/or debbuging information to be logged.

CODING HISTORY

  • Version 0.01

    12/10/2000 (htu) - Initial coding

  • Version 1.00

    02/15/2001 (htu) - major restructuring

  • Version 1.01

    02/15/2001 (htu) - quote Oracle key words

  • Version 1.02

    02/15/2004 - removed dependence from Data::subs for sort_array and compressArray methods.

  • Version 1.03

    6/15/2004 (htu) - added pre-requisite module Class::Struct in the test script.

  • Version 1.04

    7/19/2004 (htu) - removed some unrelated inline comments and try to find out why it failed the test on CPAN while it runs ok on my computer.

SEE ALSO (some of docs that I check often)

Data::Describe, perltoot(1), perlobj(1), perlbot(1), perlsub(1), perldata(1), perlsub(1), perlmod(1), perlmodlib(1), perlref(1), perlreftut(1).

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Hanming Tu. All rights reserved.

This package is free software and is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License (see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)