SQL*Loader Data Types

SQL*Loader data types can be grouped into portable and nonportable data types. Within each of these two groups, the data types are subgrouped into value data types and length-value data types.

Portable versus nonportable refers to whether the data type is platform dependent. Platform dependency can exist for several reasons, including differences in the byte ordering schemes of different platforms (big-endian versus little-endian), differences in the number of bits in a platform (16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit), differences in signed number representation schemes (2's complement versus 1's complement), and so on. In some cases, such as with byte ordering schemes and platform word length, SQL*Loader provides mechanisms to help overcome platform dependencies. These mechanisms are discussed in the descriptions of the appropriate data types.

Both portable and nonportable data types can be values or length-values. Value data types assume that a data field has a single part. Length-value data types require that the data field consist of two subfields where the length subfield specifies how long the value subfield can be.