COPY

Syntax

COPY {FROM database | TO database | FROM database TO database} {APPEND|CREATE|INSERT|REPLACE} destination_table [(column, column, column, ...)]
USING query

where database has the following syntax:

username[/password]@connect_identifier

Copies data from a query to a table in a local or remote database. COPY supports the following datatypes:

CHAR

DATE

LONG

NUMBER

VARCHAR2

The COPY command is not being enhanced to handle datatypes or features introduced with, or after Oracle8. The COPY command is likely to be made obsolete in a future release.

Terms

Refer to the following list for a description of each term or clause:

FROM database

Specifies the database that contains the data to be copied. If you omit the FROM clause, the source defaults to the database to which SQL*Plus is connected (that is, the database that other commands address). You must include a FROM clause to specify a source database other than the default.

TO database

Specifies the database containing the destination table. If you omit the TO clause, the destination defaults to the database to which SQL*Plus is connected (that is, the database that other commands address). You must include a TO clause to specify a destination database other than the default.

database

Specifies username[/password] @connect_identifier of the Oracle source or destination database you wish to COPY FROM or COPY TO. If you do not specify password in either the FROM clause or the TO clause, SQL*Plus will prompt you for it. SQL*Plus suppresses the display of your password response.

You must include the connect_identifier clause which consists of an Oracle Net connection string, to specify the source or destination database. The exact syntax depends upon the Oracle Net communications protocol your Oracle installation uses. For more information, refer to the Oracle Net manual appropriate for your protocol or contact your DBA.

APPEND

Inserts the rows from query into destination_table if the table exists. If destination_table does not exist, COPY creates it.

CREATE

Inserts the rows from query into destination_table after first creating the table. If destination_table already exists, COPY returns an error.

INSERT

Inserts the rows from query into destination_table. If destination_table does not exist, COPY returns an error. When using INSERT, the USING query must select one column for each column in the destination_table.

REPLACE

Replaces destination_table and its contents with the rows from query. If destination_table does not exist, COPY creates it. Otherwise, COPY drops the existing table and replaces it with a table containing the copied data.

destination_table

Represents the table you wish to create or to which you wish to add data.

(column, column, column, ...)

Specifies the names of the columns in destination_table. You must enclose a name in double quotes if it contains lowercase letters or blanks.

If you specify columns, the number of columns must equal the number of columns selected by the query. If you do not specify any columns, the copied columns will have the same names in the destination table as they had in the source if COPY creates destination_table.

USING query

Specifies a SQL query (SELECT command) determining which rows and columns COPY copies.

Usage

To enable the copying of data between Oracle and non-Oracle databases, NUMBER columns are changed to DECIMAL columns in the destination table. Hence, if you are copying between Oracle databases, a NUMBER column with no precision will be changed to a DECIMAL(38) column. When copying between Oracle databases, you should use SQL commands (CREATE TABLE AS and INSERT) or you should ensure that your columns have a precision specified.

The SQL*Plus SET variable LONG limits the length of LONG columns that you copy. If any LONG columns contain data longer than the value of LONG, COPY truncates the data.

SQL*Plus performs a commit at the end of each successful COPY. If you set the SQL*Plus SET variable COPYCOMMIT to a positive value n, SQL*Plus performs a commit after copying every n batches of records. The SQL*Plus SET variable ARRAYSIZE determines the size of a batch.

Some operating environments require that service names be placed in double quotes.

Examples

The following command copies the entire EMPLOYEES table to a table named WESTEMPLOYEES. Note that the tables are located in two different databases. If WESTEMPLOYEES already exists, SQL*Plus replaces the table and its contents. The columns in WESTEMPLOYEES have the same names as the columns in the source table, EMPLOYEES.

COPY FROM HR/HR@HQ TO JOHN/CHROME@WEST -
REPLACE WESTEMPLOYEES -
USING SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEES

The following command copies selected records from EMPLOYEES to the database to which SQL*Plus is connected. SQL*Plus creates SALESMEN through the copy. SQL*Plus copies only the columns EMPLOYEE_ID and LAST_NAME, and at the destination names them EMPLOYEE_ID and SA_MAN.

COPY FROM HR/HR@ORACLE01 -
CREATE SALESMEN (EMPLOYEE_ID, SA_MAN) -
USING SELECT EMPLOYEE_ID, LAST_NAME FROM EMPLOYEES -
WHERE JOB_ID='SA_MAN';