Importing SQL Code
This topic describes how to import SQL code from a text file into InterSystems SQL. When you import SQL code, InterSystems IRIS® data platform prepares and executes each line of SQL. If it encounters a line of code it cannot parse, SQL import skips over that line of code and continues to prepare and execute subsequent lines until it reaches the end of the file. All SQL code import operations import to the current namespace.
SQL Import is primarily used to import Data Definition Language (DDL) commands, such as CREATE TABLE, and to populate tables using INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE commands.
Importing SQL with LOAD SQL
With the LOAD SQL command, you can easily and efficiently load schemas and table definitions from one database to another, regardless of the system it originates from, as well as run standard DML operations, like INSERT. Any errors caused by the loading are written to the %SQL_Diag.Result log. The command can load DDL statements from a single file or from all the files within a single directory (including any subdirectories).
SQL commands should be stored in a standard, non-formatted file (like a text file). Commands may span multiple lines, but are differentiated from each other by a common delimiter that indicates where one command ends and another begins. The default delimiter differs depending on the origin dialect of the commands. See the LOAD SQL page for more information on delimiters and supported dialects.
