Bulk loading data to Teradata databases

The following points may help you to configure for bulk loading from IBM® SPSS® Modeler to a Teradata database using the External Loader option in the DB Export Advanced Options dialog box.

Ensure that the Teradata fastload utility is installed

The script teradata_loader.py invokes the Teradata utility fastload. Ensure that fastload is installed and correctly configured on the server on which teradata_loader.py is to be run.

Data can be bulk loaded only to empty tables

You can only use empty tables as targets for a bulk load. If a target table contains any data prior to the bulk load, the operation will fail.

Date, Time and Timestamp format data

In the stream properties, set the date format to YYYY-MM-DD and the time format to HH:MM:SS.

Blank strings

Blank strings are exported to the database as NULL values.

Teradata process ID (tdpid)

By default, fastload exports data to the Teradata system with tdpid=dbc. Usually, there will be an entry in the HOSTS file which associates dbccop1 with the IP address of the Teradata server. To use a different server, specify the following in the Extra loader options field in the DB Export Advanced Options dialog box to pass the tdpid of this server:

-tdpid <id>

Spaces in table and column names

If table or column names contain spaces, bulk load operation will fail. If possible, rename the table or column names to remove spaces.