Beginner question about inserting records

Hi,
I am new to SQL Server (version 8) and hope that someone can help me
solve a problem.
A colleague has set up a SQL Server database with several tables for
which he has constructed multiple applications. As a result, their
structure cannot be altered in any way.
I have received updates for the data -- but the updates are in dbase
files. I would like to insert these dbase files into the existing table
structures (a simple thing to do in Foxpro), but I can't seem to figure
out how to do it in SQL Server.
Can someone point me in the right direction? (I've searched the
archives and gotten a few hints about bulk insert but I'm missing some
critical piece of the puzzle.)
Many thanks,
Jo<jacmcginty@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1116859509.543432.227390@.g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
> I am new to SQL Server (version 8) and hope that someone can help me
> solve a problem.
> A colleague has set up a SQL Server database with several tables for
> which he has constructed multiple applications. As a result, their
> structure cannot be altered in any way.
> I have received updates for the data -- but the updates are in dbase
> files. I would like to insert these dbase files into the existing table
> structures (a simple thing to do in Foxpro), but I can't seem to figure
> out how to do it in SQL Server.
> Can someone point me in the right direction? (I've searched the
> archives and gotten a few hints about bulk insert but I'm missing some
> critical piece of the puzzle.)
> Many thanks,
> Jo
>
Jo, Take a look at BULK INSERT and bcp from the books online. If these
will not suffice and you must perform transformations (data validation,
re-sequencing of keys, normalizing values (yes = 1, no = 0 etc).on the data
as it comes in., then take a look at Data Transformation Services (DTS).
DTS has a wizard for doing imports like you are talking about.
HTH
Rick Sawtell
MCT, MCSD, MCDBA|||BULK INSERT is a TSQL command, but it doesn't understand complex file formats. What you should be
looking at is "DTS". which is a COM objects for import/export. There are three tools in SLQ Server
that uses this COM object:
DTS Wizard. This is the easiest one to use. Start here.
Package Designer. Use this after you done a few wizards.
DTSRUN.EXE. Schedule a package created with any of above two.
--
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
<jacmcginty@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1116859509.543432.227390@.g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
> I am new to SQL Server (version 8) and hope that someone can help me
> solve a problem.
> A colleague has set up a SQL Server database with several tables for
> which he has constructed multiple applications. As a result, their
> structure cannot be altered in any way.
> I have received updates for the data -- but the updates are in dbase
> files. I would like to insert these dbase files into the existing table
> structures (a simple thing to do in Foxpro), but I can't seem to figure
> out how to do it in SQL Server.
> Can someone point me in the right direction? (I've searched the
> archives and gotten a few hints about bulk insert but I'm missing some
> critical piece of the puzzle.)
> Many thanks,
> Jo
>|||Hi, and thank you. The DTS wizard did the trick for this particular
problem (although I see that bulk insert may be helpful in the future).
May I ask a couple of follow-up questions regarding DTS?
1. Is it possible, using the DTS wizard, to change a field name on the
fly?
For example, some of the data tables that I am updating include
underscores in the field names. I need to remove the underscores to
make the updates compatible with previous issues of the data. (I could
do it manually after the import is completed, but since I expect to
repeat this exercise frequently, it would be helpful if I could make
this change during the import.)
2. Once a DTS package has been saved, can it be edited?
For example, I realized after I had saved a DTS and run it that one of
my field types was incorrect, but I couldn't see how to edit the DTS.
(I ended up recreating the whole thing to fix the error.)
Many thanks,
Jo