Examples: Read Fixed-Width Data

The following examples show how to read fixed-width data.

Example 1 – Loading a table with all fields defined

CREATE READABLE EXTERNAL TABLE students (
name varchar(20), address varchar(30), age int)
LOCATION ('file://<host>/file/path/')
FORMAT 'CUSTOM' (formatter=fixedwidth_in, 
         name=20, address=30, age=4);

Example 2 – Loading a table with PRESERVED_BLANKS on

CREATE READABLE EXTERNAL TABLE students (
name varchar(20), address varchar(30), age int)
LOCATION ('gpfdist://<host>:<portNum>/file/path/')
FORMAT 'CUSTOM' (formatter=fixedwidth_in, 
         name=20, address=30, age=4,
        preserve_blanks='on',null='NULL');

Example 3 – Loading data with no line delimiter

CREATE READABLE EXTERNAL TABLE students (
name varchar(20), address varchar(30), age int)
LOCATION ('file://<host>/file/path/')
FORMAT 'CUSTOM' (formatter=fixedwidth_in, 
         name='20', address='30', age='4', line_delim='?@')

Example 4 – Create a writable external table with a \r\n line delimiter

CREATE WRITABLE EXTERNAL TABLE students_out (
name varchar(20), address varchar(30), age int)
LOCATION ('gpfdist://<host>:<portNum>/file/path/students_out.txt')     
FORMAT 'CUSTOM' (formatter=fixedwidth_out, 
        name=20, address=30, age=4, line_delim=E'\r\n');

Parent topic: Using a Custom Format