Create a Format File (SQL Server)

When you bulk import into a SQL Server table or bulk export data from a table, you can use a format file to a flexible system for writing data files that requires little or no editing to comply with other data formats or to read data files from other software programs.

SQL Server support two types of format file: non-XML format and XML format. The non-XML format is the original format that is supported by earlier versions of SQL Server.

Generally, XML and non-XML format files are interchangeable. However, we recommend that you use the XML syntax for new format files because they provide several advantages over non-XML format files.

This topic describes how to use the bcp utility to create a format file for a particular table. The format file is based on the data-type option specified (-n, -c, -w,or -N) and the table or view delimiters.

Creating a Non-XML Format File

To use a bcp command to create a format file, specify the format argument and use nul instead of a data-file path. The format option also requires the -f option, such as:

bcp table_or_view format nul -fformat_file_name

For information about the structure and fields of non-XML format files, see Non-XML Format Files (SQL Server).

Examples

This section contains the following examples that show how to use bcp commands to create a non-XML format file:

• A. Creating a non-XML format file for native data

• B. Creating a non-XML format file for character data

• C. Creating a non-XML format file for Unicode native data

• D. Creating a non-XML format file for Unicode character data

The examples use the HumanResources.Department table in the AdventureWorks2012 sample database. The HumanResources.Department table contains four columns: DepartmentID, Name, GroupName, and ModifiedDate.

A. Creating a non-XML format file for native data

The following example creates an XML format file, Department-n.xml, for the AdventureWorks2012HumanResources.Department table. The format file uses native data types. The contents of the generated format file are presented after the command.

The bcp command contains the following qualifiers.

At the Windows command prompt, enter the following bcp command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -T -n -f Department-n.fmt  

The generated format file, Department-n.fmt, contains the following information:

12.0  
4  
1       SQLSMALLINT   0       2       ""   1     DepartmentID                 ""  
2       SQLNCHAR      2       100     ""   2     Name                         SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS  
3       SQLNCHAR      2       100     ""   3     GroupName                    SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS  
4       SQLDATETIME   0       8       ""   4     ModifiedDate                 ""  

For more information, see Non-XML Format Files (SQL Server).

B. Creating a non-XML format file for character data

The following example creates an XML format file, Department.fmt, for the AdventureWorks2012HumanResources.Department table. The format file uses character data formats and a non-default field terminator (,). The contents of the generated format file are presented after the command.

The bcp command contains the following qualifiers.

At the Windows command prompt, enter the following bcp command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -c -f Department-c.fmt -T  

The generated format file, Department-c.fmt, contains the following information:

12.0  
4  
1       SQLCHAR       0       7       "\t"     1     DepartmentID                 ""  
2       SQLCHAR       0       100     "\t"     2     Name                         SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS  
3       SQLCHAR       0       100     "\t"     3     GroupName                    SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS  
4       SQLCHAR       0       24      "\r\n"   4     ModifiedDate                 ""  

For more information, see Non-XML Format Files (SQL Server).

C. Creating a non-XML format file for Unicode native data

To create a non-XML format file for Unicode native data for the HumanResources.Department table, use the following command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -T -N -f Department-n.fmt  

For more information about how to use Unicode native data, see Use Unicode Native Format to Import or Export Data (SQL Server).

D. Creating a non-XML format file For Unicode character data

To create a non-XML format file for Unicode character data for the HumanResources.Department table that uses default terminators, use the following command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -T -w -f Department-w.fmt  

For more information about how to use Unicode character data, see Use Unicode Character Format to Import or Export Data (SQL Server).

Creating an XML Format File

To use a bcp command to create a format file, specify the format argument and use nul instead of a data-file path. The format option always requires the -f option, and to create an XML format file, you must also specify the -x option, such as:

bcp table_or_view format nul-f format_file_name -x

For information about the structure and fields of XML format files, see XML Format Files (SQL Server).

Examples

This section contains the following examples that show how to use bcp commands to create an XML format file:

• A. Creating an XML format file for character data

• B. Creating an XML format file for native data

The examples use the HumanResources.Department table in the AdventureWorks2012 sample database. The HumanResources.Department table contains four columns: DepartmentID, Name, GroupName, and ModifiedDate.

A. Creating an XML format file for character data

The following example creates an XML format file, Department.xml, for the AdventureWorks2012HumanResources.Department table. The format file uses character data formats and a non-default field terminator (,). The contents of the generated format file are presented after the command.

The bcp command contains the following qualifiers.

At the Windows command prompt, enter the following bcp command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -c -x -f Department-c..xml -t, -T  

The generated format file, Department-c.xml, contains the following XML elements:

<?xml version="1.0"?>  
<BCPFORMAT xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2004/bulkload/format" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">  
 <RECORD>  
  <FIELD ID="1" xsi:type="CharTerm" TERMINATOR="," MAX_LENGTH="7"/>  
  <FIELD ID="2" xsi:type="CharTerm" TERMINATOR="," MAX_LENGTH="100" COLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"/>  
  <FIELD ID="3" xsi:type="CharTerm" TERMINATOR="," MAX_LENGTH="100" COLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"/>  
  <FIELD ID="4" xsi:type="CharTerm" TERMINATOR="\r\n" MAX_LENGTH="24"/>  
 </RECORD>  
 <ROW>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="1" NAME="DepartmentID" xsi:type="SQLSMALLINT"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="2" NAME="Name" xsi:type="SQLNVARCHAR"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="3" NAME="GroupName" xsi:type="SQLNVARCHAR"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="4" NAME="ModifiedDate" xsi:type="SQLDATETIME"/>  
 </ROW>  
</BCPFORMAT>  

For information about the syntax of this format file, see XML Format Files (SQL Server). For information about character data, see Use Character Format to Import or Export Data (SQL Server).

B. Creating an XML format file for native data

The following example creates an XML format file, Department-n.xml, for the HumanResources.Department table. The format file uses native data types. The contents of the generated format file are presented after the command.

The bcp command contains the following qualifiers.

At the Windows command prompt, enter the following bcp command:

bcp AdventureWorks2012.HumanResources.Department format nul -x -f Department-n..xml -n -T  

The generated format file, Department-n.xml, contains the following XML elements:

<?xml version="1.0"?>  
<BCPFORMAT xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2004/bulkload/format" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">  
 <RECORD>  
  <FIELD ID="1" xsi:type="NativeFixed" LENGTH="2"/>  
  <FIELD ID="2" xsi:type="NCharPrefix" PREFIX_LENGTH="2" MAX_LENGTH="100" COLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"/>  
  <FIELD ID="3" xsi:type="NCharPrefix" PREFIX_LENGTH="2" MAX_LENGTH="100" COLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"/>  
  <FIELD ID="4" xsi:type="NativeFixed" LENGTH="8"/>  
 </RECORD>  
 <ROW>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="1" NAME="DepartmentID" xsi:type="SQLSMALLINT"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="2" NAME="Name" xsi:type="SQLNVARCHAR"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="3" NAME="GroupName" xsi:type="SQLNVARCHAR"/>  
  <COLUMN SOURCE="4" NAME="ModifiedDate" xsi:type="SQLDATETIME"/>  
 </ROW>  
</BCPFORMAT>  

For information about the syntax of this format file, see XML Format Files (SQL Server). For information about how to use native data, see Use Native Format to Import or Export Data (SQL Server).

Mapping Data Fields to Table Columns

As created by bcp, a format file describes all the table columns in order. You can modify a format file to rearrange or omit table rows. This lets you customize a format file to a data file whose fields do not map directly to the table columns. For more information, see the following topics:

• Use a Format File to Skip a Table Column (SQL Server)

• Use a Format File to Skip a Data Field (SQL Server)

• Use a Format File to Map Table Columns to Data-File Fields (SQL Server)

See Also

bcp Utility
Use a Format File to Map Table Columns to Data-File Fields (SQL Server)
Use a Format File to Skip a Table Column (SQL Server)
Use a Format File to Skip a Data Field (SQL Server)
Non-XML Format Files (SQL Server)
XML Format Files (SQL Server)