Input & Output File Formats

Introduced or updated: v1.2.530

Databend accepts a variety of file formats both as a source and as a target for data loading or unloading. This page explains the supported file formats and their available options.

Syntax

To specify a file format in a statement, use the following syntax:

-- Specify a standard file format
... FILE_FORMAT = ( TYPE = { CSV | TSV | NDJSON | PARQUET | ORC } [ formatTypeOptions ] )

-- Specify a custom file format
... FILE_FORMAT = ( FORMAT_NAME = '<your-custom-format>' )

• Databend currently supports ORC as a source ONLY. Unloading data into an ORC file is not supported yet.
• If you don't specify the FILE_FORMAT when performing a COPY INTO or SELECT operation from a stage, Databend will use the file format that you initially defined for the stage when you created it. In cases where you didn't explicitly specify a file format during the stage creation, Databend defaults to using the PARQUET format. If you specify a different FILE_FORMAT from the one you defined when creating the stage, Databend will prioritize the FILE_FORMAT specified during the operation.
• For managing custom file formats in Databend, see File Format.

formatTypeOptions

formatTypeOptions includes one or more options to describe other format details about the file. The options vary depending on the file format. See the sections below to find out the available options for each supported file format.

formatTypeOptions ::=
  RECORD_DELIMITER = '<character>'
  FIELD_DELIMITER = '<character>'
  SKIP_HEADER = <integer>
  QUOTE = '<character>'
  ESCAPE = '<character>'
  NAN_DISPLAY = '<string>'
  ROW_TAG = '<string>'
  COMPRESSION = AUTO | GZIP | BZ2 | BROTLI | ZSTD | DEFLATE | RAW_DEFLATE | XZ | NONE

CSV Options

Databend accepts CVS files that are compliant with RFC 4180 and is subject to the following conditions:

• A string must be quoted if it contains the character of a QUOTE, ESCAPE, RECORD_DELIMITER, or FIELD_DELIMITER.
• No character will be escaped in a quoted string except QUOTE.
• No space should be left between a FIELD_DELIMITER and a QUOTE.
• A string will be quoted in CSV if it comes from a serialized Array or Struct field.
• If you develop a program and generate the CSV files from it, Databend recommends using the CSV library from the programing language.

RECORD_DELIMITER

Separates records in an input file.

Available Values:

• \r\n
• A one-byte, non-alphanumeric character, such as # and |.
• A character with the escape char: \b, \f, \r, \n, \t, \0, \xHH

Default: \n

FIELD_DELIMITER

Separates fields in a record.

Available Values:

• A one-byte, non-alphanumeric character, such as # and |.
• A character with the escape char: \b, \f, \r, \n, \t, \0, \xHH

Default: , (comma)

QUOTE

Quotes strings in a CSV file. For data loading, the quote is not necessary unless a string contains the character of a QUOTE, ESCAPE, RECORD_DELIMITER, or FIELD_DELIMITER.

note

Used for data loading ONLY: This option is not available when you unload data from Databend.

Available Values: ', ", or `(backtick)

Default: "

ESCAPE

Escapes a quote in a quoted string.

Available Values: '\\' or ''

Default: ''

SKIP_HEADER

Specifies how many lines to be skipped from the beginning of the file.

note

Used for data loading ONLY: This option is not available when you unload data from Databend.

Default: 0

NAN_DISPLAY

Specifies how "NaN" (Not-a-Number) values are displayed in query results.

Available Values: Must be literal 'nan' or 'null' (case-insensitive)

Default: 'NaN'

NULL_DISPLAY

Specifies how NULL values are displayed in query results.

Default: '\N'

ERROR_ON_COLUMN_COUNT_MISMATCH

ERROR_ON_COLUMN_COUNT_MISMATCH is a boolean option that, when set to true, specifies that an error should be raised if the number of columns in the data file doesn't match the number of columns in the destination table. Setting it to true helps ensure data integrity and consistency during the loading process.

Default: true

EMPTY_FIELD_AS

Specifies the value that should be used when encountering empty fields, including both ,, and ,"",, in the CSV data being loaded into the table.

Available Values:

Value	Description
null (Default)	Interprets empty fields as NULL values. Applicable to nullable columns only.
string	Interprets empty fields as empty strings (''). Applicable to String columns only.
field_default	Uses the column's default value for empty fields.

OUTPUT_HEADER

Specifies whether to include a header row in the CSV file when exporting data with the COPY INTO <location> command. Defaults to false.

BINARY_FORMAT

Controls the binary encoding format during both data export and import operations, with available values HEX (default) and BASE64.

COMPRESSION

Specifies the compression algorithm.

Available Values:

Value	Description
NONE (Default)	Indicates that the files are not compressed.
AUTO	Auto detect compression via file extensions
GZIP
BZ2
BROTLI	Must be specified if loading/unloading Brotli-compressed files.
ZSTD	Zstandard v0.8 (and higher) is supported.
DEFLATE	Deflate-compressed files (with zlib header, RFC1950).
RAW_DEFLATE	Deflate-compressed files (without any header, RFC1951).
XZ

TSV Options

Databend is subject to the following conditions when dealing with a TSV file:

• These characters in a TSV file will be escaped: \b, \f, \r, \n, \t, \0, \\, \', RECORD_DELIMITER, FIELD_DELIMITER.
• Neither quoting nor enclosing is currently supported.
• A string will be quoted in CSV if it comes from a serialized Array or Struct field.
• Null is serialized as \N.

note

1. In Databend, the main difference between TSV and CSV is NOT using a tab instead of a comma as a field delemiter (which can be changed by options), but using escaping instead of quoting for delimter collision
2. We recommend CSV over TSV as a storage format since it has a formal standard.
3. TSV can be used to load files generated by
   1. Clickhouse TSV file format.
   2. MySQL mysqldump command with option --tab without --fields-enclosed-by or --fields-optinally-enclosed-by, if the later two is specified, use CSV instead.
   3. Snowflake CSV without ESCAPE_UNENCLOSED_FIELD. if ESCAPE_UNENCLOSED_FIELD is specified, use CSV instead.

RECORD_DELIMITER

Separates records in an input file.

Available Values:

• \r\n
• An arbitrary character, such as # and |.
• A character with the escape char: \b, \f, \r, \n, \t, \0, \xHH

Default: \n

FIELD_DELIMITER

Separates fields in a record.

Available Values:

• A non-alphanumeric character, such as # and |.
• A character with the escape char: \b, \f, \r, \n, \t, \0, \xHH

Default: \t (TAB)

COMPRESSION

Same as the COMPRESSION option for CSV.

NDJSON Options

NULL_FIELD_AS

Specifies how to handle null values during data loading. Refer to the options in the table below for possible configurations.

Available Values	Description
NULL (Default)	Interprets null values as NULL for nullable fields. An error will be generated for non-nullable fields.
FIELD_DEFAULT	Uses the default value of the field for null values.

MISSING_FIELD_AS

Determines the behavior when encountering missing fields during data loading. Refer to the options in the table below for possible configurations.

Available Values	Description
ERROR (Default)	Generates an error if a missing field is encountered.
NULL	Interprets missing fields as NULL values. An error will be generated for non-nullable fields.
FIELD_DEFAULT	Uses the default value of the field for missing fields.
TYPE_DEFAULT	Uses the default value of the field's data type for missing fields.

COMPRESSION

Same as the COMPRESSION option for CSV.

PARQUET Options

MISSING_FIELD_AS

Determines the behavior when encountering missing fields during data loading. Refer to the options in the table below for possible configurations.

Available Values	Description
ERROR (Default)	Generates an error if a missing field is encountered.
FIELD_DEFAULT	Uses the default value of the field for missing fields.

ORC Options

No options available for the ORC format yet.