Binary Load Formats

For fast data loading into SAP Sybase IQ, create data files in binary format, then load the data using the FORMAT BINARY and BINARY column specification clauses of LOAD TABLE.

Create data files with these binary formats to load into columns with the corresponding data types. In most cases, SAP Sybase IQ uses the platform-specific binary format. The following data types are exceptions that use binary formats that are specific to SAP Sybase IQ:

DATE
TIME
DATETIME
NUMERIC

IQ Binary Load Format and Load Efficiency
The SAP Sybase IQ binary load format is a fixed-width format.
Operating System Native Data Types
Data for some data types is stored in native operating system binary format and can be written to data files directly in that format. SAP Sybase IQ reads the respective number of bytes directly into the associated data types without conversion.
DATE
DATE column data is stored in SAP Sybase IQ as 4 bytes (a 32-bit unsigned integer) representing the number of days since 0000-01-01.
TIME
TIME data is stored as a 64-bit unsigned quantity that represents a number in microseconds (in other words, 1.0e-6 seconds).
TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMP data is stored as a 64-bit unsigned integer and represents a quantity in microseconds.
NUMERIC and DECIMAL
Formats for NUMERIC and DECIMAL data types vary as a function of precision.
NULL Value Loads
The most expedient way to insert NULL values is to use the NULL byte in the input file and specify WITH NULL BYTE in the column specification of the LOAD TABLE statement.