Responding to bcp prompts

When you copy data in or out using the -n (native format) or -c (character format) parameters, bcp prompts you only for your password, unless you supplied it with the -P parameter. If you do not supply either the -n, -c or -f formatfile parameter, bcp prompts you for information for each field in the table or view.

Each prompt displays a default value, in brackets, which you can accept by pressing Return. The prompts include:
- The file storage type, which can be character or any valid Adaptive Server datatype
- The prefix length, which is an integer indicating the length in bytes of the following data
- The storage length of the data in the file for non-NULL fields
- The field terminator, which can be any character string
- Windows NT – Scale and precision for numeric and decimal data types
The row terminator is the field terminator of the last field in the table, view, or file.

The bracketed defaults represent reasonable values for the datatypes of the field in question. For the most efficient use of space when copying out to a file:

Use the default prompts
Copy all data in the datatypes defined by their table
Use prefixes as indicated
Do not use terminators
Accept the default lengths

Table 3-3 shows the bcp prompts, defaults, and the possible alternate user responses:

**Table 3-3: Defaults and user responses for bcp prompts**
Prompt	Default provided	Possible user response
File Storage Type	Use database storage type for most fields except: char for varchar binary for varbinary	char to create or read a human-readable file; any Adaptive Server datatype where implicit conversion is supported.
Prefix Length	0 for fields defined with char datatype (not storage type) and all fixed-length datatypes 1 for most other datatypes 2 for binary and varbinary saved as char 4 for text and image	0 if no prefix is desired; otherwise, defaults are recommended.
Storage Length	For char and varchar, use defined length. For binary and varbinary saved as char, use double the defined length. For all other datatypes, use maximum length needed to avoid truncation or data overflow.	Default values, or greater, are recommended.
Field or Row Terminator	None	Up to 30 characters, or one of the following: `\t` – tab `\n` – newline `\r` – carriage return `\0` – null terminator `\` – backslash