What are the Different ways of importing data into SQL Server?

Posted by Bandi on 9/10/2013 | Category: Sql Server Interview questions | Views: 2926 | Points: 40

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Answer:

Many approaches are available to import data into SQL Server. Main approaches are:

1) Import and Export Data Wizard  

     1.1. Import and Export Wizard tool which comes with SQL Server

     1.2. Right-click on Database name --> Tasks --> Import Data option --> follow wizard

2) Using T-SQL script:  

    2.1.   BULK INSERT

    2.2.  bcp command

3) Hands-on approach 

    Direct approach from Excel: Place data(records) in the excel and generate INSERT statements by using CONCATENATE() function in excel then run the script in SSMS

    Ex: You can use CONCATENATE for the function 

   =CONCATENATE("INSERT INTO table VALUES(",A1,",",B1,")")

4) Using SSIS tasks
NOTE: Mostly I will use 3rd approach for master data INSERT script generation

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