Importing and Exporting

Bulk data manipulation is a common activity in data analytics. This section provide details on the various ways of moving data into and out of MonetDB.

Importing data

The best way to import data depends on its source and on the amount of data.

INSERT INTO table VALUES

Every SQL-based application understands INSERT INTO. For moderate amounts of data its performance is sufficient as long as you take care to avoid some pitfalls.

COPY INTO table FROM file

Many applications can export data as text files, for example with comma- or tab separated records or with fixed width records. Loading these using COPY INTO is significantly faster then the equivalent series of INSERTs. Generally this is the preferred way of bulk loading data into MonetDB.

COPY BINARY INTO table FROM files

Loading data from binary files is even faster but the binary files require more effort to create.

COPY LOADER INTO table FROM python_function

Data can also be generated on the fly using a Python program running inside the database server. This program can make up the data on the fly or extract it from an arbitrary external source.

Exporting data

COPY select query INTO [BINARY] files

This statement can be used to export data to a text file or to binary files.