Exporting Excel to SQL Plus: A Rookie’s Guide

Okay, so you’re trying to get your Excel sheet into SQL Plus, right? Here’s a simple way to do it. Just follow along!

1. First things first: You gotta convert your Excel file into a format that SQL can understand. The best way to do this is by saving your Excel file as a CSV (Comma Separated Values). Open your Excel file, click on File ➔ Save As, and choose CSV from the drop-down menu. Easy peasy!
2. Next: Now that you have a CSV file, you need to prepare to import it into SQL Plus. Open your favorite text editor (like Notepad), and write a simple SQL script. Something like this:

        SET ECHO OFF
        SET FEEDBACK OFF
        SET TRIMSPOOL ON
        SET LINESIZE 1000
        SET PAGESIZE 50000
        SET TERMOUT OFF

        SPOOL your_table_data.sql

        LOAD DATA
        INFILE 'path/to/your/csvfile.csv'
        INTO TABLE your_table_name
        FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' 
        (column1, column2, column3)  -- Adjust this based on your CSV columns
        ;

        SPOOL OFF
        

3. Now: You need to replace ‘path/to/your/csvfile.csv’ with the actual path where your CSV file is saved, and your_table_name with the name of the table in your database where you want the data to go. Don’t forget to adjust (column1, column2, column3) to match the columns in your CSV!
4. Finally: Open SQL Plus and run the script you just wrote! You can do this by typing:

        SQL> @your_table_data.sql
        

5. If everything goes well, your data should be imported into SQL! 🎉

And that’s pretty much it! Just take it step by step, and don’t worry if you mess up a bit. Everyone starts somewhere!