Learn how to use SQL Server BCP to export to a CSV file. Our SQL Server Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

How to use SQL Server BCP to export data to a CSV file?

If you are looking for a way to export data in a SQL server database with the BCP tool, you have come to the right place.

We can access the bcp utility with the bcp command. However before we use it to bulk import data, we need to be aware of:

• Table schema
• Column data types.

Exporting data from a SQL Server table to a data file to be used in other programs is no longer a chore with the bcp utility.

Furthermore, it can import data into a SQL Server table from another program like another database management system. It involves exporting data from the source program to a data file. Then, the data from the data file is copied into a SQL Server table as a separate operation.

Additionally, the bcp command offers switches that let us you use to specify the data type of the data file and other information. If these switches are not specified, the command will prompt us to enter information like type of data fields, etc.

Additionally, the command will ask if we want to create a format file that contains our interactive responses. Our experts recommend a format file for flexibility with future bulk import-export operations.

How do you export data from a table to a file with BCP?

Here is the syntax of the command to export data from a table to a file with the bcp tool:

Here:

• database_name.schema_name.table_name is the table from where we want to export the data.
• path_to_file is the path to the result file.
• -c option uses the character type for the format.
• -U user_name mentions the user that connects to the database. Please note that the user needs the SELECT permission on the table that we are exporting.
• -P password is the password of the user.

Furthermore, we can use the -T option to connect to SQL Server with a trusted connection using integrated security. Then, we do not need to specify the username or password.

Here is an example where we are using the bcp tool to export the data of the sales2023 table from the sales schema of the Customerdb sample database into a file d:\data\sales2023.txt :

bcp customersdb.sales.sales2023 out "d:\data\sales2023.txt" -c -U [username] -P [password]

How do you export data from a table to a .csv file with BCP?

1. To begin with, open the Command Prompt and run the “bcp ?” command. Then we will get an output similar to this:

   
2. Now, we can export table data to a .csv file with the following command:

   
bcp database_name.schema_name.table_name out file_destination_path -S server_instance -c -t"," -T

   Here:

   • ”database_name.schema_name.table_name” is the table from where we want to export the data.
   • file_destination_path is the location where the .csv file will be stored.
   • -S specifies the SQL Server instance to connect to (server_connect).
   • -c operates with a character data type.
   • -t sets the field terminator which will separate each column in a specified .csv file. In the above example, we have used ”,”.
   • -T specifies that the bcp utility connects to the SQL Server instance with a trusted connection.
3. Then, we can locate the exported .csv at the file_destination_path location.

In short:

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Conclusion

In brief, our Support Experts demonstrated how to use SQL Server BCP to export to a CSV file.