Learn more about the SQL server Bulk Insert MAXERRORS option from our experts. Our SQL Server Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

SQL Server Bulk Insert MAXERRORS | About

Did you know that the Bulk Insert command in SQL Server allows us to insert a large amount of data into a table quickly?

However, when we use Bulk Insert to import data, errors may occur in case the data is in an incorrect format. In some cases, errors may arise due to other issues with the source data as well.

By default, when an error occurs during the Bulk Insert operation, this operation stops and the import process inserts as much data as possible.

Furthermore, the MAXERRORS option specifies the maximum number of errors that can occur during the Bulk Insert operation before being aborted. In other words, this option allows us to specify the maximum number of errors allowed before the operation is aborted. This prevents the operation from continuing to execute and winding up importing bad data.

Let’s look at an example :

BULK INSERT tablename FROM 'C:\Data\data.csv' WITH ( FIELDTERMINATOR = ',', ROWTERMINATOR = '\n', MAXERRORS = 10 );

Here, the table is populated with data from the Data.csv file. Furthermore, MAXERRORS option is set to 10.

Our experts would like to point out that the MAXERRORS option does not specify which errors are to be ignored or skipped during the Bulk Insert operation. However, we can choose to ignore specific errors or handle them in a specific way by writing custom error-handling code. Alternatively, we can use other options in the WITH clause of the Bulk Insert statement, like ERRORFILE or FIRE_TRIGGERS.

Let us know in the comments if you need further help with the Bulk Insert command in SQL Server.

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Conclusion

To sum up, our Support Techs introduced us to SQL Server Bulk Insert MAXERRORS with an example.