About Basic Teradata Query for Loading Tables - Teradata Database

Differences Between BTEQ and Teradata PT

BTEQ and Teradata PT can both load data into Teradata and can update tables, among other functions. Other similarities include:

Capacity: Both can send up to 64 KB per request and up to 1 MB per request with array support.

Capabilities: Both can support multiple sessions and can load, export, process DDL, and act as a command line interface.

The following table explains the major differences between BTEQ and Teradata PT:

BTEQ	Teradata PT
Consumes less client CPU.	Consumes more client CPU.
Loads or updates either all records or stops after x records that you specify with the REPEAT command.	Can also load or update only selected rows.
Limited error handling.	Performs error handling and creates error log tables.
No checkpoint restart.	Checkpoint restart.
No SERIALIZE option.	SERIALIZE option ensures the correct sequencing of transactions.
Does not process multiple DML statements in a single pass of the input data.	Can perform conditional apply or multiple apply.

Recommendation: If your job has millions of rows, use Teradata PT. If not, especially for a load job that will be used again in the future, consider both. See which performs better and causes less system overhead. BTEQ can be a good choice for smaller amounts of data, exploratory work, and DDL.