Basic Teradata Query (BTEQ) (pronounced “bee-teek”) is a general-purpose, multi-platform commandline client utility that enables ad hoc and batch submission of Structured Query Language (SQL) requests to one or more instances of Analytics Database. It is typically used for report generation and lower-volume data load/unload. BTEQ formats the query results and returns them to the screen or to one or more files.
BTEQ results are based solely on Teradata SQL semantics in combination with BTEQ commands that allow returned row data format specification. Direct submission of SQL to other vendors' databases is not supported. The acronym "SQL" is used numerous times throughout this manual. These instances may or may not be qualified with the word "Teradata". It should be assumed the reference is always to Teradata's SQL.
The word "database" is used numerous times throughout this manual. Unless the context is actually about database type object use, it should be assumed the reference is to an Analytics Database instance or interaction with Vantage solely through an Analytics Database instance. In particular, "database" references are employed for brevity to describe usage scenarios based on Call-Level Interface (CLI) client/server protocols that support logging on sessions for sending SQL requests, fetching responses for presenting tabular result rows and generating exported records.