Teradata FastLoad Configuration File - FastLoad

Teradata FastLoad Reference

Product
FastLoad
Release Number
16.10
Published
May 2017
Language
English (United States)
Last Update
2018-05-18
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B035-2411
lifecycle
previous
Product Category
Teradata Tools and Utilities
A Teradata FastLoad configuration file can be created to set the initial default values for the following operating parameters when Teradata FastLoad is invoked:
  • TENACITY
  • SLEEP
  • BUFSIZE
  • CHARSET
  • INMODRETURN
  • MAXSESS
  • MINSESS
  • CONFIGERRORS
  • RETRYFIRSTCONNECT
  • RETRYOTHERCONNECT
  • RETRYCONNECTINTERVAL
RETRYFIRSTCONNECT, RETRYOTHERCONNECT and RETRYCONNECTINTERVAL can only be specified in the configuration file for network-attached platforms, there are no corresponding command line options.

The values specified in the Teradata FastLoad configuration file override the internal utility default values for these parameters.

The configuration file parameters themselves can be overridden by the TENACITY, SLEEP, SESSION, and SET SESSION CHARSET commands in the Teradata FastLoad job script, and by the corresponding runtime parameters, as shown in Mainframe-Attached Runtime Parameters and Network-Attached Runtime Parameters. The order of preferences for the TENACITY, SLEEP and SESSION specifications, from the highest to lowest, is as follows:
  1. Runtime parameters
  2. Teradata FastLoad script commands
  3. Teradata FastLoad configuration file specifications
  4. Teradata FastLoad default values
The utility default for TENACITY is no tenacity. Either a configuration file entry, the runtime parameter, or the TENACITY command in your Teradata FastLoad job script must be used to enable the tenacity feature for the Teradata FastLoad logon operation.
The order of preferences for the CHARSET specification, from the highest to lowest, is as follows:
  1. Runtime parameters
  2. Teradata FastLoad script commands
  3. Teradata FastLoad configuration file specifications
  4. Teradata FastLoad default values

Configuration File Name and Location

On network-attached systems, the Teradata FastLoad configuration file must be named:

    floadcfg.dat
And it must be located in either of the following:
  • The directory from which Teradata FastLoad was launched
  • The directory specified in the FLOADLIB environment variable

On mainframe-attached systems, the DD statement for the Teradata FastLoad configuration file must be labeled FLOADCFG.

Configuration File Contents

The Teradata FastLoad configuration file can have up to twelve entries, one for each parameter:

    TENACITY=hours 
    SLEEP=minutes 
    BUFSIZE=kilobytes 
    CHARSET=character-set-name 
    INMODRETURN=ON or YES
    MAXSESS=max-sessions 
    MINSESS=min-sessions 
    DATAENCRYPTION=ON or OFF 
    CONFIGERRORS=IGNORE/TERMINATE
    RETRYFIRSTCONNECT=n 
    RETRYOTHERCONNECT=n 
    RETRYCONNECTINTERVAL=s
where the following is true:
  • hours is the TENACITY specification of the number of hours that Teradata FastLoad continues trying to log on when the maximum number of load jobs are already running on the Teradata Database. For more information about this specification, see TENACITY.
  • minutes is the SLEEP specification of the number of minutes that Teradata FastLoad pauses between attempts to log on. For more information about this specification, see SLEEP.
  • kilobytes is the size of the output buffer, in kilobytes, to be used for Teradata FastLoad messages to the Teradata Database. For a description of the BUFSIZE specification, see Mainframe-Attached Runtime Parameters.
  • character-set-name is the character set specification for the job. For more information about this specification, see Mainframe-Attached Runtime Parameters or Network-Attached Runtime Parameters and SET SESSION CHARSET.
  • ON or YES specifies that INMOD return codes are to be checked and returned. The informational message INMOD return codes will be checked displays. Nonzero return codes force Teradata FastLoad to terminate.
  • max-sessions is the MAXSESS specification for the maximum number of Teradata FastLoad sessions logged on to the Teradata Database. For more information about this specification, see SESSIONS.
  • min-sessions is the MINSESS specification for the minimum number of Teradata FastLoad sessions required to run the job. For more information about this specification, see SESSIONS.
  • RETRYFIRSTCONNECT, RETRYOTHERCONNECT and RETRYCONNECTINTERVAL are used to deal with CLI Error 207 return (network down when trying to connect). RETRYFIRSTCONNECT is used to specify number of retries for the 1st SQL main connection (the default is 0). RETRYOTHERCONNECT is used to specify the number of retries for other connections including auxiliary and FastLoad session connection (the default is 16). RETRYCONNECTINTERVAL is used to specify the interval between retries (the default is 60 second), the value specify is in term of seconds.
  • ON or OFF specifies whether data encryption will be enabled for the job.
  • IGNORE/TERMINATE configures the option for configuration file error handling.

The configuration file can also have comment statements preceded by a number sign (#) character.

Configuration File Processing

Teradata FastLoad automatically checks for a configuration file each time the invocation command is entered. Upon locating a configuration file, the utility sets the defaults as specified, produces the appropriate output messages, and begins processing the Teradata FastLoad job.

By default, any invalid configuration file entry or syntax error immediately aborts a job and produces return code 12. The first invalid parameter is reported; none of the other configuration parameters are checked.
  • If CONFIGERRORS=IGNORE is specified, any subsequent configuration file problems will be reported, but they will not affect the return code. FastLoad will continue to process the next entry in the configuration file.
  • If CONFIGERRORS=TERMINATE is specified (the default), any subsequent invalid configuration file entry will abort the job.

The CONFIGERRORS value can be changed more than once in a configuration file. Its value affects subsequent entries processing until the next CONFIGERRORS entry or until the end of the configuration file.

If no configuration file exists, the utility begins processing the load job without an error indication. The configuration file is an optional feature; its absence is not considered an error condition.

The config file must be in the platform-appropriate single-byte character set, like ASCII or EBCDIC.