The SQL Selector operator has features not found in the Export operator such as field mode processing:
- The SQL Selector operator has a Report Mode, known as Field Mode in the BTEQ environment. All data retrieved in this mode is converted to character strings.
- The SQL Selector operator is the only operator that can retrieve data from the database in Field Mode and send data to the DataConnector operator in order to have it written to an external target in the VARTEXT (or TEXT) format. The Export operator cannot be used to extract data from a table and write it to an external target in VARTEXT (or TEXT) format.
- The SQL Selector operator can extract JSON, XML, or LOB data from the database.
- The SQL Selector operator does not require an active load job. Instead, standard SQL protocol is used on the single session. If it is difficult to acquire database resources for running concurrent tasks, the SQL Selector operator is a logical choice rather than the Export operator.