Re: Copy From csv file with double quotes as null

Hi All,

I am apparently totally misreading how to import data using the COPY
FROM command, can someone give assistance ?

I have two issues, both dealing with double quotes as NULL. The data is
CSV with NULL being represented by a double quote (e.g. "") in all
columns of the table.

ISSUE A) The following command bombs:

COPY testdata FROM 'c:/temp/test.csv' CSV HEADER;

with the following error:

ERROR: invalid input syntax for type double precision: ""
CONTEXT: COPY testdata, line 7, column latitude: ""

********** Error **********

ERROR: invalid input syntax for type double precision: ""
SQL state: 22P02
Context: COPY testdata, line 7, column latitude: ""

So, latitude is a double precision column and I think that PostgreSQL
is interpreting the double quote as a NULL string and then it can not be
placed into that column because it is a double precision column.

Issue B) I have an associated issue with a text value where the NULL in
the data being represented by a double quote (e.g. "") is being inputed
as a quote. I can not use the switch NULL AS '"' because PostgreSQL
says "the quote character must not appear in the NULL specification"

Given the file sizes are huge, I would rather not have to try to
preprocess the data. Is there anyway the COPY FROM command can handle
this data smoothly ?

--
-Don

Don Catanzaro, PhD
Landscape Ecologist
dgcatanzaro(at)gmail(dot)com
16144 Sigmond Lane
Lowell, AR 72745
479-751-3616