# File format for input and output

There are specific requirements for the format of the input and output files when you import and export data.

The default file format is a delimited text file with the following characteristics:

- Rows are separated by a newline
- Fields are separated by a comma (`,`)
- Character-based fields are delimited with double quotes (`"`)

Restriction: Before you perform import or export operations, you must ensure that the chosen delimiter character is not contained in the data to be imported or exported. If you chose a delimiter character that is part of the data to be imported or exported, unexpected errors might occur. The following restrictions apply to column and character delimiters:

- Delimiters are mutually exclusive
- A delimiter cannot be a line-feed character, a carriage return, or a blank space
- The default decimal point (`.`) cannot be a character delimiter
- Delimiters cannot be hexadecimal characters (0-9, a-f, A-F).

The record delimiter is assumed to be a newline character. The record delimiter should not be used as any other delimiter.

Character delimiters are permitted with the character-based fields (CHAR, VARCHAR, and LONG VARCHAR) of a file during import. Any pair of character delimiters found between the enclosing character delimiters is imported into the database. For example, suppose that you have the following character string:

    "What a ""great"" day!"

The preceding character string gets imported into the database as:

    What a "great" day!

During export, the rule applies in reverse. For example, suppose you have the following character string:

    "The boot has a 3" heel."

The preceding character string gets exported to a file as:

    "The boot has a 3""heel."

The following example file shows four rows and four columns in the default file format:

    1,abc,22,def
    22,,,"a is a zero-length string, b is null"
    13,"hello",454,"world"
    4,b and c are both null,,

The export procedure outputs the following values:

    1,"abc",22,"def"
    22,,,"a is a zero-length string, b is null"
    13,"hello",454,"world"
    4,"b and c are both null",,

Parent topic: Importing and exporting data
Related concepts
Methods for running the import and export procedures
Bulk import and export requirements and considerations
Bulk import and export of large objects
Running import and export procedures from JDBC
How the import and export procedures process NULL values
Related tasks
Importing data using the built-in procedures
Exporting data using the built-in procedures
Related reference
Examples of bulk import and export
CODESET values for import and export procedures