How to use SQL Server 2008 R2 Import and Export Wizard to import a CSV file into SQL Azure

The SQL Server 2008 R2 Import and Export Wizard will allow you to import a CSV ‘flat’ file directly into SQL Azure. The process is relatively simple, but it’s not obvious. The following steps will help guide you through the process.

The SQL Server Import and Export Wizard is available on the SQL Server 2008 R2 media, so you must obtain your organization’s copy of SQL Server 2008 R2 software.

1. Run the wizard from the Windows Start menu, Start à Programs à SQL Server 2008 R2 à Import and Export Data.

2. Select Flat File Source as the data source, browse for your CSV file, and then select the settings appropriate for your file. For example, the fields in my file are surrounded by double-quotes if they contain commas, so I select double-quotes as my text qualifier. Also, the column names are found in the first row of my file. Click Next.

3. Verify that your data looks as you expected. Click on Advanced on the left.

4. Remember that the wizard is looking at a flat file, so it doesn’t make many assumptions about the data contained therein. It’s up to you to go through each column in this screen and adjust data types and sizes. The following table shows a mapping of data types between the wizard and SQL Server. Click Next after you’ve made your changes.

Data Type	SQL Server (SQLOLEDB; SQLNCLI10)
DT_BOOL	bit
DT_BYTES	binary, varbinary, timestamp
DT_CY	smallmoney, money
DT_DATE
DT_DBDATE	date
DT_DBTIME
DT_DBTIME2	time(p)
DT_DBTIMESTAMP	datetime, smalldatetime
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2	datetime2
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET	datetimeoffset(p)
DT_DECIMAL
DT_FILETIME
DT_GUID	uniqueidentifier
DT_I1
DT_I2	smallint
DT_I4	int
DT_I8	bigint
DT_NUMERIC	decimal, numeric
DT_R4	real
DT_R8	float
DT_STR	char, varchar
DT_UI1	tinyint
DT_UI2
DT_UI4
DT_UI8
DT_WSTR	nchar, nvarchar, sql_variant, xml
DT_IMAGE	image
DT_NTEXT	ntext
DT_TEXT	text

Table 1 - Data type mappings (source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms141036.aspx)

5. Here’s the part that’s not obvious. You must select .Net Framework Data Provider for SqlServer as the destination. Then, enter the following information.

· Data Source – This is the fully qualified DNS name (FQDN) of your SQL Azure server.

· Initial Catalog – This must be an existing database on the SQL Azure server.

· User ID

· Password

6. Click Edit Mappings.

7. Uncheck the Nullable box for your primary key column. Did I mention that a SQL Azure table must have a primary key? Notice that there isn’t a way to specify the primary key in this dialog. We’ll have to add that to the SQL statement manually. Click the Edit SQL button.

8. Add the “Primary Key” option to the declaration of your primary key column, and click OK.

Note: If you’re using a clustered primary key, please see SQL Server Books Online for the syntax.

9. Review the data type mappings. Note that I receive warnings about the default DT_STR types, so I ignore them.

10. Keep the default setting, Run immediately, click Next, and then click Finish on the next screen.

11. Finally, review the status of the import, and enjoy using your data in SQL Azure.