Oracle7 Server Utilities
Direct Path Load vs. Conventional Path Load Method
SQL*Loader can use one of two methods to load data: conventional path (which uses the bind array) and direct path (which stores data directly into the database).
Conventional Path
During conventional path loads, multiple data records are read in and placed in a bind array. When the bind array is full (or there is no more data left to read), it is passed to Oracle for insertion. Conventional path uses the Oracle SQL interface with the array option.
For more information on conventional path loads, see the section "Data Loading Methods" ![[*]](jump.gif)
. For information on the bind array, see .
Direct Path
A direct path load creates data blocks that are already in Oracle database block format. These database blocks are then written directly to the database bypassing most RDBMS processing.
This path is much faster than the conventional load, but entails several restrictions. For more information on the direct path, see the section "Data Loading Methods" .