File management from inside SQL code

Standard

Writing a log, dumping data, looking for file to be used in Bulk insert…

There are many situations when you would want to have access to files from inside your SQL code on Microsoft SQL Server.

Did you know that you actually can do this? No? Check below for code snippets to perform various operations on files. It is presented in form of the functions but you are actually not limited to that

Prerequisites and assumptions

  1. Your script should have sufficient rights to perform required access to files (not necessarily local).
  2. Scripting.FileSystemObject should be present at your SQL Server location and accessible.

Check if file exists

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CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[ufn_IsFileExists] (
@FilePath VARCHAR(255)
)
RETURNS INT
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE
  @objFileSystem int,
  @hr int,
  @i int
EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Scripting.FileSystemObject', @objFileSystem out
IF @HR = 0
BEGIN
  EXEC sp_OAMethod @objFileSystem, 'FileExists', @i out, @FilePath
  EXEC sp_OADestroy @objFileSystem
END
ELSE
BEGIN
  SET @i = -1
END
RETURN @i
END

Write string into file

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CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[ufn_WriteStringToFile] (
  @CreateFile int,
  @FilePath varchar(500),
  @String varchar(4000) )
RETURNS varchar(200)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE
  @objFileSystem int,
  @objTextStream int,
  @objErrorObject int,
  @strErrorMsg varchar(1000),
  @Command varchar(1000),
  @HR int,
  @fileAndPath varchar(80)
SET @strErrorMsg = 'opening the File System Object'
EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Scripting.FileSystemObject' , @objFileSystem OUT
IF @HR = 0
BEGIN
  SET @objErrorObject = @objFileSystem
  IF (@CreateFile = 1)
  BEGIN
SET @strErrorMsg= 'Creating file "' + @FilePath + '"'
EXEC @hr = sp_OAMethod @objFileSystem, 'OpenTextFile', @objTextStream OUT, @FilePath, 2, True
  END
  ELSE
  BEGIN
  SET @strErrorMsg = 'Opening file "' + @FilePath + '"'
  EXEC @hr = sp_OAMethod @objFileSystem, 'OpenTextFile', @objTextStream OUT, @FilePath, 8, True
  END
END
IF @HR = 0
BEGIN
  SET @objErrorObject = @objTextStream
  SET @strErrorMsg = 'Writing to the file "' + @FilePath + '"'
  EXEC @hr = sp_OAMethod @objTextStream, 'WriteLine', Null, @String
END
IF @HR=0
BEGIN
  SET @objErrorObject = @objTextStream
  SET @strErrorMsg = 'Closing the file "' + @FileAndPath + '"'
  EXEC @hr = sp_OAMethod @objTextStream, 'Close'
END
IF @HR <> 0
BEGIN
  DECLARE
  @Source varchar(255),
  @Description varchar(255),
  @Helpfile varchar(255),
  @HelpID int
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @objErrorObject, @Source OUTPUT, @Description OUTPUT, @Helpfile OUTPUT, @HelpID OUTPUT
  SET @strErrorMsg = 'Error: ' + coalesce(@strErrorMsg, 'Unknown') + ', ' + coalesce(@Description, '')
END
EXEC sp_OADestroy @objTextStream
RETURN @strErrorMsg
END

Read File As Table

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CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[ufn_ReadFileAsTable] (
@FilePath VARCHAR(255)
)
RETURNS @File TABLE ([LineNo] int identity(1,1), [Line] varchar(8000))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE
@objFileSystem int,
@objTextStream int,
@objErrorObject int,
@strErrorMsg varchar(1000),
  @hr int,
  @String VARCHAR(8000),
@YesOrNo INT
SET @strErrorMsg = 'opening the File System Object'
EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Scripting.FileSystemObject', @objFileSystem OUT
IF @HR=0
BEGIN
SET @objErrorObject = @objFileSystem
SET @strErrorMsg = 'Opening file "' + @FilePath + '"'
--Open for reading, FormatASCII
EXEC @HR = sp_OAMethod @objFileSystem, 'OpenTextFile', @objTextStream OUT, @FilePath, 1, False, 0
END
WHILE @HR = 0
BEGIN
  IF @HR=0
  BEGIN
SET @objErrorObject = @objTextStream
SET @strErrorMsg = 'Check if there is more to read in "' + @FilePath + '"'
EXEC @HR = sp_OAGetProperty @objTextStream, 'AtEndOfStream', @YesOrNo OUTPUT
IF @YesOrNo <> 0 BREAK
  END
  IF @HR=0
  BEGIN
SET @objErrorObject = @objTextStream
SET @strErrorMsg = 'Reading from the output file "' + @FilePath + '"'
EXEC @HR = sp_OAMethod @objTextStream, 'Readline', @String OUTPUT
    INSERT INTO @file(line) SELECT @String
  END
END
IF @HR=0
BEGIN
SET @objErrorObject = @objTextStream
SET @strErrorMsg = 'Closing the output file "' + @FilePath + '"'
EXEC @HR = sp_OAMethod @objTextStream, 'Close'
END
IF @hr <> 0
BEGIN
  DECLARE
@Source varchar(255),
@Description varchar(255),
@Helpfile varchar(255),
@HelpID int
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @objErrorObject, @Source OUTPUT, @Description OUTPUT, @Helpfile OUTPUT, @HelpID OUTPUT
SET @strErrorMsg = 'Error: ' + coalesce(@strErrorMsg, 'Unknown') + ', ' + coalesce(@Description, '')
INSERT INTO @File(line) select @strErrorMsg
END
EXEC sp_OADestroy @objTextStream
-- Fill the table variable with the rows for your result set
RETURN
END

Enjoy.

https://blog.dragonsoft.us/2008/02/15/sql-manage-files-from-inside-sql-code/

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