I have a Java utility for database imports. I'd like to be able to use sqlldr for performance on oracle. I could create the control and data files, but that doesn't seem like The Right Thing™ to do. I should be able to stream the data by providing INFILE "-" in the control file (q1 - how? from command line, I can pipe "echo <data...>" to the sqlldr, but there must be a way to just stream the string into the input stream for the process? never used Java for this before). I can't see how to stream the control file itself (q2 - or am I missing something obvious?). I could use named pipes, but I have no idea how to instantiate and use them from Java in windows (q3 - would that work and how?).
<moan>why must oracle be so complicated? it was trivial in mysql...<moan>
"why must oracle be so complicated? it
was trivial in mysql"
What you must remember is, Oracle is a venerable product. SQL Loader as a utility must be twenty years old, maybe more. So naturally it is harder to work with than some newer tools.
And that is why you should stop trying to fit SQL Loader into your new-fangled Java app :-) Look at external tables instead. Because these are database objects we can use SQL SELECTs against them, so it's a whole easier to automate load processes with them. I wrote a bit more about external tables in my answer to another question. Check it out.
Fundamentally SQLLDR is about getting data from one or more files into a database table. It is powerful in that role, especially when dealing with multiple files or parallel loads from a single file (it can have multiple threads/processes reading from the same file at the same time).
Not all of these fit well with reading from something that isn't a real file. If your data stream is coming from a web service, then I'd pull it using UTL_HTTP. If it is coming from FTP, then I'd FTP straight into the database as a CLOB/BLOB and process it from there.
Depending on your version, also look at the preprocessor capabilities of external tables
