Export Oracle query results to CSV file

Shiji Pan

13 years ago

First, you need and install OraLoader.

OraLoader is a tool to unload Oracle data to CSV file.

Using OraLoader you can unload Oracle data to CSV file easily and fast.

More about OraLoader – the tool to export data from Oracle query results to CSV file

30-day free trial US$75.00

Oracle → CSV reference

Type mapping

Value kind	in Oracle	in CSV
Int	`NUMBER(10)`	`1234`
Bigint	`NUMBER(19)`	`9007199254740993`
Decimal	`NUMBER(p,s)`	`1234.56`
Float	`BINARY_DOUBLE`	`1.234e+10`
Text	`VARCHAR2(n)`	`quoted only when it contains a comma or a quote`
Long text	`CLOB`	`must be quoted; line breaks inside force multi-line records`
Date	`DATE`	`2026-09-18`
Datetime	`TIMESTAMP`	`2026-09-18 14:30:00`
Binary	`BLOB`	`not representable - base64 or hex string`
Boolean	`NUMBER(1)`	`TRUE / FALSE, or 1 / 0 depending on the writer`
JSON	`CLOB`	`the whole JSON value quoted, with internal quotes doubled`

Dialect differences

Oracle is a database server and CSV is a file format, so the gap is wider than a dialect difference - the rows below are where values and structure stop lining up.

Property	in Oracle	in CSV
port	`1521`	`—`
identifiers	`"double quotes"`	`Double quotes; a literal quote is doubled ("" )`
row limit	`FETCH FIRST n ROWS ONLY`	`—`
dates	`DATE, TIMESTAMP`	`Conventional text: 2026-09-18 or 2026-09-18 14:30:00`
long text	`CLOB, NCLOB`	`—`
binary	`BLOB, BFILE`	`Not supported`
separator	`—`	`Comma ","`
encoding	`—`	`No declaration - UTF-8 works only with a BOM`
typing	`—`	`None - every field is text`
shape	`Tables of rows and columns`	`Flat table, optional header row`
ceiling	`—`	`No formal limit; row count bounded by memory`

Command line

Side	Command
Oracle	`exp / expdp`
Oracle (load)	`sqlldr (SQL*Loader)`

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