Bulk Insert into Oracle database: Which is better: FOR Cursor loop or a simple Select?

Question

Which would be a better option for bulk insert into an Oracle database ? A FOR Cursor loop like

DECLARE
   CURSOR C1 IS SELECT * FROM FOO;
BEGIN
   FOR C1_R         


        

Answer 1

I do neither for a daily complete reload of data. For example say I am loading my Denver site. There are other strategies for near real time deltas.

I use a create table SQL as I have found is just almost as fast as a bulk load For example, below a create table statement is used to stage the data, casting the columns to the correct data type needed:

CREATE TABLE sales_dataTemp as select cast (column1 as Date) as SALES_QUARTER, cast (sales as number) as SALES_IN_MILLIONS, .... FROM TABLE1;

this temporary table mirrors my target table's structure exactly which is list partitioned by site. I then do a partition swap with the DENVER partition and I have a new data set.