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Copy Format Options

Customize various properties of the file format used during the COPY INTO operation. Properly configuring these options can improve performance and compatibility.

When Use Copy Into is enabled, the generated COPY INTO command includes a FORMAT_OPTIONS clause built from the landing file definition: 'mergeSchema' = 'true' plus, for delimited files, the delimiter, header, quote, escape, encoding, null value, row delimiter and skip-rows values from the connection and object metadata. A value in this setting replaces that generated clause verbatim, so it must be a complete FORMAT_OPTIONS (...) expression.

When to Change This Setting

Leave it blank so the format options follow the file metadata. Set it when the ingestion needs format options the metadata does not express.

SettingInteraction
Use Copy IntoEnables the COPY INTO load pattern these options apply to
Copy OptionsThe companion override for the COPY_OPTIONS clause
Read Files OptionsThe equivalent override for the temporary-view load pattern

Notes

  • This setting is part of the Databricks settings category.
  • This setting is blank by default; the generated clause is then derived from the file metadata.