Is it possible to use sql server bulk insert without a file?

Curious if this is possible: The app server and db server live in different places (obviously). The app server currently generates a file for use with sql server bulk insert.

This requi开发者_Go百科res both the DB and the app server to be able to see the location, and it makes configuration more difficult in different environments.

What I'd like to know is: is it possible to bypass the file system in this case? Perhaps I can pass the data to sql server and have it generate the file?

I'm on sql server 2008, if that makes a difference.

thanks!

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I don't think you can do that with SQL Server's bulkcp tool, but if your app is written using .NET, you can use the System.Data.SqlClient.SqlBulkCopy class to bulk insert rows from a data table (or any datasource you can access with a SqlDataReader).

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From the documentation on bulk insert:

BULK INSERT 
   [ database_name. [ schema_name ] . | schema_name. ] [ table_name | view_name ] 
      FROM 'data_file' 

The FROM 'data_file' is not optional and is specified as such:

'data_file' Is the full path of the data file that contains data to import into the specified table or view. BULK INSERT can import data from a disk (including network, floppy disk, hard disk, and so on).

data_file must specify a valid path from the server on which SQL Server is running. If data_file is a remote file, specify the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name. A UNC name has the form \Systemname\ShareName\Path\FileName. For example, \SystemX\DiskZ\Sales\update.txt.

Your application could do the insert directly using whatever method meets your performance needs.