Command-Line Flag Descriptions

The following flags specify upload parameters when launching MapInfo EasyLoader from a command-line. Many of the arguments have a long form and a legacy short form, such as the command to set a schema name when you upload a table: /SchemaName and /B.

Use a space or an equal sign (=) to separate a command argument and its value. This example sets a target schema name, /SchemaName=schema_name or /B schema_name.

Do Not Treat Empty (Zero-Length) Strings as Null: /NoTreatEmptyStringAsNull

This flag is used to override the default upload behavior so that empty strings are not treated as NULL values, but are maintained as zero-length string values. This flag is added for backward compatibility with 32-bit EasyLoader behavior. The default behavior is to treat empty strings as NULL values.

Note: Since Oracle treats zero-length strings as indistinguishable from NULL, this flag is not applicable for Oracle.

Syntax: /NoTreatEmptyStringAsNull

Help: /?, /Help

This flag shows the list of available command-line options.

Syntax: /?

Syntax: /Help

Append All Tables to One: /A, /AppendAll

This flag uploads multiple tables to a single table, when the table structures are the same.

Syntax: /A

Syntax: /AppendAll [ =server_table_name ]

server_table_name is optional for specifying a server table to append to.

Set the Application Locale: /AppLocale

This flag sets the locale at runtime. It requires an ISO language code in the four character form as outlined by Microsoft's Language Culture Names list https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee825488(v=cs.20).aspx.

Supported languages are:

Cs–CZ Czech – Czech Republic
da–DA Danish – Denmark
de–DE German – Germany
en–US English – United States
es–ES Spanish – Spain
fi–FI Finnish – Finland
fr–FR French – France
he–IL Hebrew – Israel
it–IT Italian – Italy
ja–JP Japanese – Japan
nl–NL Dutch – Netherlands
pl–PL Polish – Poland
pt–PT Portuguese – Portugal
ru–RU Russian – Russian Federation
sv–SE Swedish – Sweden
tr–TR Turkish – Turkey
zh–CN Chinese (Simplified) – China

Syntax: /AppLocale=languagecode

/AppLocale=fr-FR

Schema Name: /B, /SchemaName

This flag specifies a schema name when uploading tables to SQL Server. If you do not supply a schema name, then this flag uses the user's default schema on the server. On SQL Server, the default is usually set to dbo.

Syntax: /B string_value

Syntax: /SchemaName=string_value

/SchemaName=MIPROUSER

Create Indices for all Locally-Indexed Columns: /C, /CreateIndexes

When uploading a new table or replacing an existing table, this flag tells MapInfo EasyLoader to automatically index columns on the server table when they are indexed on the local table.

This flag does not make or reset column selections. Instead, use the MapInfo EasyLoader user interface. For details, see Create Indexes under Server Table Processing Options and Mixing Command-Line flags and MapInfo EasyLoader Window Options.

Syntax: /C

Syntax: /CreateIndexes

Input Command File: /CF, /CommandFile

This flag loads command-line arguments from an input file. Each line in the file must contain only one command. MapInfo EasyLoader skips blank lines and comments that begin with a hash tag (#). You must specify the path to the input file with this flag.

You can use the state file that MapInfo EasyLoader automatically creates under the AppData folder with the name MapInfoEasyLoader.Settings.rsp as input. For details, see Locating the MapInfo EasyLoader Command-Line Flags RSP File. You can also generate a state file using the /SaveCommandArgs flag.

Syntax: /CF CommandFilePath

Syntax: /CommandFile=CommandFilePath

/CommandFile=C:\MyFiles\EasyLoader\Commands\myCommandFile.txt

Convert WKB on Oracle: /ConvertWKBOnOracle

This flag passes geometries as WKB (Well-Known Binaries) to an Oracle server for conversion to the SDO_GEOMETRY type. Only use this flag with OCI connections. By default, MapInfo EasyLoader does this conversion before passing geometries to the Oracle server to improve performance. You would only use this flag to work around WKB to SDO_GEOMETRY conversion problems.

Syntax: /ConvertWKBOnOracle

File Directory for Server Table(s): /D, /OutputFolder

This flag generates a TAB file in a specific directory location to access a remote database with. The new .tab file name appends _srv.tab to your server table name, yourServerTableName_srv.tab. The directory must be valid to upload a table to it. An empty directory is considered valid.

Syntax: /D string_value

Syntax: /OutputFolder=string_value

If the path contains spaces, use quotation marks around it.

/OutputFolder="C:\my work folder\Tables\My Upload Tables"

Exclusive Use of Table: /E, /ExclusiveUse

This flag improves load time on large tables when you are the only person updating the table. This flag does not guarantee that MapInfo EasyLoader can obtain exclusive use of a table. After each commit, MapInfo EasyLoader checks the maximum value of the primary key column (called MI_PRINX) to detect if entries were been made by other processes. This flag prevents this check, which improve the upload time for large tables.

Syntax: /E

Syntax: /ExclusiveUse

You can use this flag in a MapInfo EasyLoader shortcut, see Mixing Command-Line flags and MapInfo EasyLoader Window Options.

Log File name: /F, /LogFileName

This flag specifies the name and location of the log file created when MapInfo EasyLoader uploads a table. By default, a log file named EasyLoader.log is created in the TEMP directory. If you specify a file name but do not provide a path, then MapInfo EasyLoader saves the log file to the same directory as the EasyLoader.exe file.

Syntax: /F string_value

Syntax: /LogFileName=string_value

This example shows only the name of the log file, which saves to the same directory as MapInfoEasyLoader.exe.

/F myLogFile.txt
/LogFileName=myLogFile.txt

This example specifies the full path for the log file. If the path contains spaces, use quotation marks around it.

/F "C:\my work folder\myLogFile.txt"
/LogFileName="C:\my work folder\myLogFile.txt"

Table Folder: /Folder

This flag loads all tables from a folder. Use a semicolon (;) to separate each element.

Syntax: /Folder=FolderName;ServerOperation;AddToMapCatalog;IncludeSubFolders

Where:

  • FolderName is the name of the root folder.
  • ServerOperation is the default server operation for the folder, use Append, CreateNew, or Replace. The default is Append.
  • AddToMapCatalog creates an entry for the folder tables in the Map Catalog. This is set to true by default, so set to false to not add an entry in the Map Catalog.
  • IncludeSubFolders includes subfolders when querying for the folder's tables. This is set to true by default, so set to false to not include subfolders in the query.

The following example does not include the optional AddToMapCatalog and IncludeSubFolders elements, both of which are set to true by default.

/Folder=C:/MyData;CreateNew

The following example does not include tables in subfolders under MyData. The third AddToMapCatalog element is blank, because it is set to true by default.

/Folder=C:/MyData;CreateNew;;false

Grant All: /G, /GrantAll

This flag grants all rights as Public. By default, this is not set and tables are private.

Syntax: /G

Syntax: /GrantAll

Do Not Create a Spatial Index: /I, /NoCreateSpatialIndex

This flag prevents MapInfo EasyLoader from creating a spatial index on the uploaded table. By default, this flag is turned off and MapInfo EasyLoader creates a spatial index.

For Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) and User Defined Object (UDO) tables, MapInfo EasyLoader creates a spatial index and then issues the "update statistics medium" statement.

Syntax: /I

Syntax: /NoCreateSpatialIndex

For more information, see /NoCreatePrimaryKey, which controls the unique index.

Create Automated Key Column for SQL Server: /K, /AutomatedKey

This flag automatically generates unique key column values in SQL Server, so that you do not need to fill the key manually when you insert a new row. The key column is called MI_PRINX or MI_SQL_REC_NUM depending on the spatial object type that is selected: MI_PRINX is for spatial types and MI_SQL_REC_NUM is for XY types.

Syntax: /K [ IDENTITY | NO_IDENTITY ]

Syntax: /AutomatedKey [ IDENTITY | NO_IDENTITY ]

The key column is created with the IDENTITY property by default, so you do not need to include the IDENTITY property. If you want to turn this off, use the NO_IDENTITY property.

/AutomatedKey
/AutomatedKey=NO_IDENTITY

You can use this flag in an MapInfo EasyLoader shortcut, see Mixing Command-Line flags and MapInfo EasyLoader Window Options.

List of MapInfo Tables: /L, /TableList

This flag specifies a text file that lists the tables to upload. The format of each line in the text file is the same as for Table Specification: /T[able].

Syntax: /L [ TextFile | Path ]

Syntax: /TableList=[ TextFile | Path ]

Where:
  • TextFile is the name of the text file that lists the tables to upload.
  • Path is the full path location to the text file.

This example shows only the name of the file, which is located the same directory as MapInfoEasyLoader.exe.

/L ListOfTables.txt

This example shows the path to the file. If the path contains spaces, use quotation marks around it.

/TableList="C:\my work folder\Tables\ListOfTables.txt"

Spatial Object Type: /M, /SpatialObjectType

This flag specifies the object type to use: either MICODE for XY with MapInfo key or XY for XY only. MapInfo EasyLoader does not display for any value other than MICODE and XY.

Syntax: /M [ XY | MICODE ]

Syntax: /SpatialeObjectType=[ XY | MICODE ]

Examples:

/M XY
/SpatialObjectType=MICODE

Start Application Minimized: /Min, /Minimized

This flag starts MapInfo Easyloader in a minimized state. This does not alter the behavior of the /NoStart flag. By default, this is set to false.

Syntax: /Min

Syntax: /Minimized

Do Not Auto Start the Table Load: /NoStart

This flag disables the auto start behavior, so that MapInfo EasyLoader does not automatically connect and begin to upload tables, even if the connection and tables are specified. By default, this is set to false.

Syntax: /NoStart

Run Without User Interface: /NoUi

This flag runs MapInfo EasyLoader without a user interface. This is useful when running MapInfo EasyLoader from a batch file for auto loading tables.

This flag requires a connection and a list of tables to upload. At minimum, you would include a server connection string flag /ConnectionString or the Oracle connection string flag /OracleConnectionString, and a list of MapInfo tables /TableList or a folder of tables /Folder. You do not need to include the /QuitWhenDone flag with /NoUi.

Syntax: /NoUi connection tables

Where:

Connection String: /O, /OracleConnectionString

This flag sets a connection string for Oracle Spatial.

Syntax: /O [friendly_name]user_name/password@server_name

Where:
  • friendly_name is optional for setting a specific name for the connection identifier.
  • user_name is the Oracle user name to connect with.
  • password is the password for the Oracle user name.
  • server_name is the name of the server you are connecting to.

This example sets a connection string without defining a name for the connection identifier.

/OracleConnectionString=myUid/myPwd@oraserver11gr2

This example sets the same connection and names the connection Oracle1. If the connection name has spaces, use quotation marks around it.

/OracleConnectionString=[Oracle1]myUid/myPwd@oraserver11gr2

For ODBC connections, see Server Connection String: /S, /ConnectionString.

Default Server Operation: /P, /ServerOperation

Use this flag to specify what to do with the upload tables in the server.

  • A appends to an existing server table.
  • C creates a new server table. If the table you are uploading has the same name as a table on the server, the upload fails.
  • R replaces an existing server table.

Syntax: /P [ A | C | R ]

Syntax: /ServerOperation=[ A | C | R ]

/P A
/SpatialObjectType=C

Exit after Upload: /Q

This flag closes MapInfo EasyLoader after completing the upload.

Syntax: /Q

Syntax: /QuitWhenDone

Server Connection String: /S, /ConnectionString

This flag passes an ODBC connection string to the program. The ODBC Connection dialog box does not display when you supply enough information to connect.

Syntax: /ConnectionString=[ (friendly_name)connection_string | user_name/connection_string ]

Where:
  • friendly_name is optional for setting a specific name for the connection identifier.
  • user_name is the Oracle user name to connect with.
  • connection_string is the ODBC connection string.

This example uses a data source (DSN).

/ConnectionString=DSN=MyDataSource

This example sets a connection name to MyDBConnection. It then uses the full connection string to the database, where items in all capitals are connection string parameters.

/ConnectionString=[MyDBConnection]UID=MyId;DATABASE=MyDB;
			HOST=MyServer;SERVER=MyServer_tli;SERVICE=sqlexec;PROTOCOL=onsoctcp

This example sets a connection name to My Data Source. It uses a data source (FileDSN=C:\Tenop\MyDataSource.dsn) with a user ID (UID=MyUserID) and password (PWD=MyPassword). If the connection name has spaces, use quotation marks around the entire connection string.

/ConnectionString="[My Data Source]FILEDSN=C:\Tenop\MyDataSource.dsn;UID=MyUserID;PWD=MyPassword"

For ODBC connections, see Connection String: /O, /OracleConnectionString.

Save Command Response File: /Save, /SaveCommandArgs

This flag creates a state file when MapInfo EasyLoader shuts down that contains the command-line arguments used to start MapInfo EasyLoader and that were set during the session. You can use this state file to restart EasyLoader on the command-line with the /CommandFile flag to apply the same settings as the previous session.

MapInfo EasyLoader automatically creates a state file that you can also use with the /CommandFile flag. It is located under the AppData folder with the name MapInfoEasyLoader.Settings.rsp (for example, C:\Users\<UserID>\AppData\Roaming\MapInfoEasyLoader.Settings.rsp). MapInfo EasyLoader does not create the MapInfoEasyLoader.Settings.rsp file when you use the /SaveCommandArgs flag.

Note: The AppData folder is in a path like C:\Users\<UserID>\AppData. If you cannot see the AppData folder, it is because it is hidden. To locate it, on the Microsoft Start menu in the Search programs and files field type %AppData%.

Syntax: /SaveCommandArgs=StateFilePath

Where, StateFilePath is a TXT file and any valid path location.

Example:

/SaveCommandArgs=C:\MyFiles\EasyLoader\Commands\myCommandFile.txt

Table Specification: /T /Table

This flag passes a single table name to MapInfo EasyLoader.

Syntax: /Table=TableName(;ServerTableName;UploadRange;ServerOperation;AddToMapCatalog)

Where:
  • TableName is the .tab file name to upload.
  • ServerTableName (optional) is the server table name. If left empty, MapInfo EasyLoader uses TableName.
  • UploadRange (optional) is the range of table rows to upload. The range is a starting number and ending number with a comma (,) separator. A range of three to six would be 3,6.
  • ServerOperation (optional) is the server operation for the table. Use Append, CreateNew, or Replace.
  • AddToMapCatalog creates an entry for the table in the Map Catalog when set to true. By default, this is set to true, so you do not need to specify it in the command-line.

This example includes all parameters.

/T C:\data\states.tab;mystates;1,500;CreateNew;true

This example leaves the upload range value empty, so that it uploads all of the rows in the table. It excludes the Map Catalog entry, so an entry is not created for this table in the Map Catalog.

/Table=C:\data\states.tab;MyOtherStates;;Replace

This example includes only the path to the table to upload.

/Table=C:\data\aTable.tab

If the path of the upload file contains spaces, use quotation marks around it.

/Table="C:\My Documents\tables\aTable.tab";MyTable;;Replace;true

Do Not Create a Primary Index: /U, /NoCreatePrimaryKey

This flag prevents MapInfo EasyLoader from creating a primary key when uploading a table. It is turned off by default. When uploading to Oracle Spatial, MapInfo EasyLoader creates a primary key on the MI_PRINX column and names the key table_name_PK.

Syntax: /U

Syntax: /NoCreatePrimaryKey

Also see Do Not Create a Spatial Index: /I, /NoCreateSpatialIndex, which controls the spatial index.

Commit Interval: /X, /CommitInterval

This flag sets a commit interval. MapInfo EasyLoader inserts records to the database and then commits them when it reaches the commit interval. The same interval value applies when creating the spatial index for Oracle Spatial. If the commit interval is set to zero (0), MapInfo EasyLoader inserts the entire range of records as a single transaction before issuing a commit.

Syntax: /X integer_value

Syntax: /CommitInterval=integer_value

Where, integer_value is an integer value. The default value is 1000.

This example sets the commit interval to 500, so that MapInfo EasyLoader commits all of the records to the database every 500th record.

/CommitInterval=500

Style Column Name: /Y, /StyleColumnName

This flag loads per-row styles with the upload data. If you do not provide a name for the column to use, MapInfo EasyLoader uses the default MI_STYLE column name. If you do not want to create a style column on the server table, include the NO_STYLE parameter.

Syntax: /Y ( string_value ) ( NO_STYLE )

Syntax: /keyword=( string_value ) ( NO_STYLE )

This example uses the column called TableStyleCol to load per-row styles.

/Y TableStyleCol
/StyleColumnName=TableStyleCol

This example uses the default column called MI_STYLE to load per-row styles.

/Y
/StyleColumnName

This example does not create a style column on the server table.

/Y NO_STYLE
/StyleColumnName=NO_STYLE

SQL Server Auto Select Geometry: /Z, /AutoSelectSqlServerSpatial

Use this flag to automatically upload the geometry object to a:
  • Geography field (if the geometry object uses the Lat/Long coordinate system), or a
  • Geometry field (if the geometry object does not use the Lat/Long coordinate system)

Syntax: /Z

Syntax: /AutoSelectSqlServerSpatial

For more information, see Loading Microsoft SQL Server Spatial Data.