> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Load Data from Local File

> Copy and paste tutorial for loading data from a local file on your computer

<a id="load-data-by-source-local" />

To load data from your local computer, you can:

* Use the command line from your computer with Kinetica's
  [KiSQL](/content/load_data/by_source/local#load-from-local-upload-kisql) tool that allows you
  to upload the file to the [Kinetica File System (KiFS)](/content/tools/kifs) and initiate the load into
  the table with SQL.
* Or, use a third party SQL tool like [DBeaver](https://dbeaver.io/)  with Kinetica's
  [JDBC driver](/content/connectors/sql_guide#jdbc) and follow the same instructions for
  *KiSQL*.  *Usage of a third party tool is outside the scope of this article.
  Refer to the [JDBC driver](/content/connectors/sql_guide#jdbc) page for more information.*

<a id="load-from-local-upload-kisql" />

## KiSQL

Download the appropriate version of [KiSQL](/content/tools/kisql#kisql) for your
instance of Kinetica.

Run *KiSQL* from the CLI and connect to Kinetica:

```bash title="Connect to Kinetica with KiSQL" theme={null}
kisql --url http://localhost:9191;RowsPerFetch=20000 --user auser
```

Next, create a directory in *KiFS* using the
[CREATE DIRECTORY](/content/sql/kifs#sql-kifs-create-dir) command:

```sql title="Createa a Directory in KiFS" theme={null}
CREATE DIRECTORY 'my_directory'
```

Then, upload your file(s) to *KiFS* using the
[UPLOAD FILE](/content/sql/kifs#sql-kifs-upload-file) command:

```sql title="Upload a File to KiFS" theme={null}
UPLOAD FILES 'my_data.csv' INTO 'my_directory'
```

<a id="load-from-local-ingest" />

To initiate the ingest of data into a Kinetica table, use the
[LOAD INTO](/content/sql/load#sql-load-into) command for a one-time batch load. To
reference files in *KiFS*, you can use a URL that looks like this:

```
kifs://<folder_name>/<filename>.<extension>
```

```sql title="Load Data from File in KiFS" theme={null}
LOAD INTO ki_home.my_data
FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://my_directory/my_data.csv'
WITH OPTIONS (PRIMARY KEY = ('id'))
```

## Considerations

The following are some common options used when loading.  For the full list of
options, see [LOAD INTO](/content/sql/load#sql-load-into).  For copy/paste examples of many of
the options, see [Loading Data](/content/snippets/load-data).

### Error Handling

Kinetica has two different
[error handling modes](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-load-opt) for dealing
with erroneous data. To halt ingestion after a bad record is found, use the
`ABORT` mode. To skip erroneous records and continue the ingest, use the
`SKIP` mode.

To inspect erroneous records, you may use the
[BAD RECORD TABLE NAME](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-load-opt) option.
All bad records encountered will be stored there for review. The bad records
table is limited to 10,000 records by default and may be overridden using the
[BAD RECORD TABLE LIMIT](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-load-opt) option.

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql Abort theme={null}
  LOAD INTO ki_home.error_example
  FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
  FORMAT TEXT
  WITH OPTIONS (
      ON ERROR = ABORT
  )
  ```

  ```sql Log Bad Records theme={null}
  LOAD INTO ki_home.error_example
  FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
  FORMAT TEXT
  WITH OPTIONS (
      BAD RECORD TABLE NAME = 'error_example_invalid',
      ON ERROR = SKIP
  )
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### Load Specific Columns

In some cases, you may only want to store certain columns from your source data.
Use the [FIELDS MAPPED BY NAME(...)](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-load-opt)
option, which allows you to specify the desired fields to store in Kinetica.

```sql title="Load Specific Columns Example" theme={null}
LOAD DATA INTO example.orders
FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
FORMAT TEXT
WITH OPTIONS (
    FIELDS MAPPED BY NAME(ID, Name, Product_ID, Quantity)
)
```

### DateTime Formatting

Use the  [COLUMN FORMATS](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-load-opt) option
to format date and time fields into Kinetica Date, Time, and DateTime columns.
Time formats are specified using a JSON formatted string. Non-placeholder characters
must be wrapped in quotes, which must also be escaped (e.g.
`'{"dt": {"date": "\"(\"YYYY\")\" Mon, DD"}}'`). Alternatively, you can use
the `?` character as a wildcard character. Note that
Kinetica does not handle or store timezones and they will be discarded.
See the full list of supported
[date and time format codes](/content/sql/query#sql-datetime-conversion-codes).

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql ISO 8601 Timestamps theme={null}
  -- Example Data:
  -- dt
  -- 2022-01-19T15:50:42Z+05:00

  LOAD INTO ki_home.timestamp_example
  FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
  FORMAT TEXT
  WITH OPTIONS (
      COLUMN FORMATS = '{"dt": {"datetime": "YYYY-MM-DD?HH:MI:SS"}}'
  )
  ```

  ```sql Custom Date theme={null}
  -- Example Data:
  -- d
  -- (2022) Feb, 22

  LOAD INTO ki_home.date_example
  FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
  FORMAT TEXT
  WITH OPTIONS (
      COLUMN FORMATS = '{"d": {"date": "\"(\"YYYY\")\" Mon, DD"}}'
  )
  ```

  ```sql Custom Time theme={null}
  -- Example Data:
  -- t
  -- 18-27-59.5536

  LOAD INTO ki_home.time_example
  FROM FILE PATHS 'kifs://data/orders.csv'
  FORMAT TEXT
  WITH OPTIONS (
      COLUMN FORMATS = '{"t": {"time": "HH-MI-SS.MS"}}'
  )
  ```
</CodeGroup>