You can load all of the files in a single command by looping through each of the sub-directories.
Example:
I have the following files in sub-directories under the parent directory /home/dbadmin/base:
dbadmin=> \! find /home/dbadmin/base -mindepth 1 -type f
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir1.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2_b/dir2_b.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_aa/dir3_aaa/dir3_aaa.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_aa/dir3_aaa/dir3_aaa2.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_aa/dir3_aa.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_a.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3/dir3.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir2.txt
/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2_a/dir2_a.txt
I can load them all by doing the following:
dbadmin=> \! for d in `find /home/dbadmin/base -mindepth 1 -type d`; do vsql -ec "COPY t FROM '$d/*.txt';"; done
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2_b/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_aa/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3_a/dir3_aa/dir3_aaa/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
4
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2/dir3/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
COPY t FROM '/home/dbadmin/base/dir1/dir2_a/*.txt';
Rows Loaded
-------------
1
(1 row)
Helpful Link:
https://www.vertica.com/docs/latest/HTML/Content/Authoring/SQLReferenceManual/Statements/COPY/COPY.htm
Have fun!
About the Author
James Knicely
Vertica Field Chief Technologist
I've had the privilege of working with many database technologies in my career. But after being introduced to Vertica in May of 2011 as a client, I was hooked on the new technology after witnessing a query run in milliseconds that had previously ran for hours on the legacy database we had in place. It was then that I knew I wanted to eventually join the Vertica team, and 4 years later I did! I am currently a Vertica evangelist and am ready to help you get on board! Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about Vertica and make sure to follow my Vertica Quick Tips!
