ClickHouse/docs/en/sql-reference/table-functions/file.md
2023-06-13 14:43:50 +00:00

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---
slug: /en/sql-reference/table-functions/file
sidebar_position: 37
sidebar_label: file
---
# file
Provides a table-like interface to SELECT from and INSERT to files. This table function is similar to the [s3](/docs/en/sql-reference/table-functions/url.md) table function. Use file() when working with local files, and s3() when working with buckets in S3, GCS, or MinIO.
The `file` function can be used in `SELECT` and `INSERT` queries to read from or write to files.
**Syntax**
``` sql
file(path [,format] [,structure] [,compression])
```
**Parameters**
- `path` — The relative path to the file from [user_files_path](/docs/en/operations/server-configuration-parameters/settings.md#server_configuration_parameters-user_files_path). Path to file support following globs in read-only mode: `*`, `?`, `{abc,def}` and `{N..M}` where `N`, `M` — numbers, `'abc', 'def'` — strings.
- `format` — The [format](/docs/en/interfaces/formats.md#formats) of the file.
- `structure` — Structure of the table. Format: `'column1_name column1_type, column2_name column2_type, ...'`.
- `compression` — The existing compression type when used in a `SELECT` query, or the desired compression type when used in an `INSERT` query. The supported compression types are `gz`, `br`, `xz`, `zst`, `lz4`, and `bz2`.
**Returned value**
A table with the specified structure for reading or writing data in the specified file.
## File Write Examples
### Write to a TSV file
```sql
INSERT INTO TABLE FUNCTION
file('test.tsv', 'TSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32')
VALUES (1, 2, 3), (3, 2, 1), (1, 3, 2)
```
As a result, the data is written into the file `test.tsv`:
```bash
# cat /var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/test.tsv
1 2 3
3 2 1
1 3 2
```
### Partitioned Write to multiple TSV files
If you specify `PARTITION BY` expression when inserting data into a file() function, a separate file is created for each partition value. Splitting the data into separate files helps to improve reading operations efficiency.
```sql
INSERT INTO TABLE FUNCTION
file('test_{_partition_id}.tsv', 'TSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32')
PARTITION BY column3
VALUES (1, 2, 3), (3, 2, 1), (1, 3, 2)
```
As a result, the data is written into three files: `test_1.tsv`, `test_2.tsv`, and `test_3.tsv`.
```bash
# cat /var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/test_1.tsv
3 2 1
# cat /var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/test_2.tsv
1 3 2
# cat /var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/test_3.tsv
1 2 3
```
## File Read Examples
### SELECT from a CSV file
Setting `user_files_path` and the contents of the file `test.csv`:
``` bash
$ grep user_files_path /etc/clickhouse-server/config.xml
<user_files_path>/var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/</user_files_path>
$ cat /var/lib/clickhouse/user_files/test.csv
1,2,3
3,2,1
78,43,45
```
Getting data from a table in `test.csv` and selecting the first two rows from it:
``` sql
SELECT * FROM
file('test.csv', 'CSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32')
LIMIT 2;
```
``` text
┌─column1─┬─column2─┬─column3─┐
│ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │
│ 3 │ 2 │ 1 │
└─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘
```
Getting the first 10 lines of a table that contains 3 columns of [UInt32](/docs/en/sql-reference/data-types/int-uint.md) type from a CSV file:
``` sql
SELECT * FROM
file('test.csv', 'CSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32')
LIMIT 10;
```
### Inserting data from a file into a table:
``` sql
INSERT INTO FUNCTION
file('test.csv', 'CSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32')
VALUES (1, 2, 3), (3, 2, 1);
```
```sql
SELECT * FROM
file('test.csv', 'CSV', 'column1 UInt32, column2 UInt32, column3 UInt32');
```
``` text
┌─column1─┬─column2─┬─column3─┐
│ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │
│ 3 │ 2 │ 1 │
└─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘
```
## Globs in Path
Multiple path components can have globs. For being processed file must exist and match to the whole path pattern (not only suffix or prefix).
- `*` — Substitutes any number of any characters except `/` including empty string.
- `?` — Substitutes any single character.
- `{some_string,another_string,yet_another_one}` — Substitutes any of strings `'some_string', 'another_string', 'yet_another_one'`.
- `{N..M}` — Substitutes any number in range from N to M including both borders.
- `**` - Fetches all files inside the folder recursively.
Constructions with `{}` are similar to the [remote](remote.md) table function.
**Example**
Suppose we have several files with the following relative paths:
- 'some_dir/some_file_1'
- 'some_dir/some_file_2'
- 'some_dir/some_file_3'
- 'another_dir/some_file_1'
- 'another_dir/some_file_2'
- 'another_dir/some_file_3'
Query the number of rows in these files:
``` sql
SELECT count(*) FROM file('{some,another}_dir/some_file_{1..3}', 'TSV', 'name String, value UInt32');
```
Query the number of rows in all files of these two directories:
``` sql
SELECT count(*) FROM file('{some,another}_dir/*', 'TSV', 'name String, value UInt32');
```
:::note
If your listing of files contains number ranges with leading zeros, use the construction with braces for each digit separately or use `?`.
:::
**Example**
Query the data from files named `file000`, `file001`, … , `file999`:
``` sql
SELECT count(*) FROM file('big_dir/file{0..9}{0..9}{0..9}', 'CSV', 'name String, value UInt32');
```
**Example**
Query the data from all files inside `big_dir` directory recursively:
``` sql
SELECT count(*) FROM file('big_dir/**', 'CSV', 'name String, value UInt32');
```
**Example**
Query the data from all `file002` files from any folder inside `big_dir` directory recursively:
``` sql
SELECT count(*) FROM file('big_dir/**/file002', 'CSV', 'name String, value UInt32');
```
## Virtual Columns
- `_path` — Path to the file.
- `_file` — Name of the file.
## Settings
- [engine_file_empty_if_not_exists](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#engine-file-emptyif-not-exists) - allows to select empty data from a file that doesn't exist. Disabled by default.
- [engine_file_truncate_on_insert](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#engine-file-truncate-on-insert) - allows to truncate file before insert into it. Disabled by default.
- [engine_file_allow_create_multiple_files](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#engine_file_allow_create_multiple_files) - allows to create a new file on each insert if format has suffix. Disabled by default.
- [engine_file_skip_empty_files](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#engine_file_skip_empty_files) - allows to skip empty files while reading. Disabled by default.
- [storage_file_read_method](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#engine-file-emptyif-not-exists) - method of reading data from storage file, one of: read, pread, mmap (only for clickhouse-local). Default value: `pread` for clickhouse-server, `mmap` for clickhouse-local.
**See Also**
- [Virtual columns](/docs/en/engines/table-engines/index.md#table_engines-virtual_columns)
- [Rename files after processing](/docs/en/operations/settings/settings.md#rename_files_after_processing)