Format Files
By using a format file, you can customize the data file created by bcp or specify complex field layouts for data loads. There are two ways to create a format file: by using interactive bcp and by using the format switch.
Customizing a Format File by Using Interactive bcp
If you do not specify one of the –n, –c, or –w data type format switches, bcp (in or out) prompts you for the following information for each column in the data set:
File storage type
Prefix length
Field length
Field terminator
bcp offers a default for each of these ...
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