BulkInsert

This method inserts all rows from the client application into the database in bulk. It is supported for MySqlConnector.

This page documents the MySqlConnector-specific arguments and examples. For the SQL Server implementation, see BulkInsert (SQL Server); for Oracle, see BulkInsert (Oracle).

Call Flow Diagram

The diagram below shows the flow when calling this operation.

flowchart TD
    Client["Client<br/>(RepoDB)"] -->|BulkInsert| Source["Entities /<br/>DataTable /<br/>DbDataReader"]
    Source --> Decision{"identityBehavior ==<br/>ReturnIdentity?"}
    Decision -->|NO| Direct["MySqlBulkCopy<br/>(excludes identity column)"]
    Direct -->|Write| Table[("Target Table<br/>AUTO_INCREMENT generates Id")]
    Decision -->|YES| Pseudo["Create Pseudo Table<br/>(Physical)"]
    Pseudo --> Staged["MySqlBulkCopy"]
    Staged -->|Write| PseudoTable[("Pseudo Table")]
    PseudoTable --> Generate["Pre-assign identity per staged row<br/>(session variable, seeded from MAX(Id)+1)"]
    Generate --> Insert["INSERT INTO ... SELECT<br/>(identities already staged)"]
    Insert --> Table
    Insert -->|"SELECT identity<br/>ORDER BY __RepoDbBulkRowOrder__"| Client
    PseudoTable -->|Drop| Cleanup(["Pseudo Table Dropped"])

Use Case

Use this method to insert rows at high speed. It leverages the native bulk operation from MySqlConnector via the MySqlBulkCopy class.

For inserting 1,000 or more rows, prefer this method over InsertAll.

Rows are written straight to the target table. A staging table is only used when identityBehavior is set to ReturnIdentity (see below) — see Operations (MySqlConnector) for the underlying mechanics.

Special Arguments

The mappings, bulkCopyTimeout, batchSize, identityBehavior and pseudoTableType arguments are available for this operation.

mappings (via MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem) defines explicit column mappings between the source properties and the destination columns. When omitted, columns are auto-mapped by name (case-insensitive) — the identity column is left out of this auto-mapping unless identityBehavior is ReturnIdentity, so AUTO_INCREMENT generates it as usual.

bulkCopyTimeout overrides the command timeout, in seconds.

batchSize overrides the number of rows sent to the server per batch. When not set, all items are sent at once.

identityBehavior (via MySqlConnectorBulkImportIdentityBehavior) controls whether newly generated identity values are set back on the data entities. Defaults to KeepIdentity, which excludes the identity column from the write entirely. Setting it to ReturnIdentity routes the operation through a staging table instead, so the generated values can be pre-assigned and read back — see Identity Setting Alignment below.

pseudoTableType (via MySqlConnectorBulkImportPseudoTableType) controls the kind of staging table used when identityBehavior is ReturnIdentity.

Every pseudoTableType value currently resolves to Physical at runtime — see Operations (MySqlConnector) for details.

Identity Setting Alignment

When identityBehavior is ReturnIdentity, the library adds a surrogate __RepoDbBulkRowOrder__ column to the staging table to track each entity’s position in the source IEnumerable. Identity values are pre-assigned into the staging table via a session user variable seeded from the target table’s current MAX(identity) + 1, then copied over as literal values during the final INSERT INTO ... SELECT, ensuring the identity values returned from the database are assigned back to the correct entity via the compiled identity-setter function.

This requires AllowUserVariables=True on your MySqlConnector connection string — it is false by default.

Usability

The following example defines a method that produces a list of Person objects, then bulk-inserts 10,000 rows into the Person table.

private IEnumerable<Person> GetPeople(int count = 1000)
{
    for (var i = 0; i < count; i++)
    {
        yield return new Person
        {
            Name = $"Person-{i}",
            SSN = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
            IsActive = true,
            DateInsertedUtc = DateTime.UtcNow
        };
    }
}

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert(people);
}

To specify a batch size:

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert(people, batchSize: 100);
}

When batchSize is not set, all rows are sent to the server in a single batch.

To return the newly generated identity values:

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert(people,
        identityBehavior: MySqlConnectorBulkImportIdentityBehavior.ReturnIdentity);
}

DataTable

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var table = ConvertToDataTable(people);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert("Person", table);
}

Dictionary/ExpandoObject

using (var sourceConnection = new MySqlConnection(sourceConnectionString))
{
    var result = sourceConnection.QueryAll("Person");
    using (var destinationConnection = new MySqlConnection(destinationConnectionString))
    {
        var insertedRows = destinationConnection.BulkInsert("Person", result);
    }
}

DataReader

using (var sourceConnection = new MySqlConnection(sourceConnectionString))
{
    using (var reader = sourceConnection.ExecuteReader("SELECT * FROM Person"))
    {
        using (var destinationConnection = new MySqlConnection(destinationConnectionString))
        {
            var rows = destinationConnection.BulkInsert("Person", reader);
        }
    }
}

To bulk-insert via DataEntityDataReader:

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    using (var reader = new DataEntityDataReader<Person>(people))
    {
        var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert("Person", reader);
    }
}

Column Mappings

Add column mappings using the MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem class.

var mappings = new List<MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem>();

// Add the mappings
mappings.Add(new MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem("SourceId", "DestinationId"));
mappings.Add(new MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem("SourceName", "DestinationName"));
mappings.Add(new MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem("SourceIsActive", "DestinationIsActive"));
mappings.Add(new MySqlConnectorBulkInsertMapItem("SourceDateInsertedUtc", "DestinationDateInsertedUtc"));

// Execute
using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert(people,
        mappings: mappings);
}

Targeting a Table

To target a specific table, pass the literal table name.

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = connection.BulkInsert("Person", people);
}

Async Method

An equivalent BulkInsertAsync method is also available.

using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
{
    var people = GetPeople(10000);
    var insertedRows = await connection.BulkInsertAsync(people);
}