On most systems, the size of the length indicator is 2 bytes. On a few systems, it is 3 bytes. To determine its size, use the following control file:
OPTIONS (ROWS=1) LOAD DATA INFILE * APPEND INTO TABLE DEPT (deptno POSITION(1:1) CHAR(1)) BEGINDATA a
This control file loads a 1-byte CHAR using a 1-row bind array. In this example, no data is actually loaded because a conversion error occurs when the character a is loaded into a numeric column (deptno). The bind array size shown in the log file, minus one (the length of the character field) is the value of the length indicator.
Note:
A similar technique can determine bind array size without doing any calculations. Run your control file without any data and with ROWS=1 to determine the memory requirements for a single row of data. Multiply by the number of rows you want in the bind array to determine the bind array size.