To perform multiple inserts in a single request to Apache HBase, use the INSERT INTO SELECT syntax to insert a temporary table of data into Apache HBase. This works by first populating a temporary table with the data you are going to submit to Apache HBase. Once you have all of the data you want to insert, the temporary table is then passed into the table in Apache HBase.

Populate the Temporary Table

The temporary table you are populating is dynamic and is created at run time the first time you insert to it. Temporary tables are denoted by a # appearing in their name. When using a temporary table to insert, the temporary table must be named in the format [TableName]#TEMP, where TableName is the name of the table you will be inserting to. For example:

INSERT INTO Account#TEMP (Name, MyCustomField__c) VALUES ('New Account', '9000');
INSERT INTO Account#TEMP (Name, MyCustomField__c) VALUES ('New Account 2', '9001');
INSERT INTO Account#TEMP (Name, MyCustomField__c) VALUES ('New Account 3', '9002');

This creates a temporary table called Account#TEMP with two columns and three rows of data. Since type cannot be determined on the temporary table itself, all values are stored in memory as strings. They are later converted to the proper type when they are submitted to the Account table.

Insert to the Actual Table

Once your temporary table is populated, it is now time to insert to the actual table in Apache HBase. You can do this by performing an INSERT to the actual table and selecting the input data from the temporary table. For example:

INSERT INTO Account (Name, MyCustomField__c) SELECT Name, MyCustomField__c FROM Account#TEMP

In this example, the full contents of the Account#TEMP table are passed into the Account table. This results in fewer requests being submitted to Apache HBase since multiple INSERTs may be submitted with each request, which is much better for performance if you have many records to insert.

Results

The results of the query are stored in the LastResultInfo#TEMP temporary table. This table is cleared and repopulated the next time data is modified by passing in a temporary table. Please be aware that the LastResultInfo#TEMP table has no predefined schema. You need to check its metadata at run time before reading data.

Temporary Table Life Span

Temporary tables only last as long as the connection remains open. When the connection to Apache HBase is closed, all temporary tables are cleared, including the LastResultInfo#TEMP table.