bcp failed when special characters {;" were used in the password from command line in Win 2

bcp worked with password in normal characters, but failed with {;"

I tried for SQL 2005 and SQL 2000, from Window 2003 SP1. Is this a bug?

When the special character { was used in the password, bcp failed with Native error 0.

>>

F:\ftp\log\Cases>bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P{
SQLState = 08001, NativeError = 0
Error = [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Neither DSN nor SERVER keyword supplied
SQLState = 01S00, NativeError = 0
Warning = [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Invalid connection string attribute
>>

When the special character ; or " was used in the password, bcp failed with Native error 18456.

>>

F:\ftp\log\Cases>bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P;
SQLState = 28000, NativeError = 18456
Error = [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'sem5'.

F:\ftp\log\Cases>bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P"
SQLState = 28000, NativeError = 18456
Error = [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'sem5'.
>>

Could you try :

bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P"{"|||

I tried the followings but it didn't work.

bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P"{"

bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P'{'

bcp "sem5.sem5.server_system_log_1" in server_system_log_1.dat
-n -Smodonald -Usem5 -P\{

|||Please try {{} for pwd {|||

I opened a case and got an answer.

Based on the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 online help for “Strong Passwords[SQL Server]”,

>>

if used in an OLE DB or ODBC connection string, a login or password must not contain the following characters: [] {}() , ; ? * ! @.. These characters are used to either initialize the connection or separate connection values.

>>

As the result, SQL Server Enterprise Manager allows all special characters but the OLE DB or ODBC connection is different.

|||

Thanks for following up your own post. It helps others when you share your solution.