Question

i’m importing 1m+ records into my table from a csv file.
Works great using the load data local infile method.

However, the dates are all different formats.
A quick google lead me to this function:

STR_TO_DATE

However, when I implement that, I get nothing, an empty insert. here’s my SQ cut down to include one date (I’ve 4 with the same issue) and generic column names:

load data local infile 'myfile.csv' into table `mytable`
fields terminated by '\t'
lines terminated by '\n'
IGNORE 1 LINES

( `column name 1`
, `my second column`
, @temp_date
, `final column`)

SET `Get Date` = STR_TO_DATE(@temp_date, '%c/%e/%Y')

If I do:

SET `Get Date` = @temp_date

The date from the csv is captured in the the format it was in the file.
However when I try the first method, my table column is empty. I’ve changed the column type to varchar (255) from timestamp to captre whatever is going in, but ultimatly, I want to capture y-m-d H:i:s (Not sure if STR_TO_DATE can do that?)

I’m also unsure as to why I need the @ symbol.. google failed me there.

So, my questions are:

1. Why do I need the @ symbol to use this function?
2. Should the data format (‘%c/%e/%Y’) be the format of the inputted data or my desired output?
3. Can I capture time in this way too?

sorry for the large post!

Back to Google for now…

Answer 1

Why do I need the @ symbol to use this function?

The @ symbol means that you are using a variable, so the read string isnt put right away into the table but into a memory pice that lets you operate with it before inserting it. More info in http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/user-variables.html

Should the data format (‘%c/%e/%Y’) be the format of the inputted data or my desired output?

Its the format of the inputted data, more info in http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_str-to-date

Can I capture time in this way too?

You should be able to as long as you chose the correct format, something like

STR_TO_DATE(@temp_date,'%c/%e/%Y %h:%i:%s');