Question

I’m quite new to SQLite databases and need help using an external text file to create an initial database to store a bunch of items that can be selected and added to a second database. To put this all in context, I want to have an initial database that stores a list of grocery store items. Each item will have two traits with them, a NAME and a TYPE. So there are items such as( NAME Bread, TYPE Bakery. NAME Grape Juice, TYPE Beverage. NAME Toothbrush, TYPE Toiletries. )

I need to go from something like this:

GROCERYSTORE.TXT
-- -- -- -- -- --

NAME - TYPE

Bread - Bakery

Rolls - Bakery

Juice - Beverages

Soda - Beverages

to this:

dBHelper.insert("Bread", "Bakery");

or:

dBHelper.insert(name, type);

for each item in the text file.

First of all, I would like to know how to format this text file, or any other type of file that could be read and inserted into a database if a text file is not the easiest way to go about this.

Second, how would I go about reading this text file and inserting it into the database?

I’m thinking I would use a buffered reader and inputstream within a for loop to go and insert each item into the database. I’m just not sure how to parse each line to give each item a name and a type to be inserted into the database, and how to format a text file to be read.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have found very little about using external files to import data into an sql database that pertains to my situation.

Answer 1

In my apps that have a static or default database I use an xml file for my data sort of like this:

default_grocerystore.xml stored in assets folder:

<default_grocerystore>
    <grocery>
            <name>Bread</name>
            <type>Bakery</type>
    </grocery>
    <grocery>
            <name>Rolls</name>
            <type>Bakery</type>
    </grocery>
    <grocery>
            <name>Juice</name>
            <type>Beverages</type>
    </grocery>
    <grocery>
            <name>Soda</name>
            <type>Beverages</type>
    </grocery>
</default_grocerystore>

Then in the onCreate in my database class I create my database tables I populate them with the xml like this:

private void populateGrocery(SQLiteDatabase db) {
                    ArrayList<GroceryObj> groceryArrayList;
                    groceryArrayList = buildGroceryArrayList();
                    String insertStmt = null;
                    for (int i = 0; i < groceryArrayList.size(); i++) {
                            insertStmt = "INSERT INTO " + GROCERY_TABLE + " ("
                                            + GROCERY_KEY_NAME + ", " + GROCERY_KEY_TYPE + ") "
                                            + "VALUES (\""
                                            + groceryArrayList.get(i).getName()
                                            + "\", \""+groceryArrayList.get(i).getType()+"\");";
                            db.execSQL(insertStmt);
                    }

private ArrayList<GroceryObj> buildGroceryArrayList() {
                    ArrayList<GroceryObj> aL = new ArrayList<GroceryObj>();
                    DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory
                                    .newInstance();
                    try {
                            DocumentBuilder builder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();
                            InputStream raw = context.getAssets().open(
                                            "default_grocerys.xml");
                            Document dom = builder.parse(raw);
                            Element root = dom.getDocumentElement();
                            NodeList groceryItems = root.getElementsByTagName("grocery");
                            for (int i = 0; i < groceryItems.getLength(); i++) {
                                    String name= null;
                                    String type= null;
                                    Node item = groceryItems.item(i);
                                    NodeList groceryItem = item.getChildNodes();
                                    for (int j = 0; j < groceryItem.getLength(); j++) {
                                            Node nodeItem= groceryItem.item(j);
                                            String nodeName= noteItem.getNodeName();
                                            if (nodeName.equalsIgnoreCase("name")) {
                                                    name= nodeItem.getFirstChild().getNodeValue();
                                            } else if (nodeName.equalsIgnoreCase("type")) {
                                                    type= nodeItem.getFirstChild().getNodeValue();
                                            }
                                    }
                                    aL.add(new GroceryObj(name, type));
                            }
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                            e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                    return aL;
            }
            }