Question

What is the best way to prepare the log files before inserting their values in the MYSQL database using

LOAD DATA INFILE ‘/tmp/someFile.txt’
INTO TABLE

How can I make sure and make the data log file ready to be read by such command ? Someone told me by scripting (using sed,grep,cat,sub …) .. how can I do that or what are the tools ?

I know how to place the file so MySQL can read it, but I want to know how to organize it and prepare its content for that.

Answer 1

You can use excel to setup your csv file correctly, or even calc from openoffice.

Do you not have access to phpMyAdmin? This will make your job a little easier. Also try searching Google for “mysql import csv”. That should give you some information on how to layout your file.

Remembering from when I did this using phpMyAdmin, you could have your data in 1 of 2 ways depending on your import settings.

column_name_1 | column_name_2 | column_name_3
value1_1      | value1_2      | value1_3
value2_1      | value2_2      | value2_3

Your csv for this would look like:

column_name_1,column_name_2,column_name_3
value1_1,value1_2,value1_3
value2_1,value2_2,value2_3

OR

value1_1      | value1_2      | value1_3
value2_1      | value2_2      | value2_3

I hope that helps.