8.14. mysqlimport — A Data Import Program

MySQL 5.0

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8.14. mysqlimport — A Data Import Program

The mysqlimport client provides a command-line interface to the LOAD DATA INFILE SQL statement. Most options to mysqlimport correspond directly to clauses of LOAD DATA INFILE syntax. See Section 13.2.5, “LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax”.

Invoke mysqlimport like this:

shell> mysqlimport [options] db_name textfile1 [textfile2 ...]

For each text file named on the command line, mysqlimport strips any extension from the filename and uses the result to determine the name of the table into which to import the file's contents. For example, files named patient.txt, patient.text, and patient all would be imported into a table named patient.

mysqlimport supports the following options:

--help, -?

Display a help message and exit.

--character-sets-dir=path

The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 5.11.1, “The Character Set Used for Data and Sorting”.

--columns=column_list, -c column_list

This option takes a comma-separated list of column names as its value. The order of the column names indicates how to match data file columns with table columns.

--compress, -C

Compress all information sent between the client and the server if both support compression.

--debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]

Write a debugging log. The debug_options string often is 'd:t:o,file_name'.

--default-character-set=charset_name

Use charset_name as the default character set. See Section 5.11.1, “The Character Set Used for Data and Sorting”.

--delete, -D

Empty the table before importing the text file.

--fields-terminated-by=..., --fields-enclosed-by=..., --fields-optionally-enclosed-by=..., --fields-escaped-by=..., --lines-terminated-by=...

These options have the same meaning as the corresponding clauses for LOAD DATA INFILE. For example, to import Windows files that have lines terminated with carriage return/linefeed pairs, use --lines-terminated-by="\r\n". (You might have to double the backslashes, depending on the escaping conventions of your command interpreter.) See Section 13.2.5, “LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax”.

--force, -f

Ignore errors. For example, if a table for a text file does not exist, continue processing any remaining files. Without --force, mysqlimport exits if a table does not exist.

--host=host_name, -h host_name

Import data to the MySQL server on the given host. The default host is localhost.

--ignore, -i

See the description for the --replace option.

--ignore-lines=N

Ignore the first N lines of the data file.

--local, -L

Read input files locally from the client host.

--lock-tables, -l

Lock all tables for writing before processing any text files. This ensures that all tables are synchronized on the server.

--low-priority

Use LOW_PRIORITY when loading the table.

--password[=password], -p[password]

The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following the --password or -p option on the command line, you are prompted for one.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. See Section 5.9.6, “Keeping Your Password Secure”.

--port=port_num, -P port_num

The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.

--protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

The connection protocol to use.

--replace, -r

The --replace and --ignore options control handling of input rows that duplicate existing rows on unique key values. If you specify --replace, new rows replace existing rows that have the same unique key value. If you specify --ignore, input rows that duplicate an existing row on a unique key value are skipped. If you do not specify either option, an error occurs when a duplicate key value is found, and the rest of the text file is ignored.

--silent, -s

Silent mode. Produce output only when errors occur.

--socket=path, -S path

For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.

--ssl*

Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the server via SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. See Section 5.9.7.3, “SSL Command Options”.

--user=user_name, -u user_name

The MySQL username to use when connecting to the server.

--verbose, -v

Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does.

--version, -V

Display version information and exit.

Here is a sample session that demonstrates use of mysqlimport:

shell> mysql -e 'CREATE TABLE imptest(id INT, n VARCHAR(30))' test shell> ed a 100 Max Sydow 101 Count Dracula . w imptest.txt 32 q shell> od -c imptest.txt 0000000 1 0 0 \t M a x S y d o w \n 1 0 0000020 1 \t C o u n t D r a c u l a \n 0000040 shell> mysqlimport --local test imptest.txt test.imptest: Records: 2 Deleted: 0 Skipped: 0 Warnings: 0 shell> mysql -e 'SELECT * FROM imptest' test +------+---------------+ | id | n | +------+---------------+ | 100 | Max Sydow | | 101 | Count Dracula | +------+---------------+

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