From csv to sql – in brief

In my last few posts I explained in a four-part tutorial how to convert a csv file to a sql file. I am going to summarize the steps in this post so that you have them all in one reference post. The tools that I prefer for this process are PHPMyAdmin and HeidiSQL, and of course your csv file. The assumption is that you have Apache, PHP, and MySQL all running on your machine, and you can log in as root admin.

1. Create a mySQL database and then create a table that corresponds to your csv file. Make sure that the fields correspond, and I recommend that you create an autoincrement unique ID field as your primary field, even if it doesn’t exist in your csv file. Read more on Creating the Database.
2. Using HeidiSQL, import your csv file into the database table that you have created, making sure to deselect the ID field if it doesn’t exist in your csv file. Read more on Importing the csv file.
3. Look through your newly populated database table to ensure that the data has all been imported correctly and that you have the correct number of entries. The best tool for this is PHPMyAdmin.
4. Finally, create the sql dump file using the export to sql command in either PHPMyAdmin or HeidiSQL. Make sure to select the correct exporting options depending on whether your sql dump file will create the database and populate it or will be updating an already existing database. Read more on Creating the sql dump file.

I hope that you have found the series of tutorials helpful, and that you are more comfortable working with all the database tools that I have been talking about.

Happy Coding!