On Tuesday 09 May 2006 8:36 pm, Jordan Peacock wrote: > I have an OpenDocument spreadsheet file which I've been using as a very > (very very) basic personal database, and I'm trying to expand some of the > features (namely being able to bring up different sets of matching records > at my whim). > > I've exported the data to a .csv text file but I'm at a loss as to how to > parse the file to get it into the right format. I've been following > http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tutorials/sql/mysql_course_inserting_data >_in_mysql_tables.php3and the sample table works great. The author used a > .dat text file with the > data in this format; > > INSERT INTO employee_data (f_name, l_name, title, age, yos, salary, perks, > email) values ("John", "Hagan", "Senior Programmer", 32, 4, 120000, 25000, > " john_hagan at bignet.com"); > INSERT INTO employee_data (f_name, l_name, title, age, yos, salary, perks, > email) values ("Ganesh", "Pillai", "Senior Programmer", 32, 4, 110000, > 20000, "g_pillai at bignet.com"); > > For me to do the same (for thousand of records by hand) is ludicrous and > error-prone. But I'm not sure how I am to automate the process of > separating each record and then pulling it back together into a 'INSERT > INTO data () values ();' format. > > Any suggestions as to what to use? > > -jordan Use your spreadsheet. If you've got the data organized correctly, and it sounds like you do, write a cell formula that results in the INSERT INTO ... lines you need. Clone the formula to all the rows. Select the results, copy and paste into your favorite GUI editor, save text file as import.sql. Then issue the command: mysql -u username -p database <import.sql Substitute appropriate values for username and database. Enter the password at the prompt and viola a database. No muss, no fuss. And the best part is if you screw up you drop and start all over again. I used to use this technique all the time in web db app classes where the students started with data from some source that needed to be organized and then put into MySQL or PostgreSQL. Good Luck! Jack -- Jack Ungerleider jack at jacku.com http://www.jacku.com