MySQL Using the LOAD DATA INFILE SQL statement

For security reasons, no one has the mysql FILE priv, which means you cannot "LOAD DATA INFILE". You can, however, use a "LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE" statement as long as you have a mysql prompt on our system and have uploaded the data file to your account here first.

The "LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE" statement will only work from a MySQL prompt on our local system. It will not work from any web-based tool such as phpMyAdmin, and will never pull a file in directly off your own computer.

To import a file this way, first upload your data file to your home directory on our system with FTP or SCP. Then get a shell prompt on our system, and then a MySQL Monitor prompt so that you can issue the SQL that will import your file.

For example, suppose you have a data file named importfile.csv that contains 3 comma separated columns of data on each line. You want to import this textfile into your MySQL table named test_table, which has 3 columns that are named field1, field2 and field3.

To import the datafile, first upload it to your home directory, so that the file is now located at /importfile.csv on our local system. Then you type the following SQL at the mysql prompt:

LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '/importfile.csv'
INTO TABLE test_table
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
(field1, filed2, field3);

The above SQL statement tells the MySQL server to find your INFILE on the LOCAL filesystem, to read each line of the file as a separate row, to treat any comma character as a column delimiter, and to put it into your MySQL test_table as columns field1, field2, and field3 respectively. Many of the above SQL clauses are optional and you should read the MySQL documentation on the proper use of this statement.