From: Thimble Smith
Date: March 17 1999 1:49am
Subject: Re: mysqlimport documentation
List-Archive: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql/375
Message-Id: <19990316184932.Q10542@desert.net>
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On Wed, Mar 17, 1999 at 12:37:53PM +1100, jonathan michaels wrote:
> some pointers would be apreciated .. this disabled person had probelms find 
> the documentation regarding cvs imports as well, i'm also looking at seting up
> teh importation of an asksam database. this i can export as text delimited or
> .dbf but need to know a bit of detail about how mysql handles text fields.

http://mysql.he.net/Manual_chapter/manual_Tools.html#mysqlimport

    This section describes the mysqlimport tool.

http://mysql.he.net/Manual_chapter/manual_Reference.html#Load

    This section (referenced from the above section) describes the
    LOAD DATA INFILE command.  All of the examples in this section
    are relevant to the mysqlimport tool (since mysqlimport uses
    LOAD DATA INFILE internally).

If you have the data in a tab-separated, quote-delimited file then
you should not need to change the arguments for 'mysqlimport' at
all!

> i'm not asking, saying that the documentation should be pitched at vegetable 
> level survivors, but a little less 'assuming' about the usage of certain 
> idioms would make it easier to swallow and follow.

Yes, I agree.  The manual is quite good if you're familiar with
the basic concepts of databases and SQL.  But if you've never had
the chance to work with relational databases before, there's a lot
to learn.  And, the manual doesn't really give an easy road map for
how to get from "I know nothing about this product" to "Now I can
get my application working."

I'd love to write that documentation.  Maybe I will some day; right
now I just don't have the time.  Ah, well.  I guess in the mean time,
just do the best you can with the manual, and then if you still have
questions - ask!  Be as specific as you can (i.e., "I've gotten so
far, having done X, Y, and Z; now I'm stuck because such-and-such
is giving output PDQ (instead of LMNOP like I was expecting).  How do
I get it to give me LMNOP?").

Tim