From text file to mysql

Anon

Hi,

I have this huge text file of record that looks like this:

Vic B
21
male
IT

john doe
25
male
CS

jane doe
30
female

and so on. i want to put the contents of this file on a mysql dbase. however not all records have the same amount of field. some have 6 other have 7. there are exactly 3 spaces in between each record. can someone help me?

Vic

Anon

how about use "file" commnad to store every single line into an array.

insert the record where the line has value.
continue scan the array if it is an empty line.

Anon

i got that, but what do i do when some records have 5 fields and others have 6. here is what i got:
<?php

$fp = "/www/files/dbase.txt";
$fpSize = filesize($fp);

$fphandle = fopen($fp,"r") or die ("cannot open fp");
while (!feof($fphandle))
{
$lines[]=fgets($fphandle,4096);
$c++;
}
fclose($fphandle);
$start = 0 ;

for ($i=$start;$i<=$c;$i++)
{
print $lines[$i] ;
}

Anon

$fcontents = file( 'http://www.php.net' );
foreach ($fcontents as $line)
{
if (is_empty($line))
{
insert the record that is store.
$sql "insert records
values $newrocrds[0].$newrecords[2] ......;
$i=0;
}else
$newrecords[$i] = $line;
$i++;
}

explaination ..
read from a site ...
store into $fcontents as array.
Assume that the first line is not empty, put every value into temporary array ...
and once see a empty line then start inserting records ... you might need to cater for ignoring new line once records is inserted ...

or i can suggest you to use join command ...
it joins all lines in a file into a string ... should be much more easier to program.

Anon

your script is a lil' confusing, but i'm trying to follow it. however php3 doesn't support the foreach control structure.

Anon

use while loop or for loop

$numoflines = count($filelist);
$i = 0;
while($i < $numoflines)
{
//program here
}

Anon

Ohmygod...
doesn't anybody read manuals anymore :-)
Don't you think this sounds like a problem that a gazillion people have had before and that the database people would have found a solution to years ago? :-)

Like said in the database talk;

The data is already in a format that is acceptable to mysql, you only have to tell mysql what the format is.

use this sql statement:

load data infile 'filename.txt'
into table your_table
fields terminated by "\n"
lines terminated by "\n\n";

the "\n\n" is the empty line between records.