MySQL automatic text file creation

[Anon]

Hey,

I'm a bit new to all this, so apologies if this is an easy question.

We've got a mySQL database containing about 600 items that needs to be backed-up as a pipe-delineated text file and written to a file on the server every night.

Our hosts are running PHP3 on a Solaris box, if it makes a difference.

Where do I begin?

Thanks,
jds

[[deleted]]

You begin by reading the MySQL manual about the 'mysqldump' program.
That will generate SQL queries that can completely re-build your database should it crash.

[Anon]

thanks for the direction. what can i do, though, to schedule it automatically.

by the way, this is not to backup in the event of a crash, this would be the database used as the interface for a shopping cart application our host offers.

thanks again for the help.
jds

[[deleted]]

So you're looking for data-replication. That's a different matter, MySQL has built-in replication, which is much more efficient than simple data-copying.

There's an article about replication on this very site.