character delimited database?

[Anon]

Hi,

Is there any way that mySql can output character(tab,apostrophe etc) delimited data?

I have a client I'm working for and they have a windows database program that can import character delimited data. What they want me to do is set up a database system on their website that can add details into this database.

Also, since they will be relying on ftp to download the appropriate files each time, I will need to set up a check to make sure that only fresh data(no reoccuring entries) is imported into the database each time. This means that the data belonging to the file that they have already downloaded, say two weeks ago, is not added again to their database.

Is there anybody that can help me? I would appreciate any help.

Thanks,
SEan

[[deleted]]

1) use 'select into outfile'
http://www.mysql.com/doc/S/E/SELECT.html

2) use keys and indices to prevent duplicates. Make sure that all records have some unique field that cannot be duplicated in a table. Then, during a LOAD DATA INFILE all rows that would cause a duplicate are ignored.