Question : What's the best way to import data from excel into sql, and make sure field types are set ??

I have a spreadsheet from my finance office that has a dates in it amongst other fields. It pretty much is just a list of names & when they paid a bill. I've converted the date field to one compatible for querying in sql (2010-01-01) in excel. When I import the data into SQL, it converts the number to varchar and posts 40269 (or 40127... depending on the date) in the place of the date.

If I change the field to a date field, it deletes the data in it's place & places NULL where the date once was. I need it to be a date field & I need to import data. I have a thousands of records to save into the db.

I'm using phpMyAdmin & sql, and the db is manipulated via php.

Thanks in advance.

Answer : What's the best way to import data from excel into sql, and make sure field types are set ??

This seems to work. Substitute your own data base credentials and you should be able to install it and run it.

                       
         
           
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             <?php // RAY_temp_imaginx.php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
echo "<pre>" . PHP_EOL;

// DEMONSTRATE HOW TO LOAD A CSV FILE INTO A DATA BASE
$csv = 'RAY_imaginx_data.csv';

// SAMPLE DATA LOOKS LIKE THIS 
// NOTE TRAILING COMMA - PROBABLY AN ERROR - ARTIFACT OF SAVING FROM MICROSOFT EXCEL
// NOTE THE DATE FORMAT - VALID IN PHP, BUT NOT VALID IN MySQL
// 1...5...10...15...20...25...30...35...40...45...
// Vera,Aguirro,,Criselda,regular,1/1/2010,



// CONNECTION AND SELECTION VARIABLES FOR THE DATABASE
$db_host = "localhost"; // PROBABLY THIS IS OK
$db_name = "??";        // GET THESE FROM YOUR HOSTING COMPANY
$db_user = "??";
$db_word = "??";

// OPEN A CONNECTION TO THE DATA BASE SERVER
// MAN PAGE: http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-connect.php
if (!$db_connection = mysql_connect("$db_host", "$db_user", "$db_word"))
{
    $errmsg = mysql_errno() . ' ' . mysql_error();
    echo "<br/>NO DB CONNECTION: ";
    echo "<br/> $errmsg <br/>";
}

// SELECT THE MYSQL DATA BASE
// MAN PAGE: http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-select-db.php
if (!$db_sel = mysql_select_db($db_name, $db_connection))
{
    $errmsg = mysql_errno() . ' ' . mysql_error();
    echo "<br/>NO DB SELECTION: ";
    echo "<br/> $errmsg <br/>";
    die('NO DATA BASE');
}
// IF WE GOT THIS FAR WE CAN DO QUERIES

// CREATING THE TABLE
$sql = "CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE t 
    (
        a VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
        b VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
        c VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
        d VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
        e VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
        f DATE NOT NULL
    ) ENGINE=MEMORY";
$res = mysql_query($sql) or die( mysql_error() );

// READING THE CSV FILE AND LOADING THE TABLE
$fp = fopen($csv, 'r');
while (!feof($fp))
{
    // READ THE CSV DATA INTO AN ARRAY
    $arr = fgetcsv($fp);
    if ($arr)
    {
        // DISCARD THE USELESS NULL STRING CAUSED BY THE TRAILING COMMA
        array_pop($arr);
        
        // CONVERT THE INVALID DATE FORMAT TO THE ISO FORMAT
        $arr[5] = date('c', strtotime($arr[5]));
        
        // CREATE THE INSERT QUERY
        $sql = 'INSERT INTO t ( a, b, c, d, e, f ) VALUES (';
        
        // APPEND THE DATA FIELDS TO THE INSERT QUERY
        foreach ($arr as $val)
        {
            $val = "'" . mysql_real_escape_string($val) . "'" . ',';
            $sql .= $val;
        }
        
        // FINISH THE INSERT QUERY
        $sql = rtrim($sql, ',');
        $sql .= ')';
        var_dump($sql);
        
        // RUN THE QUERY
        if (!$res = mysql_query($sql)) die( mysql_error() );
    }
}

// EXAMINING THE TABLE TO SEE THE DATA WE LOADED
$res = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM t');
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($res))
{
    var_dump($row);
}

           
         