---json
{
    "aliases": [
        { "path": ":howto:database:tabul_load_csv" }
    ],
    "canonical": ":howto:database:load_csv",
    "description": "How to upload a CSV file into a SQL table in two steps",
    "name": "Load a CSV into a DB",
    "page_id": "01qgahm9kkzmqm0x9bndc"
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---

====== Tabul - How to load a CSV file into a SQL table ======

===== About =====
How to [[docs:op:upload|load]] a [[docs:connection:cd|local]] <icon name="carbon:csv"/> [[docs:resource:csv|CSV file]] into a [[docs:resource:sql_table|SQL table]] with the [[docs:tabul:data:transfer|data transfer]] command.


===== Steps =====

==== Prerequisites ====
You should have ''Tabulify'' installed on your computer. [[howto:getting_started:1_install]]

<unit display="none">
<code bash>
tabul data drop --no-strict-selection characters@sqlite
</code>
</unit>
==== The CSV file to load ====

We will load the ''characters.csv'' file of the [[docs:connection:howto|HowTo connection]]. The file can be seen with the [[docs:tabul:data:head|head command]].
<unit>
<code bash>
tabul data head characters.csv@howto
</code>
<console>
The first 10 rows of the data resource (characters.csv@howto):
last_name           first_name   birth_date   wikipedia_page
-----------------   ----------   ----------   --------------------------------------------------------------
Schwarzenegger      Arnold       1947-07-30   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger
Norman              Don          1935-12-25   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Norman
Harbison Carnagey   Dale         1888-11-24   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie
Kahneman            Daniel       1934-03-05   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman
Pittman             Bob          1953-12-28   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pittman_(media_executive)
</console>
</unit>


<note tip>
If you want to change a [[docs:resource:csv|CSV property]], use the ''a'' attribute

Example with:
  * a text file extension,
  * another separator
  * and no header
<code bash>
tabul data head -a "media-type=csv" -a 'delimiterCharacter=;' -a 'headerRowId=0' characters.txt@howto
</code>
</note>

==== Loading the CSV file with the transfer command ====

We can load the above data using the [[docs:tabul:data:transfer|transfer command]] and the [[docs:connection:howtos#sqlite|sqlite built-in database]]
<unit>
<code bash>
tabul data transfer characters.csv@howto @sqlite
</code>
<console>
Transfer results
input                  target              latency   record_count   error_code   error_message
--------------------   -----------------   -------   ------------   ----------   -------------
characters.csv@howto   characters@sqlite   0.62s                5
</console>
</unit>

==== Check the data structure ====

We can check with the [[docs:tabul:data:describe|describe command]] that the process has created a table with the same [[docs:resource:structure|structure]].
<unit >
<code bash>
tabul data describe characters@sqlite
</code>
<console>
Structure of the resource characters@sqlite
position   name             type                precision    scale   primary_key   nullable   autoincrement   comment
--------   --------------   -----------------   ----------   -----   -----------   --------   -------------   -------
1          last_name        character varying   2147483647   0                     x                          
2          first_name       character varying   2147483647   0                     x                          
3          birth_date       character varying   2147483647   0                     x                          
4          wikipedia_page   character varying   2147483647   0                     x
</console>
</unit>

==== Print the Sql table ====

We can check with the [[docs:tabul:data:print|print command]] that the same data was loaded
<unit>
<code bash>
tabul data print characters@sqlite
</code>
<console>
characters@sqlite
last_name           first_name   birth_date   wikipedia_page
-----------------   ----------   ----------   --------------------------------------------------------------
Schwarzenegger      Arnold       1947-07-30   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger
Norman              Don          1935-12-25   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Norman
Harbison Carnagey   Dale         1888-11-24   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie
Kahneman            Daniel       1934-03-05   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman
Pittman             Bob          1953-12-28   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pittman_(media_executive)
</console>
</unit>