8.5.3. Executing SQL Statements from a Text File
The mysql client typically is used
interactively, like this:
shell> mysql db_name
However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a
file and then tell mysql to read its input
from that file. To do so, create a text file
text_file that contains the
statements you wish to execute. Then invoke
mysql as shown here:
shell> mysql db_name < text_file
If you place a USE
db_name statement as the
first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the
database name on the command line:
shell> mysql < text_file
If you are already running mysql, you can
execute an SQL script file using the source
or \. command:
mysql> source file_name
mysql> \. file_name
Sometimes you may want your script to display progress
information to the user. For this you can insert statements
like this:
SELECT '<info_to_display>' AS ' ';
The statement shown outputs
<info_to_display>.
For more information about batch mode, see
Section 3.5, “Using mysql in Batch Mode”.
