How do I put a whole page of products in my site at once?  How do I get all my products back out again?

Almost any data driven system deals with a way to import or export the information to other programs.  Salesforce.com, Quickbooks, and many other systems use CSV files to handle sharing of this data.

Salesforce.com and Quickbooks are what you might call a "Proprietary System".  Website Forge could be considered "Proprietary" because we don't share our source code with the world.   

There are also many different database system like MySQL, Oracle, And Microsft SQL server.  All use a "proprietary" storage format.

They don't make their "source code" available to the public.  However they use a common file format to allow other systems to share the data that resides within the software.

A CSV file stands for a "Comma Separated Values" file.  This is a universal file format used to allow dissimilar system to SHARE DATA. 

A CSV (comma separated Value) file might look something like this:

sku,price,color,description

1234,1.99,Red,Red Gloves

3432,2.99,White,Shooting Cap

4432,100,black,Mountain Bike

(each record is on one line and each field separated by commas.  Simple)

So you can dump your contacts from SalesForce.com to a CSV file and then import them into your Gmail contacts.  And vice-versa.

I know I rarely write articles this technical. I have a good reason.

I was insulted.  Yes - insulted.

I was told by a customer the other day that I was "holding him hostage" with my "proprietary system".  He asserted he could not get his products out.

You see he decided to move his website to another company.  That happens.  His web company asked him for a copy of his data in MySQL format.

Website Forge provides an EXPORT TO CSV feature for this very purpose.  And we sent him the CSV files, images and instructions for his new company.

Apparently his new host told him they cannot use it.  

I won't give an opinion about using a web developer that has no understanding of the most universal file format in existence.  You can guess though.

Here is the kicker.  The process of importing a CSV file into MySQL is well documented and extremely easy.

The command looks something like this:  shell> mysqlimport --local test imptest.txt

Thats it!!!

Now.  I googled the words "mysql import csv file" to find this example.  

So this post has a two objectives.  First, help you understand what a CSV file is.  

Secondly. I figured that if I was going to write more instructions -- I could blog it at the same time and make it educational.

Please understand I don't blame the customer for not knowing this.  In fact I'm happy to help.  I'm just offended that when I offer a solution over and over again -- he would prefer to believe that I would somehow try to mislead him.

I do my best to provide the best service, experience, and value to Website Forge customers.  I may not always succeed -- however I won't give up.

Thanks for listening.  Hope you find this helpful.

Shane Merem

E-commerce Web Site Design

www.websiteforge.com