In this chapter, we will learn how to bring back exported data that we might have created for backup or transfer purposes. Exported data may also come from authors of other applications, and could contain the whole foundation structure of these applications and some sample data.

The current phpMyAdmin version (2.11) can directly import files containing MySQL statements (usually having a .sql suffix, but not necessarily so) and CSV files (comma-separated values, although the separator is not necessarily a comma). Future versions might be able to import files in more formats. There is also an interface to the MySQL LOAD DATA INFILE statement, enabling us to load text files containing data, also called CSV. The binary field upload covered in Chapter 6 can be said to belong to the import family.

Since phpMyAdmin version 2.7.0, there is an Import menu in the Database view and in the Table view that...