Lev Abramov wrote:
> My question is whether I can import an XML file
> into MySQL directly, or need to further convert it
Yes, sorta. I wrote a bloggie on that:
http://rpbouman.blogspot.com/2006/03/importing-xml-data-into-mysql-using.html
However, it involves running MySQL 5.1.6 or up (which is beta) and you'll need some programming experience (fair chance you can reuse almost all of my code in the blog entry)
> first (e.g., open it in MS Excel and re-save as
> .csv) before MySQL (aided by PHPmyAdmin) will
> agree to look at it.
This is actually quite a good idea. Csv imports rather nicely using the mysqlimport utility (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/mysqlimport.html) or the LOAD DATA syntax (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/load-data.html). If you know some other tool that does it for you: go ahead. Regarding the LOAD DATA method, you might want to check out this thread before you start:
http://forums.mysql.com/read.php?10,38173,38256#msg-38256
> the second question is whether a layman like me
> can do it in a fairly straightforward manner, or
> whether I should outsource this to someone who
> knows something about database conversion.
Well, I think you should be allright when you try the csv approach. Just post back if you have some more questions.
> TIA -
>
> Lev