How Can I Automate MySQL Database Population from a PHP Application Using SQL Files?

Executing MySQL *.sql Files in PHP

Challenge: Automating site generation by running two *.sql files (creating tables and populating records) from within a PHP application.

Solution:

While directly executing .sql scripts in PHP has limitations, invoking the MySQL tool through PHP is an effective solution.

Using shell_exec():

One approach is to use shell_exec() to execute MySQL commands.

$command = 'mysql'
        . ' --host=' . $vals['db_host']
        . ' --user=' . $vals['db_user']
        . ' --password=' . $vals['db_pass']
        . ' --database=' . $vals['db_name']
        . ' --execute="SOURCE ' . $script_path;
$output1 = shell_exec($command . '/site_db.sql"');
$output2 = shell_exec($command . '/site_structure.sql"');

Using --option=value Format:

To improve stability, use the --option=value format and --execute="SOURCE ..." to execute files:

$command = "mysql --user={$vals['db_user']} --password='{$vals['db_pass']}' "
 . "-h {$vals['db_host']} -D {$vals['db_name']} <p><strong>Additional Notes:</strong></p>

• exec() and shell_exec() have subtle differences.
• Edge cases exist where .sql script statements are not directly executable as SQL.
• Invoking MySQL from PHP is a reliable way to handle .sql files.

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