MySQL ODBC Connector - Need Help with 813-MDB File

Author

Need Help with 813-MDB File

David Blomstrom

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
animal species. The main file is a 813-MB MDB file.
I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
it's apparently designed to work with Microsoft
Access, which I THINK is a spreadsheet. (I don't have
it.)

I have just enough memory to open the file in WordPad,
but it doesn't do any good because much of the data
consists of unintelligible characters.

Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
monster into MySQL. Are you aware of any freeware
programs that can open up files designed for Access?
Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
csv file, which could then be imported into MySQL?

I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
the very least, I'll probably divide it between
vertebrates (which I'll use the most) and
invertebrates.

Thanks.

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Daniel Kasak

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

David Blomstrom wrote:

>I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
>animal species. The main file is a 813-MB MDB file.
>I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
>it's apparently designed to work with Microsoft
>Access, which I THINK is a spreadsheet. (I don't have
>it.)
>
>I have just enough memory to open the file in WordPad,
>but it doesn't do any good because much of the data
>consists of unintelligible characters.
>
>Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
>monster into MySQL. Are you aware of any freeware
>programs that can open up files designed for Access?
>Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
>csv file, which could then be imported into MySQL?
>
>I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
>the very least, I'll probably divide it between
>vertebrates (which I'll use the most) and
>invertebrates.
>
>Thanks.
>
>
mdb is a binary format, and contains data, forms, reports, queries, vb
code and other 'stuff'.

There is an mdbtools project on sourceforge:
http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net/
I'm pretty sure it's Linux-only, but I may be wrong.
It exports to various databases ( including MySQL ) and to text files.

--
Daniel Kasak
IT Developer
NUS Consulting Group
Level 5, 77 Pacific Highway
North Sydney, NSW, Australia 2060
T: (+61) 2 9922-7676 / F: (+61) 2 9922 7989
email: dkasak@nusconsulting
.com.au
website: http://www.nusconsulting.com.au

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David Blomstrom

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

Thanks for both your tips. I discovered by chance that
Navicat (which I have) will do the conversion - very
easily. Whether or not it will be a success is hard to
say; it's loaded nearly 3 million rows so far, with
over 8,000 errors recorded.

But I'm going to download DB Tools, as I have frequent
need for data conversion tools.

Thanks.

--- "J.R. Bullington" <bullijr@innovatim.com> wrote:
> DB Tools software will convert the file for you. You
> can download it at
> http://dbtools.com.br/EN/index.php. All you have to
> do is download and
> install the FreeWare version and then use the TOOLS
>
> J.R.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Blomstrom
> [mailto:david_blomst
rom@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 11:29 PM
> To: mysql@lists.mysql.com
> Subject: Need Help with 813-MDB File
>
> I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
> animal species. The main
> file is a 813-MB MDB file.
> I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
> it's apparently designed
> to work with Microsoft Access, which I THINK is a
> spreadsheet. (I don't have
> it.)
>
> I have just enough memory to open the file in
> WordPad, but it doesn't do any
> good because much of the data consists of
> unintelligible characters.
>
> Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
> monster into MySQL. Are
> you aware of any freeware programs that can open up
> files designed for
> Access?
> Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
> csv file, which could
> then be imported into MySQL?
>
> I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
> the very least, I'll
> probably divide it between vertebrates (which I'll
> use the most) and
> invertebrates.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> ____________________
______________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
> http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/
>
> --
> MySQL General Mailing List
> For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql
> To unsubscribe:
>
http://lists.mysql.com/mysql? unsub...a
tim.com
>
>

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Daniel Kasak

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

David Blomstrom wrote:

>Thanks for both your tips. I discovered by chance that
>Navicat (which I have) will do the conversion - very
>easily. Whether or not it will be a success is hard to
>say; it's loaded nearly 3 million rows so far, with
>over 8,000 errors recorded.
>
>
>
3 million records in an Access database! The hairs on the back of my
neck are still standing on end :)
Good plan on upgrading to MySQL.

--
Daniel Kasak
IT Developer
NUS Consulting Group
Level 5, 77 Pacific Highway
North Sydney, NSW, Australia 2060
T: (+61) 2 9922-7676 / F: (+61) 2 9922 7989
email: dkasak@nusconsulting
.com.au
website: http://www.nusconsulting.com.au

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Rhino

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Blomstrom" < david_blomstrom@yaho
o.com>
To: <mysql@lists.mysql.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 11:29 PM
Subject: Need Help with 813-MDB File

> I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
> animal species. The main file is a 813-MB MDB file.
> I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
> it's apparently designed to work with Microsoft
> Access, which I THINK is a spreadsheet. (I don't have
> it.)
>
Access is *not* a spreadsheet, it's a database. I don't have it either but
I've used it.

> I have just enough memory to open the file in WordPad,
> but it doesn't do any good because much of the data
> consists of unintelligible characters.
>
> Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
> monster into MySQL. Are you aware of any freeware
> programs that can open up files designed for Access?
> Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
> csv file, which could then be imported into MySQL?
>
Apparently, this is simple to do if you have Access; I believe you can just
do an Export to CSV (or other formats) within Access.

If you don't have Access, it could get somewhat more complex depending on
what tools you have. I was curious about your question so I did a Google
newsgroup search using these three terms:
export MDB CSV
and got lots of hits. Some of them talked about ways to read MDB files
without having Access, with Perl for example. So I would suggest that you do
a similar search, perhaps adding in some additional keywords that reflect
the tools/languages you do have, to find out which ways are available to
you.

> I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
> the very least, I'll probably divide it between
> vertebrates (which I'll use the most) and
> invertebrates.
>
I have no idea if that can be done without Access, let alone how to do it.

Rhino

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Berman, Mikhail

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

Is there a description of tables anywhere on CD-ROM for Access database.

Mikhail=20

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhino [mailto:rhino1@sympa
tico.ca]=20
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 9:10 AM
To: David Blomstrom; mysql@lists.mysql.com
Subject: Re: Need Help with 813-MDB File

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Blomstrom" < david_blomstrom@yaho
o.com>
To: <mysql@lists.mysql.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 11:29 PM
Subject: Need Help with 813-MDB File

> I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
> animal species. The main file is a 813-MB MDB file.
> I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
> it's apparently designed to work with Microsoft
> Access, which I THINK is a spreadsheet. (I don't have
> it.)
>
Access is *not* a spreadsheet, it's a database. I don't have it either
but
I've used it.

> I have just enough memory to open the file in WordPad,
> but it doesn't do any good because much of the data
> consists of unintelligible characters.
>
> Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
> monster into MySQL. Are you aware of any freeware
> programs that can open up files designed for Access?
> Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
> csv file, which could then be imported into MySQL?
>
Apparently, this is simple to do if you have Access; I believe you can
just
do an Export to CSV (or other formats) within Access.

If you don't have Access, it could get somewhat more complex depending
on
what tools you have. I was curious about your question so I did a Google
newsgroup search using these three terms:
export MDB CSV
and got lots of hits. Some of them talked about ways to read MDB files
without having Access, with Perl for example. So I would suggest that
you do
a similar search, perhaps adding in some additional keywords that
reflect
the tools/languages you do have, to find out which ways are available to
you.

> I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
> the very least, I'll probably divide it between
> vertebrates (which I'll use the most) and
> invertebrates.
>
I have no idea if that can be done without Access, let alone how to do
it.

Rhino

--=20
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.3 - Release Date: 25/03/2005

--=20
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David Blomstrom

2005-03-30, 9:41 am

Thanks for all the tips. I was able to import it with
Navicat. In fact, I was amazed at how smoothly it
went. I think it imported about 30 separate tables -
nearly 4 million rows - before Navicat froze. But I
was working on some other programs and probably ran
out of memory.

It recorded over 8,000 errors - duplicate keys, etc. -
but most of those seemed to be associated with viruses
(REAL viruses, not computer viruses), which I'm not
concerned about.

Thanks again.

--- "Berman, Mikhail" <mberman@ivesinc.com> wrote:
> Is there a description of tables anywhere on CD-ROM
> for Access database.
>
> Mikhail
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rhino [mailto:rhino1@sympa
tico.ca]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 9:10 AM
> To: David Blomstrom; mysql@lists.mysql.com
> Subject: Re: Need Help with 813-MDB File
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Blomstrom" < david_blomstrom@yaho
o.com>
> To: <mysql@lists.mysql.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 11:29 PM
> Subject: Need Help with 813-MDB File
>
>
> file.
> but
> have
> Access is *not* a spreadsheet, it's a database. I
> don't have it either
> but
> I've used it.
>
> WordPad,
> data
> Access?
> a
> Apparently, this is simple to do if you have Access;
> I believe you can
> just
> do an Export to CSV (or other formats) within
> Access.
>
> If you don't have Access, it could get somewhat more
> complex depending
> on
> what tools you have. I was curious about your
> question so I did a Google
> newsgroup search using these three terms:
> export MDB CSV
> and got lots of hits. Some of them talked about ways
> to read MDB files
> without having Access, with Perl for example. So I
> would suggest that
> you do
> a similar search, perhaps adding in some additional
> keywords that
> reflect
> the tools/languages you do have, to find out which
> ways are available to
> you.
>
> At
> I have no idea if that can be done without Access,
> let alone how to do
> it.
>
> Rhino
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.3 - Release
> Date: 25/03/2005
>
>
> --
> MySQL General Mailing List
> For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql
> To unsubscribe:
>
http://lists.mysql.com/mysql? unsub...sin
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>
>

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Tim Hayes

2005-03-30, 7:04 pm

David

Please also have a look at MYdbPAL for MySQL. Freeware again - this will
sort out any schema conversions you might need - auto corrections. Plus you
can model the schema.

MDB conversion is shown in the tutorials.

Tim Hayes

-----Original Message-----
From: David Blomstrom [mailto:david_blomst
rom@yahoo.com]
Sent: 30 March 2005 06:23
To: mysql@lists.mysql.com
Subject: RE: Need Help with 813-MDB File

Thanks for both your tips. I discovered by chance that
Navicat (which I have) will do the conversion - very
easily. Whether or not it will be a success is hard to
say; it's loaded nearly 3 million rows so far, with
over 8,000 errors recorded.

But I'm going to download DB Tools, as I have frequent
need for data conversion tools.

Thanks.

--- "J.R. Bullington" <bullijr@innovatim.com> wrote:
> DB Tools software will convert the file for you. You
> can download it at
> http://dbtools.com.br/EN/index.php. All you have to
> do is download and
> install the FreeWare version and then use the TOOLS
>
> J.R.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Blomstrom
> [mailto:david_blomst
rom@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 11:29 PM
> To: mysql@lists.mysql.com
> Subject: Need Help with 813-MDB File
>
> I acquired a CD-ROM that lists many thousands of
> animal species. The main
> file is a 813-MB MDB file.
> I'm not sure if it's a spreadsheet or database, but
> it's apparently designed
> to work with Microsoft Access, which I THINK is a
> spreadsheet. (I don't have
> it.)
>
> I have just enough memory to open the file in
> WordPad, but it doesn't do any
> good because much of the data consists of
> unintelligible characters.
>
> Anyway, I need to figure out a way to import this
> monster into MySQL. Are
> you aware of any freeware programs that can open up
> files designed for
> Access?
> Is there a way to convert a MDB file directly into a
> csv file, which could
> then be imported into MySQL?
>
> I'll probably eventually break it into sections. At
> the very least, I'll
> probably divide it between vertebrates (which I'll
> use the most) and
> invertebrates.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> ____________________
______________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
> http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/
>
> --
> MySQL General Mailing List
> For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql
> To unsubscribe:
>
http://lists.mysql.com/mysql? unsub...a
tim.com
>
>

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