How do I open and sql file on my desktop?

[Adam Dicker]

I have old backed up .sql files that I want to open and read the data.

Can I do this with excel or some tricky converter software?

thanks for the help,

-=DCG=-

[RobM]

You will need some sql software. The smallest one I know of for windows is sqlite. However a quick look round shows an addon for excel at http://www.sqldrill.com/ - that looks like it'll do it.

[Gerry]

Ask a hacker.

[south]

Depends on what you mean by "read". Notepad will open them for you to view the raw text.

It also depends on what type of sql database it was.

For mysql I like toad

Another option would be create a database on a server and just put it there to look at, either with with toad, webmin, phpmyadmin, etc..

[JuniperPark]

I only work with MsSQL, but the .SQL files are just text. It's a set of SQL commands, usually opened in SQL Analyzer for testing and execution.

[katherine]

Best is to create a DB on a server using whichever SQL platform the file belongs to (mysql ?), import the data, then browse with phpmyadmin or export to excel.

[whitebark]

Any software that can read a .txt file can read a .sql file.

[tekz999]

I have the king of the world solution: Notedpad.exe

Solved.

[krossat]

are you sure it is a .sql file?
As .sql files carry the sql code and not data. you run the .sql file commands on a compatible database application. do you also have .dat files or any other accompanying files with the .sql files?

I have old backed up .sql files that I want to open and read the data.

Can I do this with excel or some tricky converter software?

thanks for the help,

-=DCG=-

[draggar]

Depends on what you mean by "read". Notepad will open them for you to view the raw text.

It also depends on what type of sql database it was.

For mysql I like toad

Another option would be create a database on a server and just put it there to look at, either with with toad, webmin, phpmyadmin, etc..

Yep, Notepad is OK, Excel is good for it, too (I'm sure the Open Office equivalents will work, too).

[RobM]

depends what type of sql file it is. Not all sql files can be read in a text editor - mysql databases for example. If it's just a list of the actual SQL dump then it's ok - however the compiled/compressed database won't be text-readable.

[Dale Hubbard]

cat file.sql |less

or even

less file.sql

or if compressed

gzip -d file.sql.gz
less file.sql

'less' will give you an error warning if the file's binary

sorry - this is Linux - not Win

[cavinti]

I used wordpad, more organize.