Can I import tab-separated files into MySQL without creating database tables first?

Question

As the title says: I've got a bunch of tab-separated text files containing data.

I know that if I use 'CREATE TABLE' statements to set up all the tables manually, I can then import them into the waiting tables, using 'load data' or 'mysqlimport'.

But is there any way in MySQL to create tables automatically based on the tab files? Seems like there ought to be. (I know that MySQL might have to guess the data type of each column, but you could specify that in the first row of the tab files.)

Answer 1

No, there isn't. You need to CREATE a TABLE first in any case.

Automatically creating tables and guessing field types is not part of the DBMS's job. That is a task best left to an external tool or application (That then creates the necessary CREATE statements).