The LOAD DATA  statement reads rows from a text file into a table at a very high speed. The file can be read from the server host or the client host, depending on whether the LOCAL  modifier is given. LOCAL  also affects data interpretation and error handling. 

LOAD DATA  is the complement of SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE . (See Section 13.2.10.1, “SELECT ... INTO Statement” .) To write data from a table to a file, use SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE . To read the file back into a table, use LOAD DATA . The syntax of the FIELDS  and LINES  clauses is the same for both statements. 

The mysqlimport  utility provides another way to load data files; it operates by sending a LOAD DATA statement to the server. See Section 4.5.5, “mysqlimport — A Data Import Program” . 

For information about the efficiency of INSERT  versus LOAD DATA  and speeding up LOAD DATA , see Section 8.2.5.1, “Optimizing INSERT Statements” . 

## Non-LOCAL Versus LOCAL Operation 

•Non-LOCAL Versus LOCAL Operation 

•Input File Character Set 

•Input File Location 

•Security Requirements 

•Duplicate-Key and Error Handling 

•Index Handling 

•Field and Line Handling 

•Column List Specification 

•Input Preprocessing 

•Column Value Assignment 

•Partitioned Table Support 

•Concurrency Considerations 

•Statement Result Information 

•Replication Considerations 

•Miscellaneous Topics 

The LOCAL  modifier affects these aspects of LOAD DATA , compared to non- LOCAL  operation: 

•It changes the expected location of the input file; see Input File Location. 

•It changes the statement security requirements; see Security Requirements. 

•It has the same effect as the IGNORE  modifier on the interpretation of input file contents and error handling; see Duplicate-Key and Error Handling, and Column Value Assignment. 

LOCAL  works only if the server and your client both have been configured to permit it. For example, if mysqld  was started with the local_infile  system variable disabled, LOCAL  produces an error. See Section 6.1.6, “Security Considerations for LOAD DATA LOCAL” . 

