title: Migrating data into Firebase from MySQL
body: <p>I have an existing PHP/MySQL app which I am trying to migrate to AngularJS/Firebase, just as a way to learn these newer technologies.</p>
  
  <p>The app has its own schema of tables in MySQL. One such table looks something like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>CREATE TABLE `dictionary` (
    `id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    `word` varchar(50) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
    `wordmeaning` varchar(255) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
    `wordlength` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
  ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My question is: how do I migrate this table structure, and the data in it, from MySQL to Firebase?</p>
  
  <p>I have tried exporting the data into a JSON string via a query such as:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT      CONCAT("[",
            GROUP_CONCAT(
                 CONCAT("{id:'",id,"',"),
                 CONCAT("word:'",word,"',"),
                 CONCAT("wordmeaning:'",wordmeaning,"',"),
                 CONCAT("wordlength:'",wordlength,"'}")
            )
       ,"]") 
  AS json FROM dictionary;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This gives a valid JSON string such as:</p>
  
  <pre>
  [{id:'1',word:'cat',wordmeaning:'a mammal species',wordlength:'3'},
  {id:'2',word:'catapult',wordmeaning:'throwing device',wordlength:'8'},
  {id:'3',word:'cart',wordmeaning:'something to carry things in',wordlength:'4'}]
  </pre>
  
  <p>I saved this in a file and tried to import the file from Firebase, using the Import JSON button, to which I got:Error parsing JSON data. Please validate your input. (The JSON string is valid. I checked it at <a href="http://jsonviewer.stack.hu/" rel="noreferrer">http://jsonviewer.stack.hu/</a>)</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas about what I could be doing wrong? I am assuming that Firebase can handle such structures and the data in them. </p>
  
  <p>Thanks.</p>