Can I automatically create a table in PostgreSQL from a csv file with headers?

Question

I\'m running PostgreSQL 9.2.6 on OS X 10.6.8. I would like to import data from a CSV file with column headers into a database. I can do this with the COPY state

Answer 1

I am using csvsql to generate the table layout (it will automatically guess the format):

head -n 20 table.csv | csvsql --no-constraints --tables table_name 

And then I use \COPY in psql. That's for me the fastest way to import CSV file.

You can also use sed with csvsql in order to get the desired datatype:

head -n 20 table.csv | csvsql --no-constraints --tables table_name  | sed 's/DECIMAL/NUMERIC/' | sed 's/VARCHAR/TEXT/'

Answer 2

Use sqlite as intermediate step.

Steps:

1. In the command prompt type: sqlite3
2. In the sqlite3 CLI type: .mode csv
3. .import my_csv.csv my_table
4. .output my_table_sql.sql
5. .dump my_table
6. Finally execute that sql in your Postgresql