Quick Start

This guide walks you through the most common sql-splitter workflow: splitting a dump into individual table files, editing them, and merging back.

Tip

sql-splitter uses streaming I/O, handling files of any size with constant ~50MB memory.

1. Split a Dump

   Split a MySQL dump into per-table files:

   sql-splitter split database.sql --output=tables/

   Output:

   tables/
   ├── users.sql
   ├── orders.sql
   ├── products.sql
   ├── order_items.sql
   └── _global.sql  # Header statements, settings

   Dialect Auto-Detection

   sql-splitter automatically detects MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MSSQL dumps. Override with --dialect:

   # PostgreSQL pg_dump
   sql-splitter split pg_dump.sql -o tables/ --dialect=postgres
   
   # SQLite dump
   sql-splitter split sqlite.sql -o tables/ --dialect=sqlite
   
   # MSSQL/T-SQL
   sql-splitter split mssql.sql -o tables/ --dialect=mssql

   Split Specific Tables

   Only split the tables you need:

   sql-splitter split dump.sql -o tables/ --tables users,orders

   Schema vs Data

   Split only schema (DDL) or only data (DML):

   # Schema only (CREATE TABLE, indexes)
   sql-splitter split dump.sql -o schema/ --schema-only
   
   # Data only (INSERT statements)
   sql-splitter split dump.sql -o data/ --data-only

2. Edit Individual Tables

   Now you can:

   • Edit specific table files
   • Delete tables you don’t need
   • Modify INSERT statements
   • Add or remove indexes

3. Merge Back

   Combine the per-table files back into a single dump:

   sql-splitter merge tables/ -o restored.sql

   Wrap in Transaction

   For atomic restores:

   sql-splitter merge tables/ -o restored.sql --transaction

   Merge Specific Tables

   Only merge certain tables:

   sql-splitter merge tables/ -o partial.sql --tables users,orders

   Exclude Tables

   Skip certain tables when merging:

   sql-splitter merge tables/ -o restored.sql --exclude logs,cache

4. Verify the Result

   Analyze the merged file to verify:

   sql-splitter analyze restored.sql

   Output:

   ┌─────────────┬──────┬───────────┬─────────────┐
   │ Table       │ Rows │ Size (KB) │ Statements  │
   ├─────────────┼──────┼───────────┼─────────────┤
   │ users       │ 150  │ 12.3      │ 2           │
   │ orders      │ 500  │ 45.2      │ 2           │
   │ products    │ 100  │ 8.1       │ 2           │
   │ order_items │ 1200 │ 89.4      │ 2           │
   └─────────────┴──────┴───────────┴─────────────┘

Next Steps

• Concepts - Learn about dialects and compression
• Commands - Full command reference
• Cookbook - Common workflow patterns