Running MySQL *.sql files in PHP

$commands = file_get_contents($location);   
$this->_connection->multi_query($commands);

This question comes up from time to time. There's no good solution for running a .sql script directly from PHP. There are edge cases where statements common in a .sql script can't be executed as SQL statements. For example, the mysql tool has builtin commands that are not recognized by the MySQL Server, e.g. CONNECT, TEE, STATUS, and DELIMITER.

So I give +1 to @Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams's answer. You should run your .sql script in PHP by invoking the mysql tool, for instance with shell_exec().

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I got this test working:

$command = "mysql --user={$vals['db_user']} --password='{$vals['db_pass']}' "
 . "-h {$vals['db_host']} -D {$vals['db_name']} < {$script_path}";

$output = shell_exec($command . '/shellexec.sql');

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See also my answers to these related questions:

• Loading .sql files from within PHP
• is it possible to call a sql script from a stored procedure in another sql script?
• PHP: multiple SQL queries in one mysql_query statement