Novus Convert
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Data format

SQL converter

A .sql file is a script of SQL statements — typically CREATE TABLE definitions followed by INSERT statements, which is what a database dump looks like. It is a program to be executed, not a data file to be read, and that distinction governs everything about handling it safely.

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Drop SQL files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where SQL comes from

SQL was standardised by ANSI in 1986 and ISO in 1987, and dump files have been the default backup and migration mechanism ever since mysqldump and pg_dump established the pattern. The persistent problem is that no two engines' dialects agree: a PostgreSQL dump will not load into MySQL without editing, so a .sql file is only really portable in the simplest cases.

How SQL works

  • Statements are terminated by semicolons, but dialects differ on delimiters inside routines and triggers.
  • Dumps interleave schema and data, so ordering matters and foreign keys constrain load sequence.
  • String quoting and escaping vary by engine, which is the main obstacle to portability.
  • Comments use -- to end of line or /* */ blocks.
  • The file is executable code, so importing an untrusted dump into a live database is a genuine risk.

When to use SQL

  • Backing up and restoring a database
  • Migrating schema and data between environments
  • Version-controlling schema changes as migrations
  • Extracting a dump's table data into a spreadsheet or a portable database file

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Human-readable and reviewable in version control
  • Carries schema and data together in one artefact
  • Produced by every database's standard export tooling

Limitations

  • Dialect differences make dumps far less portable than they look
  • Loading a large dump is slow compared with a binary restore
  • Executable content, so an untrusted file must never simply be run

Compatibility

Every relational database consumes SQL scripts, subject to dialect. Novus Convert parses CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements locally and converts them to SQLite, JSON, XLSX or a ZIP of tables — it reads the statements as data rather than executing them, so nothing in the file runs.

Table names, column names and row values are preserved. Indexes, constraints, triggers, views and engine-specific clauses are not carried into tabular or spreadsheet targets.

Convert SQL to another format