Dumps, Backups, and Exports
Let's first clarify some vocabulary. In MySQL documentation, you will encounter the
term dump and in other applications, the term backup or export. All these terms
have the same meaning in the phpMyAdmin context.
MySQL includes mysqldump, a command-line utility that can be used to generate
export files, but the shell access needed for command-line utilities is not offered by
every host provider. Also, access to the export feature from within the Web interface
is more convenient. This is why phpMyAdmin (since version 1.2.0) offers the Export
feature with more export formats than mysqldump. This chapter will focus on
phpMyAdmin's export features.
Before starting an export, we must have a clear picture of the intended goal of the
export, and the following questions may help:
Do we need the complete database or just some tables?
Do we need just the structure, just the data, or both?
Which utility will be used to import back the data? (Not every export
format can be imported by phpMyAdmin.)
Do we want only a subset of the data?
What is the size of the intended export, and of the link speed between us and
the server?
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Exporting Structure and Data
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Scope of the Export
When we click an Export link from phpMyAdmin, we can be in one
of these views or contexts: Database view, Table view or Server view
(more on this latter one in Chapter 19, MySQL Server Administration).
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