Importing Cypher queries (CYPHERL format)
If your data is in the form of Cypher queries (for example, CREATE
and MERGE
clauses) within a CYPHERL file it can be imported via the visual interface
Memgraph Lab or mgconsole.
The benefit of importing data using the CYPHERL file is that you need only one file to import both nodes and relationships. But it can be tricky to actually write the queries for creating nodes and relationships yourself.
To speed up import time consider creating indexes on appropriate nodes or node properties.
If you are using on-disk storage mode consider using Edge import mode.
Importing via Memgraph Lab
Once your Memgraph instance is running and you've connected to it via Memgraph Lab, go to the Import & Export section. To Import Data select the CYPHERL file or drag and drop it into Memgraph Lab.
You can import up to 1 million nodes and relationships via Memgraph Lab using the CYPHERL file.
Importing via mgconsole
If you installed and started Memgraph using Docker, follow these steps:
- Open a new terminal and check the Docker container ID by running
docker ps
. - Run the following command
docker exec -i CONTAINER_ID mgconsole < queries.cypherl
For more information about mgconsole
options run:
docker exec -i CONTAINER_ID mgconsole --help
Examples
Below, you can find two examples of how to import data within the .cypherl
file
based on the complexity of your data:
One type of nodes and relationships
Let's import data from queries.cypherl
file with the following content:
CREATE (:Person {id: "100", name: "Daniel", age: 30, city: "London"});
CREATE (:Person {id: "101", name: "Alex", age: 15, city: "Paris"});
CREATE (:Person {id: "102", name: "Sarah", age: 101, city: "London"});
CREATE (:Person {id: "103", name: "Mia", age: 25, city: "Zagreb"});
CREATE (:Person {id: "104", name: "Lucy", age: 21, city: "Paris"});
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "100" AND v.id = "102" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "100" AND v.id = "103" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "101" AND v.id = "104" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "101" AND v.id = "102" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "103" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "103" AND v.id = "101" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "104" AND v.id = "100" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH]->(v);
In a CYPHERL file, each Cypher query must be written in a new row.
The first five queries create nodes for people, and the rest of the queries create relationships between these nodes.
If you installed Memgraph using Docker, open a new terminal, position yourself in the directory where the CYPHERL file is located and run the following commands:
- Check the Docker container ID by running
docker ps
- Run the following command
docker exec -i CONTAINER_ID mgconsole < queries.cypherl
This is how the graph should look like in Memgraph after the import:
Multiple types of nodes and relationships
Let's import data from queries.cypherl
file with the following content:
CREATE (p:Person {id: "100", name: "Daniel", age: 30, city: "London"});
CREATE (p:Person {id: "101", name: "Alex", age: 15, city: "Paris"});
CREATE (p:Person {id: "102", name: "Sarah", age: 17, city: "London"});
CREATE (p:Person {id: "103", name: "Mia", age: 25, city: "Zagreb"});
CREATE (p:Person {id: "104", name: "Lucy", age: 21, city: "Paris"});
CREATE (r:Restaurant {id: "200", name: "McDonalds", menu: "Fries BigMac McChicken Apple Pie"});
CREATE (r:Restaurant {id: "201", name: "KFC", menu: "Fried Chicken Fries Chicken Bucket"});
CREATE (r:Restaurant {id: "202", name: "Subway", menu: "Ham Sandwich Turkey Sandwich Foot-long"});
CREATE (r:Restaurant {id: "203", name: "Dominos", menu: "Pepperoni Pizza Double Dish Pizza Cheese filled Crust"});
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "100" AND v.id = "103" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2014"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "101" AND v.id = "104" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2001"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "100" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2005"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "103" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2017"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "103" AND v.id = "104" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2005"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Person) WHERE u.id = "104" AND v.id = "102" CREATE (u)-[:IS_FRIENDS_WITH {met_in: "2021"}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "100" AND v.id = "200" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: true}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "202" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: false}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "203" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: false}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "102" AND v.id = "200" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: true}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "103" AND v.id = "201" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: true}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "104" AND v.id = "201" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: false}]->(v);
MATCH (u:Person), (v:Restaurant) WHERE u.id = "101" AND v.id = "200" CREATE (u)-[:ATE_AT {liked: true}]->(v);
The first five queries create nodes for people, and the following four queries create nodes for restaurants. The rest of the queries are used to define relationships between nodes. As said before, you can define different types of nodes and relationships in one file.
If you installed Memgraph using Docker, open a new terminal, position yourself in the directory where the CYPHERL file is located and run the following commands:
- Check the Docker container ID by running
docker ps
- Run the following command
docker exec -i CONTAINER_ID mgconsole < queries.cypherl
This is how the graph should look like in Memgraph after the import: