The CSV storage engine was added in MySQL 4.1.4. This engine stores data in text files using comma-separated values format. It is unavailable on Windows until MySQL 5.1.

The CSV storage engine is included in MySQL-Max binary distributions. To enable this storage engine if you build MySQL from source, invoke configure with the --with-csv-storage-engine option.

To examine the source for the CSV engine, look in the sql/examples directory of a MySQL source distribution.

When you create a CSV table, the server creates a table format file in the database directory. The file begins with the table name and has an .frm extension. The storage engine also creates a data file. Its name begins with the table name and has a .CSV extension. The data file is a plain text file. When you store data into the table, the storage engine saves it into the data file in comma-separated values format.

mysql> CREATE TABLE test (i INT NOT NULL, c CHAR(10) NOT NULL)
    -> ENGINE = CSV;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.12 sec)

mysql> INSERT INTO test VALUES(1,'record one'),(2,'record two');
Query OK, 2 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 2  Duplicates: 0  Warnings: 0

mysql> SELECT * FROM test;
+------+------------+
| i    | c          |
+------+------------+
|    1 | record one |
|    2 | record two |
+------+------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

If you examine the test.CSV file in the database directory created by executing the preceding statements, its contents should look like this:

"1","record one"
"2","record two"

This format can be read, and even written, by spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel or StarOffice Calc.

The CSV storage engine does not support indexing.