10.6. Load CSV

LOAD CSV allows you to import data from CSV files. It is required to specify an identifier for the CSV data using AS. See the examples for further details.

Import data from a CSV file

To import data from a CSV file into Neo4j, you can use LOAD CSV to get the data into your query. Then you write it to your database using the normal updating clauses of Cypher.

artists.csv.  

"1","ABBA","1992"
"2","Roxette","1986"
"3","Europe","1979"
"4","The Cardigans","1992"

Query.  

LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line
CREATE (:Artist { name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

A new node with the Artist label is created for each row in the CSV file. In addition, two columns from the CSV file are set as properties on the nodes.

Result

Nodes created: 4
Properties set: 8
Labels added: 4

(empty result)

Try this query live. none LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line CREATE (:Artist {name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

Import data from a CSV file containing headers

When your CSV file has headers, you can view each row in the file as a map instead of as an array of strings.

artists-with-headers.csv.  

"Id","Name","Year"
"1","ABBA","1992"
"2","Roxette","1986"
"3","Europe","1979"
"4","The Cardigans","1992"

Query.  

LOAD CSV WITH HEADERS FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-with-headers.csv' AS line
CREATE (:Artist { name: line.Name, year: toInt(line.Year)})

This time, the file starts with a single row containing column names. Indicate this using WITH HEADERS and you can access specific fields by their corresponding column name.

Result

Nodes created: 4
Properties set: 8
Labels added: 4

(empty result)

Try this query live. none LOAD CSV WITH HEADERS FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-with-headers.csv' AS line CREATE (:Artist {name: line.Name, year: toInt(line.Year)})

Import data from a CSV file with a custom field delimiter

Sometimes, your CSV file has other field delimiters than commas. You can specify which delimiter your file uses using FIELDTERMINATOR.

artists-fieldterminator.csv.  

"1";"ABBA";"1992"
"2";"Roxette";"1986"
"3";"Europe";"1979"
"4";"The Cardigans";"1992"

Query.  

LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-fieldterminator.csv' AS line
  FIELDTERMINATOR ';'
CREATE (:Artist { name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

As values in this file are separated by a semicolon, a custom FIELDTERMINATOR is specified in the LOAD CSV clause.

Result

Nodes created: 4
Properties set: 8
Labels added: 4

(empty result)

Try this query live. none LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-fieldterminator.csv' AS line FIELDTERMINATOR ';' CREATE (:Artist {name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

Importing large amounts of data

If the CSV file contains a significant number of rows (approaching hundreds of thousands or millions), USING PERIODIC COMMIT can be used to instruct Neo4j to perform a commit after a number of rows. This reduces the memory overhead of the transaction state. By default, the commit will happen every 1000 rows. For more information, see Section 11.9, “Using Periodic Commit”.

Query.  

USING PERIODIC COMMIT
LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line
CREATE (:Artist { name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

Result

Nodes created: 4
Properties set: 8
Labels added: 4

(empty result)

Try this query live. none USING PERIODIC COMMIT LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line CREATE (:Artist {name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

Import data containing escape characters

Query.  

LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-with-escape-char.csv' AS line
CREATE (a:Artist { name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})
RETURN a.name AS name

Result

name
1 row
Nodes created: 1
Properties set: 2
Labels added: 1

""The "Symbol"""

Try this query live. none LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists-with-escape-char.csv' AS line CREATE (a:Artist {name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])}) return a.name as name

Setting the rate of periodic commits

You can set the number of rows as in the example, where it is set to 500 rows.

Query.  

USING PERIODIC COMMIT 500
LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line
CREATE (:Artist { name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

Result

Nodes created: 4
Properties set: 8
Labels added: 4

(empty result)

Try this query live. none USING PERIODIC COMMIT 500 LOAD CSV FROM 'http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/2.1.2/csv/artists.csv' AS line CREATE (:Artist {name: line[1], year: toInt(line[2])})

CSV file format

The CSV file supported by the cypher LOAD CSV must have the following characteristics:

  • the character encoding is UTF-8;
  • the end line termination is system dependent, e.g., it is \n on unix or \r\n on windows;
  • the default field terminator is ,;
  • the field terminator character can be change by using the option FIELDTERMINATOR available in the LOAD CSV command;
  • quoted strings are allowed in the CSV file and the quotes are dropped when reading the data;
  • the character for string quotation is double quote ";
  • the escape character is \.