Data Loader

Data Loader is an advanced software application that you can use to import, export, migrate and convert databases and CSV files. It comes loaded with several advanced options and configuration settings.

After a brief and uneventful setup operation, you are welcomed by a large frame with a clear-cut structure, representing Data Loader's interface. You can start a new session by choosing the source and target database, whether we're talking about MySQL, MySQL Dump, Oracle, Oracle SQL Dump, MS Access, FoxPro, CSV, fixed width files, MS SQL Server, MS SQL Server Dump, or Excel files.

In the following stage it's necessary to fill out some details regarding the selected source, such as the server name, port number, username, password, database, tables, character set and encryption mode for MySQL sources, or folder name, file extension, character set and file delimiter for CSV files. Similarly, you can configure settings for the output format.

Conversion operations can be run immediately or according to a user-defined scheduler: once, daily, weekly, monthly, or every few minutes or hours. It's possible to manage the properties of existing sessions, remove them from the scheduler, examine database tables and log files, as well as to back up and restore the repository.

We haven't come across any stability issues throughout our evaluation, thanks to the fact that Data Loader didn't hang, crash or display error messages. It had a good response time, carried out conversion jobs rapidly and used low CPU and RAM, so it didn't hamper system performance.

Taking into account its intuitive and advanced options, Data Loader should meet the requirements of most users looking for an efficient method to convert databases and CSV files. The interface could use some improvements in the visual department, though.