#!/usr/bin/python
# usage: ./parser.py CUSTOMERORDERS_20090401.txt
# don't forget to run chmod +x on this file

import fileinput, string, sys, re, MySQLdb as Database

filename = sys.argv[1]
tablename = filename[:-13]  # strip a few chars from the end of the filename arg - your mileage may vary

records = []

for line in fileinput.input( filename ):
    if fileinput.isfirstline():  # first row becomes col names
        columns = line.split('|')  # split on the delimiter

    if not fileinput.isfirstline():
        try:
            line[1]  # only append populated rows
            otherline = line.split('|')  # split on the delimiter
            records.append(otherline)
        except IndexError:
            print "emptyline"

db = Database.connect("host", "username", "password", "dbname")
cursor = db.cursor()

insertcolumns = ", ".join(columns)
for row in records:
    insertrow = "', '".join(row)
    sql = """INSERT INTO %s (%s) VALUES ('%s')""" %(tablename, insertcolumns, insertrow)
    cursor.execute(sql)
db.close()