How and where to store the current customer purchasing history data?

Question

I am now working on a project which requires to show the transaction history of one customer and if the product customer buys is under warranty or not. I need to use the data from the current system, the system can provide Web API, which is a .csv file. So how can I make use of the current system data?

A solution I think of is to download all the .csv files and write scripts to insert every record into the database I built which contains the necessary tables and relations to hold the data I retrieve. Then I can have a new database which I want. because I never done this before so I want know if it is feasible?

And one more question would be, if I should store the data locally or use a cloud database like Firebase?

Answer 1

High-end databases like SQL Server and Oracle come with utilities that allow you to read directly from a csv file. Check the docs. Having done this many times, the best procedure I found was to read the file into one holding table. This gives you the chance to examine the data and find any unexpected quirks or missing fields. This allows you to correct the data, where possible.

Then write the scripts to move the data from the holding table into the proper tables you have designed. This must be done in a logical manner. For example, move the customer data before the buy transactions. Thus any error messages you get will not be because you tried to store a transaction before you stored the customer. (You will have referential integrity set up, yes?) This gives you more chances to correct or adjust the data or just identify problems more or less at your leisure.

Whether or not to store the data in the cloud is strictly according to the preferences of your employer.