You're off to a good start. Make sure you install the DBD::mysql package, then you should be able to start using it. The DBI module is very popular, so you can easily find plenty of examples to help you out. Going off the top of my head, you'll be doing something a bit like:

use strict;
use warnings;
use DBI;

my $DB = DBI::connect("connect string for your database", "user ID", "
+password");

# Prepare a statement handle for your inserts
my $STH = $DB->prepare("insert into mytable (col1, col2) values (?, ?)
+");

while (<DATA>) {
    # Get  your data
    my ($col1, $col2) = parse_line($_);
    # Now insert it into the database
    $STH->execute($col1, $col2);
}
[download]

This example uses a prepared statement with placeholders (the ? marks) because:

• It improves security--you don't have to worry about SQL injection
• Reduces chances for errors--any quoting rules are automatically handled for you
• Can improve performace--if the database takes advantage of prepared statements handles

Placeholders are just the ? marks, which have a one-to-one correspondence with the values you give the $STH->execute() function. Note that you can't use placeholders for table names or column names, just the values.

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

Update: spelling correction.