<p>I'm not 100% clear on exactly what you're looking for, but I'll just throw this out there.  Matrix content is saved in their own tables (table names are dynamically generated on a per-field basis) as opposed to most other fields, which have their content saved in the <code>craft_content</code> table.</p>

<p>You can look in <a href="https://craftcms.com/classreference/services/MatrixService" rel="nofollow">MatrixService</a> for methods needed for managing Matrix fields.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-27T14:55:06.753Z
I have existing data that I need to map into the Matrix field I created (Basically just Image & RTF). So the data I have from old system is in XML which I will parse and need to insert into CraftCMS. The plugin that I mentioned doesn't support import/ export of data from Matrix field. So I was wondering if there was an easy way to do this.

At this point I am going to experiment with MatrixService and hope it works the way I think it should.
Subrato M
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-26T17:44:22.363Z
2016-04-26T17:44:22.363Z
Brad Bell
<p>We have an existing CMS and I'm just learning how to use CraftCMS so that I port the data from SQL Server to MySQL database. I went through a few videos on how to create a basic site so I kinda understand the system.</p>

<p>I have used a couple of plugins to import the data and one of them being this:
<a href="https://github.com/boboldehampsink/import" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/boboldehampsink/import</a> </p>

<p>This plugin doesn't export existing data from MySQL data from Matrix field (using sample data). I wanted to see how the data is stored so I can create a similar format. But unfortunately the Matrix field comes back empty. I am not sure how to create and insert data in CraftCMS for this specific field. I will also at some point need to retrieve this data so I would like to know how the insert/select works on these fields.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<matrix><plugin-import>
Import existing data in Matrix fields
# Import existing data in Matrix fields

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-26)

We have an existing CMS and I'm just learning how to use CraftCMS so that I port the data from SQL Server to MySQL database. I went through a few videos on how to create a basic site so I kinda understand the system.

I have used a couple of plugins to import the data and one of them being this:
<https://github.com/boboldehampsink/import>

This plugin doesn't export existing data from MySQL data from Matrix field (using sample data). I wanted to see how the data is stored so I can create a similar format. But unfortunately the Matrix field comes back empty. I am not sure how to create and insert data in CraftCMS for this specific field. I will also at some point need to retrieve this data so I would like to know how the insert/select works on these fields.

Thanks in advance.

**Tags:** matrix, plugin-import


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-04-26. Score: 1

I'm not 100% clear on exactly what you're looking for, but I'll just throw this out there. Matrix content is saved in their own tables (table names are dynamically generated on a per-field basis) as opposed to most other fields, which have their content saved in the `craft_content` table.

You can look in [MatrixService](https://craftcms.com/classreference/services/MatrixService) for methods needed for managing Matrix fields.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I have existing data that I need to map into the Matrix field I created (Basically just Image & RTF). So the data I have from old system is in XML which I will parse and need to insert into CraftCMS. The plugin that I mentioned doesn't support import/ export of data from Matrix field. So I was wondering if there was an easy way to do this.  At this point I am going to experiment with MatrixService and hope it works the way I think it should.  

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