Import CartoDB file with cURL

cdb_import.sh

#!/bin/bash
 
CDB_USER=$1
API_KEY=$2
IMPORT_FILE=$3
PROTOCOL=https
DEBUG=false
ITEM_ID_REGEX='\"([0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12})\"'

if [[ -z $CDB_USER ]]
then
  echo "Missing user"
  exit 1
fi
if [[ -z $API_KEY ]]
then
  echo "Missing api key"
  exit 1
fi
if [[ -z $IMPORT_FILE ]]
then
  echo "Missing file"
  exit 1
fi
 
function log {
  [[ ${DEBUG} == true ]] && echo $1
}

v1=$(uname)

log "Sending file..."

if [[ "$v1" = Darwin ]]; 
then
  job_id=`curl -s -F file=@${IMPORT_FILE} "${PROTOCOL}://${CDB_USER}/api/v1/imports/?api_key=${API_KEY}" | sed -E "s/\{\"item_queue_id\":${ITEM_ID_REGEX}.*/\1/"`
else
  job_id=`curl -s -F file=@${IMPORT_FILE} "${PROTOCOL}://${CDB_USER}/api/v1/imports/?api_key=${API_KEY}" | sed -r "s/\{\"item_queue_id\":${ITEM_ID_REGEX}.*/\1/"`
fi

log "Waiting for job ${job_id} to be completed..."

while true 
do
  if [[ "$v1" = Darwin ]];
  then
    status=`curl -s "${PROTOCOL}://${CDB_USER}/api/v1/imports/${job_id}?api_key=${API_KEY}" | sed -E 's/(.*)\"state\":\"([a-z]+)\"(.*)/\2/'`
  else
    status=`curl -s "${PROTOCOL}://${CDB_USER}/api/v1/imports/${job_id}?api_key=${API_KEY}" | sed -r 's/(.*)\"state\":\"([a-z]+)\"(.*)/\2/'`
  fi
  log "STATE: ${status}"
  if [[ $status == 'complete' ]]
  then
    log "Import successful"
    exit 0
  elif [[ $status == 'failure' ]]
  then
    log "Failed import"
    exit 1
  fi
  sleep 2
done

gistfile1.txt

./cdb_import.sh <cdb_username> <api_key> <filename>

May I suggest to embed usage string in the script itself and show it on syntax error (show usage and exit)
Very useful tool, how about putting under script/ dir of cartodb ?

Mac safe version => https://gist.github.com/andrewxhill/5884845

Okay, to make this really useful, I have a few questions.

1. Does the import api report the table name/id back?
2. It would be really amazing if we could 'replace' a table via the API
3. Can you toggle public/private via the API?