PHP not creating downloadable CSV file - php

Question

I am trying to pull out data from my database using php and exporting it into a downloadable CSV file that can be opened with excel. I am able to do this when i use mysql however, many have advised to not include mysql syntax in my code as its being deprecated and instead i should use mysqli. I have changed my code but now my code is not working. Does anyone know why that is?
mysql version (working version)`
mysql_connect('localhost', 'xxxxx', 'xxxxx') or die('connect');
mysql_select_db('db') or die('select');
$result = mysql_query('SELECT * bodyshops_master_network') or die('query');
if(mysql_num_rows($result) == 0)
{
die('no data');
}
$fh = tmpfile() or die('tmpfile');
$cols = array_keys(mysql_fetch_assoc($result));
fputcsv($fh, $cols);
mysql_data_seek($result, 0); // set result row pointer back to first row
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))
{
fputcsv($fh, $row);
}
rewind($fh);
$text = fread($fh, 999999);
header('Content-Type: text/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.csv"');
header('Content-Length: ' . strlen($text));
echo $text;
exit;
mysqli version (not working):
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "xxxxx", "xxxxx", "db");
if (mysqli_connect_errno())
{
printf("Connect failed: ", mysqli_connect_error());
exit();
} else
{
$result = "SELECT * FROM bodyshops_master_network";
if(mysqli_num_rows($result) == 0)
{
die('no data');
}
$fh = tmpfile() or die('tmpfile');
$cols = array_keys($result->fetch_assoc());
fputcsv($fh, $cols);
$result->data_seek(0); // set result row pointer back to first row
while($row = $result->fetch_assoc())
{
fputcsv($fh, $row);
}
rewind($fh);
$text = fread($fh, 999999);
header('Content-Type: text/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.csv"');
header('Content-Length: ' . strlen($text));
echo $text;
exit;

Answer 1

Check phpinfo to see that mysqli extension is enabled.
Remove/comment the header calls so that you receive the output as plain HTML so that you notice if any message shows up (due to die or coding error) or if you actually get the data.
Also note that you loose the date of the first record you retrieve because you call:
$cols = array_keys(mysql_fetch_assoc($result));
respectively
$cols = array_keys($result->fetch_assoc());

Answer 2

What is not working?
Are you getting any errors?
Is the file empty, is there any file downloading?
Maybe errors aren't enabled, try this:
<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
?>

Answer 3

I'm new on StackOverflow, I think this would help. (I speak spanish, I hope you to understand my english :D )
I've been looking for a simply way to use mysqli and download a csv file that could be read by excel without UTF-8 problems (using ñ,á,ü...). I didn't found it, so I created one by myself (learning from Google and StackOverflow answers), after some hours I got something that works finally.
This is a Class that connects with the database and the functions will do whatever you want using mysqli and PHP. In this case, calling this class (require or include), just use the "downloadCsv()" function.
As an example, this would be the "class.php" file:
<?php
class DB{
private $con;
//this constructor connects with the database
public function __construct(){
$this->con = new mysqli("Your_Host","Your_User","Your_Pass","Your_DatabaseName");
if($this->con->connect_errno > 0){
die('There was a problem [' . $con->connect_error . ']');
}
}
//create the function that will download a csv file from a mysqli query
public function downloadCsv(){
$count = 0;
$header = "";
$data = "";
//query
$result = $this->con->query("SELECT * FROM Your_TableName");
//count fields
$count = $result->field_count;
//columns names
$names = $result->fetch_fields();
//put column names into header
foreach($names as $value) {
$header .= $value->name.";";
}
}
//put rows from your query
while($row = $result->fetch_row()) {
$line = '';
foreach($row as $value) {
if(!isset($value) || $value == "") {
$value = ";"; //in this case, ";" separates columns
} else {
$value = str_replace('"', '""', $value);
$value = '"' . $value . '"' . ";"; //if you change the separator before, change this ";" too
}
$line .= $value;
} //end foreach
$data .= trim($line)."\n";
} //end while
//avoiding problems with data that includes "\r"
$data = str_replace("\r", "", $data);
//if empty query
if ($data == "") {
$data = "\nno matching records found\n";
}
$count = $result->field_count;
//Download csv file
header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=FILENAME.csv");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header("Expires: 0");
echo $header."\n".$data."\n";
}
?>
After creating the "class.php" file, in this example, use that function on "download.php" file:
<?php
//call the "class.php" file
require_once 'class.php';
//instantiate DB class
$export = new DB();
//call function
$export->downloadCsv();
?>
After download, open the file with MS Excel.
I hope this help you, I think I wrote it well, I didn't feel comfortable with the text and code field.