PHP code to convert a MySQL query to CSV [closed] - php

Question

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Closed 11 years ago.
What is the most efficient way to convert a MySQL query to CSV in PHP please?
It would be best to avoid temp files as this reduces portability (dir paths and setting file-system permissions required).
The CSV should also include one top line of field names.

Answer 1

SELECT * INTO OUTFILE "c:/mydata.csv"
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY "\n"
FROM my_table;
(the documentation for this is here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/select.html)
or:
$select = "SELECT * FROM table_name";
$export = mysql_query ( $select ) or die ( "Sql error : " . mysql_error( ) );
$fields = mysql_num_fields ( $export );
for ( $i = 0; $i < $fields; $i++ )
{
$header .= mysql_field_name( $export , $i ) . "\t";
}
while( $row = mysql_fetch_row( $export ) )
{
$line = '';
foreach( $row as $value )
{
if ( ( !isset( $value ) ) || ( $value == "" ) )
{
$value = "\t";
}
else
{
$value = str_replace( '"' , '""' , $value );
$value = '"' . $value . '"' . "\t";
}
$line .= $value;
}
$data .= trim( $line ) . "\n";
}
$data = str_replace( "\r" , "" , $data );
if ( $data == "" )
{
$data = "\n(0) Records Found!\n";
}
header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=your_desired_name.xls");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header("Expires: 0");
print "$header\n$data";

Answer 2

Check out this question / answer. It's more concise than #Geoff's, and also uses the builtin fputcsv function.
$result = $db_con->query('SELECT * FROM `some_table`');
if (!$result) die('Couldn\'t fetch records');
$num_fields = mysql_num_fields($result);
$headers = array();
for ($i = 0; $i < $num_fields; $i++) {
$headers[] = mysql_field_name($result , $i);
}
$fp = fopen('php://output', 'w');
if ($fp && $result) {
header('Content-Type: text/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="export.csv"');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
header('Expires: 0');
fputcsv($fp, $headers);
while ($row = $result->fetch_array(MYSQLI_NUM)) {
fputcsv($fp, array_values($row));
}
die;
}

Answer 3

Look at the documentation regarding the SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE syntax.
SELECT a,b,a+b INTO OUTFILE '/tmp/result.txt'
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
FROM test_table;

Answer 4

An update to #jrgns (with some slight syntax differences) solution.
$result = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM `some_table`');
if (!$result) die('Couldn\'t fetch records');
$num_fields = mysql_num_fields($result);
$headers = array();
for ($i = 0; $i < $num_fields; $i++)
{
$headers[] = mysql_field_name($result , $i);
}
$fp = fopen('php://output', 'w');
if ($fp && $result)
{
header('Content-Type: text/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="export.csv"');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
header('Expires: 0');
fputcsv($fp, $headers);
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($result))
{
fputcsv($fp, array_values($row));
}
die;
}

Answer 5

If you'd like the download to be offered as a download that can be opened directly in Excel, this may work for you: (copied from an old unreleased project of mine)
These functions setup the headers:
function setExcelContentType() {
if(headers_sent())
return false;
header('Content-type: application/vnd.ms-excel');
return true;
}
function setDownloadAsHeader($filename) {
if(headers_sent())
return false;
header('Content-disposition: attachment; filename=' . $filename);
return true;
}
This one sends a CSV to a stream using a mysql result
function csvFromResult($stream, $result, $showColumnHeaders = true) {
if($showColumnHeaders) {
$columnHeaders = array();
$nfields = mysql_num_fields($result);
for($i = 0; $i < $nfields; $i++) {
$field = mysql_fetch_field($result, $i);
$columnHeaders[] = $field->name;
}
fputcsv($stream, $columnHeaders);
}
$nrows = 0;
while($row = mysql_fetch_row($result)) {
fputcsv($stream, $row);
$nrows++;
}
return $nrows;
}
This one uses the above function to write a CSV to a file, given by $filename
function csvFileFromResult($filename, $result, $showColumnHeaders = true) {
$fp = fopen($filename, 'w');
$rc = csvFromResult($fp, $result, $showColumnHeaders);
fclose($fp);
return $rc;
}
And this is where the magic happens ;)
function csvToExcelDownloadFromResult($result, $showColumnHeaders = true, $asFilename = 'data.csv') {
setExcelContentType();
setDownloadAsHeader($asFilename);
return csvFileFromResult('php://output', $result, $showColumnHeaders);
}
For example:
$result = mysql_query("SELECT foo, bar, shazbot FROM baz WHERE boo = 'foo'");
csvToExcelDownloadFromResult($result);

Answer 6

// Export to CSV
if($_GET['action'] == 'export') {
$rsSearchResults = mysql_query($sql, $db) or die(mysql_error());
$out = '';
$fields = mysql_list_fields('database','table',$db);
$columns = mysql_num_fields($fields);
// Put the name of all fields
for ($i = 0; $i < $columns; $i++) {
$l=mysql_field_name($fields, $i);
$out .= '"'.$l.'",';
}
$out .="\n";
// Add all values in the table
while ($l = mysql_fetch_array($rsSearchResults)) {
for ($i = 0; $i < $columns; $i++) {
$out .='"'.$l["$i"].'",';
}
$out .="\n";
}
// Output to browser with appropriate mime type, you choose ;)
header("Content-type: text/x-csv");
//header("Content-type: text/csv");
//header("Content-type: application/csv");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=search_results.csv");
echo $out;
exit;
}