Problems with Carriage Returns on tab-delimited file export

[ryclem]

I've created a tab-delimited export file (product datafeed)... the problem is that the carriage returns are creating a problem for the partner site that I am sending the feed to.

I thought that one of the str_replace functions below would fix, but it is not happening.

$value = str_replace('"', '""', $value);
$value = str_replace('\n', '<br>', $value);
$value = str_replace('\r', '<br>', $value);
$value = '"' . $value . '"' . "\t";
}}
$line .= $value;
}
$data .= trim($line)."\n";

The entire script is below... any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan

<? require ("config.inc");

/*****************************************
Write the query, call it, and find the number of fields
/**************************************/
$select = "SELECT name, group_no, name, price, image, category1, category2, category3, option1, option1_value, option2, option2_value, keywords, sale_price, oversized, description FROM scdcart where active='yes'";
$export = mysql_query($select);
$count = mysql_num_fields($export);
/**************************************
Extract field names and write them to the $header
variable
/*****************************************/
$output_header = array('GROUP_NAME', 'LINE_ITEM_CODE', 'LINE_ITEM_NAME', 'LINE_ITEM_LIST_PRICE', 'IMAGE_URL', 'FIRST_LEVEL_DEPARTMENT', 'SECOND_LEVEL_DEPARTMENT', 'THIRD_LEVEL_DEPARTMENT', 'OPTION_TYPE1', 'OPTION_VALUE1', 'OPTION_TYPE2', 'OPTION_VALUE2', 'KEYWORDS', 'SALE_PRICE', 'PER_PRODUCT_SHIPPING', 'GROUP_DESCRIPTION');

for ($i = 0; $i < $count; $i++) {
$header .= $output_header[$i] ."\t";
}

/*****************************************
Extract all data, format it, and assign to the $data
variable
/*****************************************/
while($row = mysql_fetch_row($export)) {
$line = '';
foreach($row as $value) {

	if ((!isset($value)) OR ($value == "")) {
		$value = "\t";
	} else {
		if ((eregi(".jpg", $value)) OR (eregi(".gif", $value))) {
			$value = str_replace('"', '""', $value);
			$value = '"http://www.sunfriendlyproducts.com/cart/images/' . $value . '"' . "\t"; 
			} else {
				$value = str_replace('"', '""', $value);
				$value = str_replace('\n', '<br>', $value);
				$value = str_replace('\r', '<br>', $value);
				$value = '"' . $value . '"' . "\t";
			}}
	$line .= $value;
}
$data .= trim($line)."\n";

}
$data = str_replace("\r", "", $data);
/*****************************************
Set the default message for zero records
/*****************************************/
if ($data == "") {
$data = "\n(0) Records Found!\n";

}
/*****************************************
Set the automatic downloadn section
/*****************************************/
header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"altura" . date("Ymd") . ".xls");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header("Expires: 0");
print "$header\n$data";
?>

[laserlight]

What kind of problems are carriage returns creating?

Incidentally, carriage returns are "\r", new line / line feed characters are "\n".
The MS Windows new line sequence is "\r\n".

[ryclem]

Thanks for your quick reply... the problem is that the carriage returns are acting like a delimited and putting the data in the wrong columns.

The export file is fine, but when I put it through my partners systems that is when the carriage returns are picked up and treated like delimiters.

So my thought is if I can convert those carriage feed to <BR> then it will resolve the issue, but that doesn't seem to be working for me.

[laserlight]

The problem is that you're using '\r' where you should use "\r".

Whether to use "\n", "\r" or "\r\n" depends on your platform.

[ryclem]

Ok, that works but now I have one more problem...

For my IMAGE_URL column, I need to add a path before the filename.... I thought I had this with the following:

if ((eregi(".jpg", $value)) OR (eregi(".gif", $value))) {
$value = '"http://www.sunfriendlyproducts.com/cart/images/' . $value . '"' . "\t";
} else {

However, I just noticed that this is picking up other .jpg or .gif files in other fields (I thought it would only pick it up if that was the entire value, not mixed in with other copy)

Maybe a better way would be if I put in logic, that if column header = IMAGE_URL or call identify it by the $output_header array is equal to that column.

Not sure the best way to do this though? What do you think is the best way to do this?

Oh and thanks, you've been very helpful.