saving MySQL resultset to local file

Anon

Hi,

I would like to create an page where a visitor can create a mysql query with some basic options (eg. Select * from TABLE where CONDITION1, CONDITION2. )

The result datset should be saved to the local file of the visitor.

The query is not the problem, the saving part is. What code should I use?

Paul

[deleted]

Depends on how you want to save the results.
Do you want the raw data so you can read it and process it later,
or do you want data that humans can read?

For the second the simplest way would be to let mysql do it and capture the output.

The mysql client prints data in a human readable format by default, so if you execute it though php, it will give a nicely formatted output.

Anon

Vincent.

Thanks for your respons.

I would like to save it directly as a CSV to the C-drive of the visitor.

Do you know how to this.

Thanks

[deleted]

You can't save it 'directly' to disk, but you can offer the data as a file that the user can download.

All you have to do is send the proper headers.
Do a search on google for something like:
headers download filename php

and you'll get helpfull links like this one:
http://www.phpbuilder.com/mail/php-general/2001022/1799.php

The idea is to run a query or command to get the data,
then send a set of http-headers to the client, followed by the data.
Then the client will think it is receiving a file, and it will popup a message asking if it should save the file to disk.
There's no way of saving it without the popup, and that's a good thing.

kparker

There are frequent references here on php builder to sending data directly as an arbitrary mime type. Unfortunately, if the search here is still broken, you might have trouble finding them, and I don't have time this evening to look up the details again, but maybe somebody else will help us in that regard. I think the mime type you want is (mumble-mumble)/octet-stream.

As far as directly on the user's C: drive, that is completely out of your control. The method hinted at above will result in the file-save dialog box being displayed, and there's a method to suggest the filename, but not afaik the full path, in the dialog box. But just think of the security ramifications if you could just force that file to go where you wanted!

kparker

Ah! Vincent comes through again. Good timing, man!

One comment about the referenced post. Where the poster had said:

<HREF=yoursite.com/download.php/whatever.doc?filename=whatever.doc>
whatever.doc</A&gtl

  (Yes, that extra whatever.doc in the URL is on purpose.
   Microsoft sucks.)

the "extra" copy of the filename has nothing whatsoever to do with MS, good or bad. Rather, that's the thing I was referring to that gives you the ability to suggest a filename to be preloaded into the file-save dialog box.