Export MySQL query to Excel file

Export MySQL query to Excel file (XLS or XLSX file)

Microsoft Excel (XLS or XLSX) & OpenDocument Spreadsheet (ODS) file limits

不同試算表方案的工作表或儲存格的大小限制

Title	File extension	Data rows size	Length of cell	Available solutions
Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet	XLSX	Maximum of worksheet size is 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns.	(1) Length of formula contents: 8,192 characters (2) Total number of characters that a cell can contain: 32,767 characters	Microsoft Excel 2007, EXCEL 2013 and more
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet	XLS	Maximum of worksheet size is 65,536 rows by 256 columns. Because first row is occupied by column name, actual data size is 65,535 rows.		Microsoft Excel 2003 and more
OpenDocument Spreadsheet	ODS	Maximum of worksheet size is 1,048,576 (2^20) rows by 1024 columns for LibreOffice spreadsheet & OpenOffice.org Calc 3 .	Total number of characters that a cell can contain: 32,767 characters for LibreOffice spreadsheet.	LibreOffice(LibreOffice Portable) spreadsheet 3.3.3+ & Apache OpenOffice.org Calc 3+ and more
Google spreadsheet		"Up to 2 million cells for spreadsheets that are created in or converted to Google Sheets" 2,000,000 cells = 7,812 rows x 256 columns per sheet.
Zoho Sheet		"Up to 1 million cells for a single spreadsheet with a maximum number of 65536 rows and 256 columns per sheet."

• Office 365: 資料模型的規格與限制 - Excel - Office.com 適用: Excel 2013, Power BI for Office 365 Preview, Power Pivot in Excel 2013

Methods

One step conversion: ex MySQL query -> Excel file

Methods of exporting MySQL query -> XLS/XLSX file: PHP scripts or other MySQL client softwares e.g.

• PHPExcel: PHP scripts
• Toad for MySQL for Win
• Full Convert Enterprise: allows easy copying of tables and data between 40 or so supported databases. It will create all the tables, copy all of your data, then create indexes and foreign keys. 30 days trial
• $ Navicat GUI for Win & macOS

Notice the limit of Excel XLS file format:

1. "Total number of characters that a cell can contain: 32,767 characters"
   • Using MySQL SUBSTRING() function ex: SUBSTRING(string_column, 1, 32767) for EXCEL 97-2007 (XLS 檔)
   • validate the count of characters: MySQL CHAR_LENGTH or Excel LEN functions
2. "Length of formula contents: 8,192 characters" If the content start with the symbol = or -, Excel will consider the content is formula.
   • Using CONCAT ' symbol ex: CONCAT('\'', string_column) If the content is not formula.
3. "Worksheet size: 1,048,576 rows":
   • Using LIMIT 1048576 for EXCEL 2007

integrated solution for Excel limit 1 ~ limit 3

• SELECT SUBSTRING(IF(LEFT(string_column, 1) = '-' OR LEFT(string_column, 1) = '=', CONCAT('\'', string_column), string_column), 1, 32767) FROM <table> LIMIT 1048576

相關文章

• Err: 解決從資料庫輸出 Excel 檔案，遇到非常大數字的科學符號和有效位數的問題
• Err: 解決 Navicat 「存放裝置空間不足，無法完成此操作」問題訊息

Two steps conversion ex: MySQL query -> CSV file -> Excel file

Step 1: Export the MySQL query -> CSV file

Approaches

• Database management tools (MySQL client softwares)
• PHPExcel
• MySQL :: MySQL 5.7 Reference Manual :: 8.4.3 Dumping Data in Delimited-Text Format with mysqldump
  • Required FILE permission ex: GRANT FILE ON *.* TO 'user_name'@'localhost'; If you met the following error message:

mysqldump: Got error: 1045: Access denied for user 'user_name'@'localhost' (using password: YES) when executing 'SELECT INTO OUTFILE'

Condition

• Condition 1: If the rows count of MySQL query is larger than 65,535 rows. You can use MS Excel.
• Condition 2: If the rows count of MySQL query is less than 65,535 rows. You can use LibreOffice Calc & MS Excel.
• Condition 3: Replace the double quote with double double quote if the enclosure character is double quote.
• Condition 4: (optional) Replace the return character with space character or other character e.g. ↵ (U+21B5). SQL query syntax:

REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(column_name, '\r\n', ''), '\n', ''), '\r', '') AS column_name

Validation: Use the editor supported Regular expression,

• Search ^[^"] in the csv files to search the rows which contains return symbols. The " symbol is the "text qualifier" what I specified before export the MySQL query.

Step 2: Convert CSV to XLSX/XLS file format.

• MS Excel
  • How to import a .csv file that uses UTF-8 character encoding | Information Technology Group
  • Err: 解決CSV檔亂碼 (Microsoft Excel 2007 或 OpenOffice.org 3.2) Win
  • Err: Mac Office Excel 匯入中文 CSV 檔案 (Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011) macOS
• LibreOffice Calc (LibreOffice Portable)

Step 3: Data verification

1. Verify the data rows count: Equal to the rows count of MySQL query. Not equal to 65,535 rows or less than the rows count of MySQL query.
2. Verify the data column is in correct position
   • If the CSV is not well-formatted, sometimes the data column after imported to Excel is in wrong position.
3. Verify the rows count
   • If the data size is less than 65,535 rows, convert CSV to Excel/XLS by LibreOffice Calc is recommended.
   • If the data size is larger than 65,535 rows, Adjust the MySQL query to avoid the column value contains the
     • enclosure character e.g. Tab key
     • escape the enclosure character e.g. " become ""
     • return symbol to separate different data row.

Troubleshooting of technical issues

If it costs too much time to convert to Excel file

The important steps before generating CSV file. These steps reduce the problems when the CSV file was converted to Excel file.

• Add delimiter character between different column ex: comma symbol (,) or tab symbol
• Add enclosure character ex: double quote symbol (") or single quote symbol (')
• Add escape character escape the column value if contains the enclosure character
• Remove return symbol:

  SELECT REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(`my_column`, '\r\n', '   '), '\n', '   '), '\r', '   ') 

Data format in result set became string after exported as Excel file

• Number data types in result set became string after exported as XLSX file
• Date time data types in result set became string after exported as XLSX file

Database management tools

Database management tools