mysql to csv not getting in proper format

Question

I am using following code to download mysql data in csv format.

    require_once("../database.php");

   //Enter the headings of the excel columns
   $contents="Database Id,Last Name,First Name,Middle Name,User Name,Email,Permanent Address,Communication Address,City,Zipcode,State,Country,Mobile,Birth Date,Gender,Council Number,College,Registering As,Selected,BAMS Year,Internship Place,PG Subject,PG Title,PHD Subject,PHD Title,Other As Student,Selected ,Practicing Since,Practitioner PG Subject,Practitioner PG Title,Practitioner PHD Subject,Practitioner PHD Title,Other As Practitioner,Clinic Address,Accommodation Selected,Payment Mode,Member Status,Password Changed,Form Submission Date,Registration Activation Date,Memebrship Expires On,Last Log In Date\n";


   $user_query = mysql_query("SELECT * from tablename ORDER BY RAND()");


   while($row = mysql_fetch_array($user_query))
   {
   $contents.=$row['reg_id'].",";
   $contents.=$row['lname'].",";
   $contents.=$row['fname'].",";
   $contents.=$row['mname'].",";
   $contents.=$row['username'].",";
   $contents.=$row['email'].",";
   $contents.=$row['address'].",";
   $contents.=$row['comaddress'].",";
   $contents.=$row['city'].",";
   $contents.=$row['zipcode'].",";
   $contents.=$row['state'].",";
   $contents.=$row['country'].",";
   $contents.=$row['mobile_num'].",";
   $contents.=$row['birthdate'].",";
   $contents.=$row['gender'].",";
   $contents.=$row['council_num'].",";
   $contents.=$row['college'].",";
   $contents.=$row['education'].",";
   $contents.=$row['extra'].",";
   $contents.=$row['bamsyear'].",";
   $contents.=$row['interneeplace'].",";
   $contents.=$row['pgsubject'].",";
   $contents.=$row['pgtitle'].",";
   $contents.=$row['phdsubject'].",";
   $contents.=$row['phdtitle'].","; 
   $contents.=$row['otherdetails1'].",";
   $contents.=$row['practice'].",";
   $contents.=$row['practicesince'].",";
   $contents.=$row['pgsubjectp'].",";
   $contents.=$row['pgtitlep'].",";
   $contents.=$row['phdsubjectp'].",";
   $contents.=$row['phdtitlep'].",";
   $contents.=$row['otherdetails2'].",";
   $contents.=$row['clinicaddress'].",";
   $contents.=$row['accommodation'].",";
   $contents.=$row['payment_mode'].",";
   $contents.=$row['member_status'].",";
   $contents.=$row['pwchng_flag'].",";
   $contents.=$row['form_submission_date'].",";
   $contents.=$row['registration_date'].",";
   $contents.=$row['expiry_date'].",";
   $contents.=$row['last_login_date'].",";
   $contents.=$row['status']."\n";
   }

   // remove html and php tags etc.
   $contents = strip_tags($contents); 

   //header to make force download the file
   header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=my_members_".date('d-F-Y').".csv");
   print $contents;

Now Problem I Am Facing are

• CSV gets downloaded, but data is not getting in appropriate columns....

• if anybody uses comma in datafield, csv gets disturbed columns (i mean data not get below appropriate column heading). what can be used instead of comma to excute this code ?

Answer 1

Don't create CSVs by hand, use the existing fputcsv function:

header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=my_members_".date('d-F-Y').".csv");
$out = fopen('php://output', 'w');

while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($user_query)) {
    fputcsv($out, $row);
}