Instead of saving CSV file how to Download the file

Question

I am exporting data from a database using CSV extension and I want to download the results as a CSV file. How can I do that?

This is my code:

public function actionExportexcel() { 
    $con = mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "") or die();
    mysql_select_db("fiducial", $con);
    $filename = 'uploads/'.strtotime("now").".csv";
    $query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM
                        (
                            SELECT employeecode,name,dob,age,sex,employee_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            UNION
                            SELECT employeecode,father_name,father_dob,father_age,father_gender,father_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            WHERE father_name IS NOT NULL AND company_id IS NOT NULL
                            UNION
                            SELECT employeecode,mother_name,mother_dob,mother_age,mother_gender,mother_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            WHERE mother_name IS NOT NULL AND mother_dob IS NOT NULL
                        )t WHERE t.company_id = '56' ORDER by t.employeecode ") or die(mysql_error());

    $num_rows = mysql_num_rows($query);
    if($num_rows >= 1)
    {
        $rows = mysql_fetch_assoc($query);
        $seperator = "";
        $comma = "";
        foreach ($rows as $name => $value) 
        {
            $seperator .= $comma . '' .str_replace('', '""', $name);
            $comma = ",";
        }
        $seperator .= "\n";
        $fp = fopen($filename, "w");
        fputs($fp, $seperator);
        mysql_data_seek($query, 0);
        while($rows = mysql_fetch_assoc($query))
        {
            $seperator = "";
            $comma = "";
            foreach ($rows as $name => $value) 
            {
                $seperator .= $comma . '' .str_replace('', '""', $value);
                $comma = ",";
            }
            $seperator .= "\n";
            fputs($fp, $seperator);
        }
        echo "Data successfully exported";
        fclose($fp);
    } else {
        echo "No data is Available";
    }

}

How can I download it as a CSV file?

Answer 1

You need to set the HTTP headers correctly for a CSV file download and then instead of writing your query results to a CSV file on the local server, you need to write it to the PHP output buffer (php://output):

Full working example:

public function actionExportexcel() { 

    $con = mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "") or die();
    mysql_select_db("fiducial", $con);
    $filename = 'uploads/'.strtotime("now").".csv";
    $query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM
                        (
                            SELECT employeecode,name,dob,age,sex,employee_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            UNION
                            SELECT employeecode,father_name,father_dob,father_age,father_gender,father_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            WHERE father_name IS NOT NULL AND company_id IS NOT NULL
                            UNION
                            SELECT employeecode,mother_name,mother_dob,mother_age,mother_gender,mother_relation,company_id
                            FROM employeedetails
                            WHERE mother_name IS NOT NULL AND mother_dob IS NOT NULL
                        )t WHERE t.company_id = '56' ORDER by t.employeecode ") or die(mysql_error());



    $num_rows = mysql_num_rows($query);
    if($num_rows >= 1) {
        header('Content-Description: Your Download Name ');
        header('Content-Type: application/csv');
        header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=yourfilename.csv');

        $rows = mysql_fetch_assoc($query);
        $seperator = "";
        $comma = "";
        foreach ($rows as $name => $value) 
        {
            $seperator .= $comma . '' .str_replace('', '""', $name);
            $comma = ",";
        }
        $seperator .= "\n";
        $fp = fopen('php://output', 'w');
        fputs($fp, $seperator);
        mysql_data_seek($query, 0);
        while($rows = mysql_fetch_assoc($query))
        {
            $seperator = "";
            $comma = "";
            foreach ($rows as $name => $value) 
            {
                $seperator .= $comma . '' .str_replace('', '""', $value);
                $comma = ",";
            }
            $seperator .= "\n";
            fputs($fp, $seperator);
        }

        fclose($fp);
    } else {
        echo "No data is Available";
    }

}

Answer 2

Use

header('Content-Type: application/excel');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=<filename>.csv');