How Can I Properly Escape Special Characters When Exporting MySQL Data to a CSV Using INTO OUTFILE?

MySQL Export into Outfile: Handling CSV Escaping Characters

MySQL's INTO OUTFILE command enables efficient data exports to CSV files. However, challenges arise when encountering newlines and other special characters in exported data.

In the provided scenario, the user faces difficulties in eliminating newlines from the description field during export. Here's a solution to address this issue:

SELECT id, 
   client,
   project,
   task,
   description, 
   time,
   date  
  INTO OUTFILE '/path/to/file.csv'
  FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
  LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
  FROM ts

The key modifications include:

• Removing FIELDS ESCAPED BY '""' Option: This option unnecessarily attempts to escape all characters, even when not required.
• **Using OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"': This option only encloses specific fields that require it, such as those containing special characters or spaces.
• Retaining Number Formatting: By omitting FIELDS ESCAPED BY '""', numeric fields will be treated as numbers in Excel, allowing for correct data handling.

Additionally, consider preceding the export statement with:

SET NAMES utf8;

This ensures proper character encoding, which may help resolve any encoding-related issues.

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