Incorrect formatted.csv file converted from an sqlite db file (Android)

Question

In my Android app, I am converting the SQLite .db file to a .csv file and saving on an external storage - this part has gone fine.

However, despite all the data being present, which is 23 columns,and when I put through a sample set of data, the output looked like:

"column_1_heading","column_2_heading","column_1_data","column_2_data",

where everything is in a single row and surrounded by quotation marks.

What I am after is for it to be in separate rows, without the quotation marks, such as:

column_1_heading,column_2_heading
column_1_data,column_2_data

They do not need to be lined up as columns, just in order in separate rows.

The code that I am using to perform the conversion is strongly based on this answer, the code of which is reproduced below:

        File dbFile=getDatabasePath("MyDBName.db");
        DBHelper dbhelper = new DBHelper(getApplicationContext());
        File exportDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(), "");
        if (!exportDir.exists())
        {
            exportDir.mkdirs();
        }

        File file = new File(exportDir, "csvname.csv");
        try
        {
            file.createNewFile();
            CSVWriter csvWrite = new CSVWriter(new FileWriter(file));
            SQLiteDatabase db = dbhelper.getReadableDatabase();
            Cursor curCSV = db.rawQuery("SELECT * FROM contacts",null);
            csvWrite.writeNext(curCSV.getColumnNames());
            while(curCSV.moveToNext())
            {
                //Which column you want to exprort
                String arrStr[] ={curCSV.getString(0),curCSV.getString(1), curCSV.getString(2)};
                csvWrite.writeNext(arrStr);
            }
            csvWrite.close();
            curCSV.close();
        }
        catch(Exception sqlEx)
        {
            Log.e("MainActivity", sqlEx.getMessage(), sqlEx);
        }

Is there a change that needs to be made so that the output .csv file matches the desired output?

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 19 '16 at 04:55

The solution is nice and quick and requires a very small change to one line for the original code.

The line:

CSVWriter csvWrite = new CSVWriter(new FileWriter(file));

just needed to be rewritten as:

CSVWriter csvWrite = new CSVWriter(new FileWriter(file), CSVWriter.NO_QUOTE_CHARACTER, "\r\n");

for it work as needed for me.

Some explanation from a bit of research. According to the CSVWriter documentation:

NO_QUOTE_CHARACTER is as the name suggests, suppresses all quotation marks.

From the Constant Field Values page, "\r\n" or "\n" or even DEFAULT_LINE_END can be used as a default line terminator.

The observed effect of including both of these eliminated all quotation marks and separated each row.

Incorrect formatted.csv file converted from an sqlite db file (Android)

1 Answers1