CsvView Plugin

Quickly enable CSV output of your model data

Background

I needed to quickly export CSVs of stuff in the database. Using a view class to iterate manually would be a chore to replicate for each export method, so I figured it would be much easier to do this with a custom view class, like JsonView or XmlView.

Requirements

CakePHP 2.x (custom view files are only supported in 2.1+)
PHP5
Patience

Installation

[Manual]

Download this: http://github.com/josegonzalez/CsvView/zipball/master
Unzip that download.
Copy the resulting folder to app/Plugin
Rename the folder you just copied to CsvView

[GIT Submodule]

In your app directory type:

git submodule add -b master git://github.com/josegonzalez/CsvView.git Plugin/CsvView
git submodule init
git submodule update

[GIT Clone]

In your Plugin directory type:

git clone -b master git://github.com/josegonzalez/CsvView.git CsvView

Enable plugin

In 2.0 you need to enable the plugin your app/Config/bootstrap.php file:

CakePlugin::load('CsvView');

If you are already using CakePlugin::loadAll();, then this is not necessary.

Usage

To export a flat array as a CSV, one could write the following code:

	public function export() {
		$data = array(
			array('a', 'b', 'c'),
			array(1, 2, 3),
			array('you', 'and', 'me'),
		);
		$_serialize = 'data';

		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('data', '_serialize'));
	}

All variables that are to be included in the csv must be specified in the $_serialize view variable, exactly how JsonView or XmlView work.

It is possible to have multiple variables in the csv output:

	public function export() {
		$data = array(array('a', 'b', 'c'));
		$data_two = array(array(1, 2, 3));
		$data_three = array(array('you', 'and', 'me'));

		$_serialize = array('data', 'data_two', 'data_three');

		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('data', 'data_two', 'data_three', '_serialize'));
	}

If you want headers or footers in your CSV output, you can specify either a $_header or $_footer view variable. Both are completely optional:

	public function export() {
		$data = array(
			array('a', 'b', 'c'),
			array(1, 2, 3),
			array('you', 'and', 'me'),
		);

		$_serialize = 'data';
		$_header = array('Column 1', 'Column 2', 'Column 3');
		$_footer = array('Totals', '400', '$3000');

		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('data', '_serialize', '_header', '_footer'));
	}

You can also specify the delimiter, end of line, and escape characters using $_delimiter, $_eol, and $_enclosure, respectively:

	public function export() {
		$data = array(
			array('a', 'b', 'c'),
			array(1, 2, 3),
			array('you', 'and', 'me'),
		);

		$_serialize = 'data';
		$_delimiter = '\t';
		$_enclosure = '"';
		$_eol = '~';

		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('data', '_serialize', '_delimiter', '_enclosure', '_eol'));
	}

The defaults for these variables are:

_delimiter: ,
_enclosure: "
_eol: \n

If you have complex model data, you can use the $_extract view variable to specify the individual paths for each record. This is an array of Hash::extract()-compatible syntax:

	public function export() {
		$posts = $this->Post->find('all');
		$_serialize = 'posts';
		$_header = array('Post ID', 'Title', 'Created');
		$_extract = array('Post.id', 'Post.title', 'Post.created');

		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('posts', '_serialize', '_header', '_extract'));
	}

You can use Router::parseExtensions() and the RequestHandlerComponent to automatically have the CsvView class switched in as follows:

	// In your routes.php file:
	Router::parseExtensions('csv');

	// In your controller:
	public $components = array('RequestHandler');

	public function export() {
		$posts = $this->Post->find('all');
		$_serialize = 'posts';
		$_header = array('Post ID', 'Title', 'Created');
		$_extract = array('Post.id', 'Post.title', 'Post.created');

		$this->set(compact('posts', '_serialize', '_header', '_extract'));
	}

	// Access /posts/export.csv to get the data as csv

For really complex CSVs, you can also simply use your own view files. This is only supported in 2.1+. To do so, either leave $_serialize unspecified or set it to null. The view files will be located in the csv subdirectory of your current controller:

	// View used will be in app/View/Posts/csv/export.ctp
	public function export() {
		$posts = $this->Post->find('all');
		$_serialize = null;
		$this->viewClass = 'CsvView.Csv';
		$this->set(compact('posts', '_serialize');
	}

TODO

Unit Tests

License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

andrewtobis/CsvView