ExportView()

Summary

Exports the contents of a view to a new table.

Changes

Row Order option added in Version 2013. Return value and MEM class added in Version 2015. ExcelX and MSSQLD classes added in Version 2016. Additional Fields array updated in Version 2018.

Syntax

new_view_name = ExportView(string view_set_name, string class, string file_name, array field_names, array options)

Argument	Contents
view_set_name	The name of the view and selection set, separated by a vertical bar
class	Class of new table to create ("dBASE"," FFA"," FFB", "CSV", "EXCEL", "EXCELX", "MSSQLD", or " MEM")
file_name	File name for the new table, the spec for a "MSSQLD" table, or the proposed view name for a "MEM" table
field_names	The list of fields to store in the new table, or null to store all fields in the new table

Option	Type	Contents
Additional Fields	Array	An array that contains one array element for each additional field to append to the new file. Each array element has the format {name, type, width, decimals, internal_index_flag, description, format}. For more information, see CreateTable().
CSV Drop Quotes	Boolean	If "True" when exporting to a comma-separated file, do not have quotes around string field values in the exported file (default is "False").
CSV Header	Boolean	If "True" when exporting to a comma-separated file, the first line of the file contains field names, and data starts at the second line (default is "False").
Dictionary Description	String	A description to be stored in the first line of the resulting FFA, FFB, or CSV dictionary file.
Force Numeric Type	String	Type should be chosen from "double", "float", "integer", "long", "real", or "short". All numeric fields will be exported using the specified type whenever allowed by the underlying database that is being exported to.
Indexed Fields	Array	A list of fields to be internally indexed in the new table.
Unique Fields	2 arrays	An array of field names, and an array indicating a sort order. If several records in the view have identical values for all the indicated fields, only one will be exported. The sort order (if it is not null) indicates which record to export. The format of the sort order is identical to that used in GetNextRecord().
Secondary	Array	For MSSQLD, an options array with values for "Table" (the table name) and "Schema" (the schema name); see the second example.
Row Order	Array	An array that indicates the desired sort order, or null for natural order. The array is an array of field name-order pairs:

Element	Type	Contents
1	String	The name of the field
2	String	"Ascending" or "Descending"

Returns

A string containing the name of the view, when a MEM table is created, otherwise null.

Notes

The file types include FFA for fixed-format text (ASCII), FFB for fixed-format binary, and CSV for comma-separated text (values).
When exporting to a CSV, FFB, or FFA file, ExportView() automatically creates a dictionary file in the proper format.
ExcelX provides a way to export to .xlsx file format.
For MSSQLD, file_name is a spec for the Microsoft SQL Server database in the form server_name|database_name, where server_name is the name of the SQL Server instance and database_name is the name of the database; see the second example.
The tables created with the MEM class are stored in memory instead of being stored on disc, and persist in memory until closed with CloseView() or until the program is closed.
The old format for the CSV Header option, with no value, is still supported.
If a file of the given name already exists, it is deleted before the view is exported. No warning is issued; if the user previously selected the file name with ChooseFilename(), that function already warned the user about the conflict.
Use OpenTable() to open the new table.
ExportView() displays a progress bar. To add a Cancel button to the progress bar, precede the function call with an "on escape" clause. For more information, see Error Handling.

Example

ExportView("Customers|Top Ten", "CSV", "topten.csv",

{"Name", "Address", "Sales", "SalesRep"},

{

{"CSV Header", "True"},

{"Indexed Fields", {"Name", "Sales"}}

})

// Replace with server name, instance name and database name

database_name = "server\instance|database"

opts = null

opts.Secondary.Table = "Table" // Replace with table name

opts.Secondary.Schema = "dbo" // replace with schema name

ExportView("Customers|Top Ten", "MSSQLD", database_name,,opts)

Error Codes

Error Type	Meaning
Error	Unable to create the table (e.g., the file is currently in use, or disk space is insufficient)
Escape	The user clicked Cancel
NotFound	The view or set name is invalid

Function	Summary
CreateTable()	Creates an empty table and opens it as a view
ExportEditor()	Exports the contents of an editor to a new table
FileCheckUsage()	Checks whether files are in use by Maptitude