Walkthrough: Exporting Data from Tables to CSV Files

Article
10/18/2021

XMLports are used to export data from a Microsoft Dynamics NAV database to a file or import data from a file to a Microsoft Dynamics NAV database. The file format can be an XML file, text file, or a comma separated value (CSV) file. Exporting data from your Microsoft Dynamics NAV database into one of these file formats enables seamless exchange of information between different computer systems. In this walkthrough, you will export data from a Microsoft Dynamics NAV database to a CSV file. For information about how to export data to XML file format, see Walkthrough: Exporting Data from Tables to XML Documents.

XMLports can be called and run from codeunits or run from Object Designer. In this walkthrough, you will run the XMLport in Object Designer. For information about how to run XMLports from codeunit, see Walkthrough: Exporting Data from Tables to XML Documents.

About This Walkthrough

This walkthrough shows you how to export data from a Microsoft Dynamics NAV table to a CSV file. This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:

Designing an XMLport that exports data from a database to a CSV file.
Compiling and saving the XMLport.
Running the XMLport in Object Designer.

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you will need:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV installed with a developer license.
The CRONUS International Ltd. demonstration database installed.

Story

Viktor is a Microsoft Certified Partner working for CRONUS International Ltd.. He has been asked to export records from the Item table to a CSV file. The records will include only the No., Description, Shelf Number, and Unit price fields. The information will be shared with other colleagues who work on a different computer system. The CSV file can be used by any computer system in the company. Viktor knows that he can use XMLports to convert the records in the table to a CSV file format that can easily be shared with colleagues.

Designing the XMLport

You create an XMLport by designing it in XMLport Designer and setting the properties. You define the table and fields that you want to export in XMLport Designer. You then compile and save the XMLport.

To create the XMLport

In the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Development Environment, on the Tools menu, choose Object Designer.
In Object Designer, choose XMLport, and then choose New to open a new XMLport Designer.
In XMLport Designer, select an empty row.
On the View menu, choose Properties to open the XMLport-Properties window.
In the XMLport-Properties window, locate the Direction Property, choose the arrow in the value column, and then set the Value column to Export.
In the XMLport-Properties window, locate the Format Property (XMLports) property, and then set the Value column to Variable Text.

Warning

When you export variable text files, the text in the fields will use as much space as needed to hold the all of the text.
Verify that the FieldDelimiter Property is set to a quotation mark (“). This character marks the start and the end of each field. This is the default field delimiter.
Verify that the FieldSeparator Property is set to a comma (,). This is the default field separator.
Accept the default value for the RecordSeparator Property. The default is a new line separator.

You can change the default values of the properties that you have just set to any character. However, for this walkthrough accept the default values.
Close the XMLport-Properties window.
In XMLport Designer, in the first row, in the Node Name column, enter ItemsFile.
In the Node Type column, verify that Element is selected.
In the Source Type column, verify that Text is selected. This node represents the start of the text file.
In the second row, in the Node Name column, enter Item.
In the Node Type column, verify that Element is selected.
In the Source Type column, choose the drop-down arrow, and then select Table. This node represents a record in the Item table.
In the Data Source column, choose the drop-down arrow, select the Item table (27) from the Table List window, and then choose the OK button. The data will be exported from the Item table.
Select the Item row and then use the right arrow to indent the row one time to make it a subset of the ItemsFile element.

The next step is to select the fields that you want to export.
In the next empty row below the Item row, in the Node Type column, select Element.
In the Source Type column, select Field.
In the Data Source column, choose the up arrow, select the No. field from the Field Lookup window, and then choose the OK button.
In the Node Name column, enter a name for the field. For example, you can enter No. This column represents the fields in the record. You can enter any name but because of consistency you might want to enter the name of field that you select.

Note

The name that you enter in the Node Name column cannot contain spaces. White space in the name will create a compile error.
Select the No. row and use the right arrow to indent the field one time to make it a subset of the Item element.

Repeat steps 19 through 23 to select additional fields that you want to export. For this walkthrough you can select the following fields.

Node Name	Node Type	Source Type	Data Source
No.	Element	Field	Item::No.
Description	Element	Field	Item::Description
ShelfNumber	Element	Field	Item::Shelf No.
UnitPrice	Element	Field	Item::Unit Price

On the File menu, choose Save As.
In the Save As window, enter 50003 in the ID text box, and then enter ItemsXMLport in the Name text box. By default, this name will be used as the name of the file.
Verify that Compiled is selected and then choose the OK button.
Close XMLport Designer.

Running the XMLport

After the XMLport is created you run it in Object Designer

To run the XMLport from Object Designer

In Object Designer, select the XMLport that you just created (50003), and then choose the RUN button. The Edit-ItemsXMLport page is displayed.
On the Edit-ItemsXMLport page, choose the OK button. The Export File dialog box is displayed.
In the Export File dialog box, choose the Save button. The Export window opens.
In the Export window, browse to the location on your computer where you want to save the file.
Verify that the File name text box is set to the name of your XMLport and then verify that in the Save as type drop-down box, Text Files (*.txt,*.csv) is selected.
Choose the Save button to export and save the file.

Note

On the Edit-ItemsXMLport request page, you can set filters to select specific records that you want to export.
After the export is complete, browse to the location where you saved the file and open it. Note that all the records in the table are separated by a new line and each field in the record is delimited by using quotation marks ( “) and separated by a comma (,). Depending on the regional setting of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, the data in the unit price field may contain a comma. If you delimit the data in the fields, the data is easier to identify and read. You can change the field separator.

The following CSV file shows and example of the file that is exported from the Item table.
```
"1000","Bicycle","F4","4,000.00"
"1001","Touring Bicycle","F5","4,000.00"
"1100","Front Wheel","F6","1,000.00"
"1110","Rim","F1","0.00"
"1120","Spokes","A1","0.00"
"1150","Front Hub","F7","500.00"
"1151","Axle Front Wheel","A2","0.00"
"1155","Socket Front","A3","0.00"
"1160","Tire","A4","0.00"
"1170","Tube","A5","0.00"
"1200","Back Wheel","F9","1,200.00"
"1250","Back Hub","F10","1,100.00"
"1251","Axle Back Wheel","A6","0.00"
```

Next Steps

You might want to try importing a CSV file into the Item table. For information about how to import data into a database, see Walkthrough: Inserting Data from XML Documents to Multiple Tables.