Re: query tool csv/txt output file extension choice and encoding

On Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 3:39 PM richard coleman <rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> Dave,
>
> I concur with Alain.
>
> On Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 3:22 PM Dave Caughey <caugheyd(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> Always naming the file as ".csv", regardless of the delimited used, was a
>> bug that was fixed.
>>
>> In my case it was a bug that was created.
>
>
>> The problem with always naming a file as ".csv" is that Excel then
>> blindly assumes that the file actually does contain comma-delimited fields,
>> and bypasses the Import From Text Wizard, so if you use anything other than
>> commas (e.g., you want TAB separators), then Excel won't split your file
>> into multiple columns correctly. Therefore, before the bug was fixed, you
>> had to manually rename all of pgAdmin's "export to file" outputs to
>> ".txt". (Exactly what you don't want to have to do, too!)
>>
>> No, both Alain and myself *now* have to rename the .txt files to .csv
> files. In my case it's because LibreOffice won't open it in Calc with a
> txt extension, but instead try to open it in Write. If I leave it .txt I
> have to; manually start Calc, then select the file, then try to import it.
> If it's named .csv a simple double-click opens the file in Calc and in the
> CSV import wizard that correctly handles files delimited by comma, tab, ~,
> |, ;, or anything else you like.
>

Yeah, that's definitely unfortunate, but I think accommodating Excel's lame
behaviour far outweighs accommodating LibreOffice's lame behaviour, given
the relative number of users of the two programs.

Clearly, this would be solvable by including a "default extension" (e.g.,
".csv" or ".txt") that would probably make everyone happy, but it seems
that simply going back to the old buggy behaviour would be worse for a lot
more people than it would help.

>
>> Note, if your file is ends with ".txt", then simply doing a "File" |
>> "Open" in Excel will automatically/correctly invoke the Import from Text
>> Wizard, and let you pick the delimiter you want (and it does a good job of
>> auto-detecting). Easy!
>>
>> And, if you don't want to use commas as your delimiter (for any number of
>> reasons), then you can change that in pgAdmin by going to "File" |
>> "Preferences" | "CVS/TXT Output" and choose your preferred delimiter (e.g.,
>> Tab, "|", etc.), and thereafter that's what pgAdmin will always use when
>> you do an "export to file", but will give it an ".txt" extension so Excel
>> won't screw up opening the file because it's expecting commas as delimiters.
>>
>> Currently the *only* options pgAdmin4 gives me are; semicolon, comma,
> vertical bar, or tab. I can apparently just type whatever I want, but
> that's hardly obvious. And comma is a very bad choice for European
> countries where sixteen hundred point fifty-two would be written as 1600,52
> as opposed to 1600.52 on this side of the pond. You might be suffering
> from just a touch of Americentric bias.
>
>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 1:25 PM Alain Dupeyron <adupeyron(at)yahoo(dot)fr> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I'm using frequently the download file function in the query tool. In
>> previous version of PgAdmin4, I select field separator ";" and file was
>> always generated with extension .csv and can be opened directly by Excel in
>> one click with correct columns !
>> >
>> > Now I have always .txt extension (since 4.28 or before, I'm in PgAdmin
>> 4.29 for now) but the .txt file do not open directly in excel
>> > I Have to launch excel and open it but colums are not detected in my
>> French excel, I have to convert data...(idem with TAB
>> separator)...fastidious !
>> > Or I have to save the file from the browser, then navigate to file,
>> then I change its extension to .csv, confirm and then the file is opened
>> correctly...fastidious !
>> >
>> > When I choose field separator "," in PgAdmin, then file is generated
>> with extension .csv but colums are not detected in French Excel (comma is
>> the decimal number separator in France...)
>> >
>> > => How can I "force" or choose in Pgadmin to always generate file with
>> extension .csv independently of selected field separator ?
>> >
>> >
>> > 2nd point: Can we choose file encoding of generated file too ? it's in
>> UTF-8 now (was plateform dependant in PgAdmin 3?)
>> > accentuated characters are not detected corretly by french excel
>> (expecting by default my Windows-1252 plateform encoding), I have to import
>> file in excel and to select the right utf8 encoding in a huge encoding
>> list...
>> >
>> > Other approach : copy from query result then paste in excel and save
>> the file myself...
>> > accent are ok but column header are missing, I need to select the
>> option on each new query tab "copy with header" => there is no pgAdmin
>> preferences for that point ? (was in PgAdmin 3)
>> >
>> >
>> > Yes we can blame Excel/Windows and csv format but it's the only
>> download format proposed here for spreadsheet tool and only theses 2-3
>> configurations are missing to parametrize it as expected by end user
>> platform...
>> >
>> > Thanks
>>
>