TablesToCSV ( tableName, includeSummaryFields )

Exports one or all tables to a text string in valid CSV format

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Michael Kupietz - Show more from this author
Michael Kupietz FileMaker Consulting
https://kupietz.com

Sample input:

TablesToCSV( "", "")

Sample output:

### TABLE: OneTable ###
"PrimaryKey","CreationTimestamp","CreatedBy","ModificationTimestamp","ModifiedBy"
"EAA2760B-D6AC-45F9-B19D-0AA73D1DAC95","2025-12-06 13:25:53","Admin","2025-12-06 13:25:54","Admin"
"FAE765F5-C9D9-471D-A12E-D6B361102AB2","2025-12-06 13:25:54","Admin","2025-12-06 13:25:54","Admin"
"FBAEADC8-DA0D-4E11-AF9F-61437BDDFD44","2025-12-06 13:25:56","Admin","2025-12-06 13:25:55","Admin"

### TABLE: AnotherTable ###
"PrimaryKey","CreationTimestamp","CreatedBy","ModificationTimestamp","ModifiedBy","ExtraField"
"3C4513F2-B617-4A5B-873F-D5983A23FD5C","2025-12-06 13:25:57","Admin","2025-12-06 13:25:55","Admin","extra value"
"A6CB7146-42A0-4C3E-AF8F-07A5348B7A17","2025-12-06 13:26:05","Admin","2025-12-06 13:25:55","Admin","2nd record extra value"
"3C9FADEF-56C7-49C1-B979-78BCE3E56E6E","2025-12-06 13:26:08","Admin","2025-12-06 17:59:26","Admin","3rd record extra value"

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/*
  Function: TablesToCSV ( tableName, includeSummaryFields )
  Purpose: Exports one or all tables to a text string in valid CSV format for pasting into a CSV file in a text editor.
  Free to use or modify. Michael Kupietz - https://www.kupietz.com  

  Paramrters:
  tableName - name of table to create a CSV for, or "" for all tables. If you dump all tables, a header for each one will be included to give the table name. 
  includeSummaryFields - "" to exclude summary fields from CSV, any string value (like "true", "1", or "yes') to include. Note: this may cause drastic performance slowdowns, freezes, or crashes.

WARNING: 
  1. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Even without including summary fields, running this on large tables may cause FileMaker to hang or crash due to memory limits. 
  2. ExecuteSQL does not escape commas inside text data. Resulting CSVs are simple dumps. In practice, the author has not found this to be a concern when opening in Excel. 
  3. This assumes you don't have ascii characters char(30) or char(31) in any field values. The export will be broken if those characters are present in your data. 
  4. Tested working on a simple database. You may find edge cases where it fails. Check exported data carefully. 

  Requires FMv18 or higher.

*/

 While ( 
      [ 
        // --- 1. Setup ---
        ~tables = ExecuteSQL ( "SELECT TableName FROM FileMaker_Tables"&If(tableName="";"";" WHERE TableName = '"&tableName&"'") ; "" ; "" ) ; 
        ~tableCount = ValueCount ( ~tables ) ; 
        
        // Define Separators (Obscure characters that won't appear in user text)
        ~sepCol = Char ( 31 ) ; // Field Separator
        ~sepRow = Char ( 30 ) ; // Record Separator
        
        // Define Quote Constant for readability
        ~quot = "\"" ; 
    
        // Initialize Loop
        ~i = 1 ; 
        ~resultBuffer = "" 
      ] ; 
    
      // --- Condition ---
      ~i <= ~tableCount ; 
    
      // --- Loop Logic ---
      [ 
        ~currentTable = GetValue ( ~tables ; ~i ) ; 
        
        // Escape table name for SQL query usage (double up quotes)
        ~currentTableSQL = Substitute ( ~currentTable ; "\"" ; "\"\"" ) ;
    
        // --- 2. Get Field Names ---
        ~fieldQuery = 
          "SELECT FieldName FROM FileMaker_Fields " & 
          "WHERE TableName = ? " & 
          "AND FieldType NOT LIKE 'binary%' " & 
          If ( includeSummaryFields ; "" ; "AND FieldClass <> 'Summary'" ) ;
          
        ~fieldList = ExecuteSQL ( ~fieldQuery ; "" ; "" ; ~currentTable ) ; 
    
        // --- 3. Process Table ---
        ~csvBlock = 
          If ( IsEmpty ( ~fieldList ) ; "" ; 
            Let ( [ 
              // Build SQL SELECT clause: "Field1", "Field2"
              ~selectClause = ~quot & Substitute ( ~fieldList ; ¶ ; ~quot & ", " & ~quot ) & ~quot ; 
              
              // A. Execute SQL using Custom Separators
              // Result: Val1 <31> Val2 <30> Val3 <31> Val4
              ~rawData = ExecuteSQL ( 
                "SELECT " & ~selectClause & " FROM \"" & ~currentTableSQL & "\"" ; 
                ~sepCol ; ~sepRow 
              ) ;
    
              // B. Construct Quoted Header Row
              ~header = ~quot & Substitute ( ~fieldList ; ¶ ; ~quot & "," & ~quot ) & ~quot
            ] ; 
              // Check if data is valid
              If ( ~rawData = "?" or ~rawData = "" ; "" ; 
                
                // --- C. The Fix: Proper Substitution ---
                If(tableName="";"### TABLE: " & ~currentTable & " ###" & ¶;"") & 
                ~header & ¶ & 
                
                // 1. Start with an opening Quote
                ~quot & 
                
                // 2. Perform Substitution
                Substitute ( ~rawData ; 
                  [ ~quot      ; ~quot & ~quot ] ;          // Escape internal quotes (" -> "")
                  [ ~sepCol ; ~quot & "," & ~quot ] ;    // Turn Col Sep into: ", "
                  [ ~sepRow ; ~quot & ¶ & ~quot ]        // Turn Row Sep into: " ¶ "
                ) & 
                
                // 3. End with a closing Quote
                ~quot & ¶ & ¶ 
              )
            )
          ) ; 
    
        // Append to buffer
        ~resultBuffer = ~resultBuffer & ~csvBlock ; 
        ~i = ~i + 1
      ] ; 
    
      // --- Final Result ---
      ~resultBuffer
      
    )

In response to a request on Reddit. A user was having problems copying the script out of Portage Bay's "Modular Export" demo for some unknown reason. This removes the need for a script, which can be difficult to copy if an error such as permissions problems prevents opening the Script Workspace.

By using a custom function, the solution can be pasted as text, directly into the Manage > Custom Functions... in any file.

This function creates a block of text containing a mock CSV export of a single table if the tableName parameter is specific, or of all tables if not. If it includes all tables, headers with the table names are included.

This provides a single table or the the full database in CSV format. Data can then be pasted into CSV files in a text editor.

Rather than prohibiting summary fields from the export, I have given the user the option to include them, and potentially freeze FileMaker, by specifying the includeSummaryFields parameter.

WARNING:
1. Even without including summary fields, running this on large tables may cause FileMaker to hang or crash due to memory limits. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
2. ExecuteSQL does not escape commas inside text data. Resulting CSVs are simple dumps. In practice, the author has not found this to be a concern when opening in Excel.

Comments

		Michael Kupietz, Michael Kupietz FileMaker Consulting Dec 9, 2025
Tested working on a simple database. You may find edge cases where it fails.

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

TablesToCSV ( tableName, includeSummaryFields )

Comments

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