Export HTML Table to Open Formats is a collection of classes written in PHP (5.x) and JavaScript which allows to export of HTML tables into open formats such as XML or CSV files without any database. The data are taken directly from the HTML table cell and then converted to these formats. Key features are as follows:

• direct export HTML tables to XML and CSV formats,
• no need for a database connection,
• supports large tables (multiple requests - AJAX),
• supports rowspan and colspan tags,
• easy to configure and using.

Note that this solution does not support nested tables.

<html>

	<head>
		<-- [1] Add javascript library -->
		<script type="text/javascript" src="../script/jquery.js"></script>
		<script type="text/javascript" src="../script/jquery.callback.js"></script>
		<script type="text/javascript" src="../script/ExportHTMLTable.js"></script>		
	</head>
	
	<body>
		
		<-- [2] set the table identifier to be converted -->
		<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="table_1">
		
			<tr>
				<td>11</td>
				<td>22</td>
				<td>33</td>
			</tr>
			
			<tr>
				<td>44</td>
				<td>55</td>
				<td>66</td>
			</tr>			

		</table>
	
		<-- [3] create object -->
		<script type="text/javascript">
			var exportTable1=new ExportHTMLTable('table_1');
		</script>
		
		<-- [4] execute functions -->
		<div>
			<input type="button" onclick="exportTable1.exportToCSV()" value="Export to CSV"/>
			<input type="button" onclick="exportTable1.exportToXML()" value="Export to XML"/>
		</div>
		
	</body>
	
</html>						
						

Result:

11	22	33
44	55	66

Folders and files structure:

• /class
  • ExportHTMLTable.php - main PHP class,
  • ExportHTMLTableToCSV.php - class which allows export table do CSV,
  • ExportHTMLTableToXML.php - class which allows export table do XML.
• /script
  • jquery.js - JQuery library,
  • jquery.callback.js - JQuery callback plugin,
  • ExportHTMLTable.js - main JS class.
• export.php - AJAX drivers (PHP script processes requests).

Export HTML Table to Open Formats requires enabled PHP modules as follow:

• Iconv - http://pl.php.net/manual/pl/book.iconv.php
• Multibyte String - http://pl.php.net/manual/pl/ref.mbstring.php
• Document Object Model - http://pl.php.net/manual/pl/book.dom.php

The most important class which gets the data and generates requests to the server is ExportHTMLTable. This class takes the ID table (via constructor), which must be exported to the selected format.
Key class fields are shown in the table below:

Field	Default value	Description
formId	'exportForm'	name of auto-generated form which contains the exported data
tableId	-	identifier table which should be exported
blockSize	1024	size of sent data (fields) during the single request
configuration	{url:'../export.php',dataType:'json'}	an array contains the URL address of the script that processes the request and the type of returned data

Function name	Description
exportToCSV()	function exports data into a CSV format
exportToXML()	function exports data into a XML format

The main class that handles incoming requests, creates the session variables and collects data.
The main functions of class:

Function name	Description
setData()	function set variables from the request
getData()	function return an array contains data from HTML table
isCSV()	function is returned true if the selected format is CSV
isXML()	function is returned true if the selected format is XML
isLastRequest()	function is returned true if this is last request
isFirstRequest()	function is returned true if this is first request

Class exports data to CSV format.

function __construct
($data, $headers=null, $separator=null, $inputEncoding='UTF-8', $outputEncoding='UTF-16')

Parameter	Default value	Description
data	-	array contains data from HTML table
headres	null	array conatains headers
separator	chr(9)	separator for CSV file
inputEncoding	UTF-8	input encoding
outputEncoding	UTF-16	encoding CSV document

Function name	Description
download($filename=null)	function creates a file named $filename

Class exports data to XML format.

function __construct
($data, $rootName='table',$rowName='row',$columnName=null,$inputEncoding='UTF-8',$outputEncoding='UTF-8')

Parameter	Default value	Description
data	-	array contains data from HTML table
rootName	table	root name of the XML document
columnName	null	array conatains headers (name of cells)
inputEncoding	UTF-8	input encoding
outputEncoding	UTF-8	encoding XML document

Function name	Description
download($filename=null)	function creates a file named $filename

1. Export table with multiple request (10 column x 500 rows):

2. Export table with rowspan and colspan attributes:

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
a		c
d	e	f
	g

If you have any questions, please contact me: [email protected]