Convert Database Exports to CSV

Database Export Conversion

Database tools often export query results in tab-delimited format. MySQL's mysql client, PostgreSQL's psql, and SQLite's command-line tool all default to tab-separated output. Converting these to CSV makes the data more portable.

Example: MySQL Query Output (TSV)

id	name	email	created_at
1	Alice Johnson	alice@example.com	2024-01-15 09:30:00
2	Bob Smith	bob@example.com	2024-01-16 14:22:00
3	Carol Williams	carol@example.com	2024-01-17 11:45:00

Converted to CSV

id,name,email,created_at
1,Alice Johnson,alice@example.com,2024-01-15 09:30:00
2,Bob Smith,bob@example.com,2024-01-16 14:22:00
3,Carol Williams,carol@example.com,2024-01-17 11:45:00

Database-Specific Considerations

MySQL: The mysql client outputs TSV by default. Redirect to a file with mysql -e "SELECT ..." > output.tsv. NULL values appear as the literal string "NULL".

PostgreSQL: Use \copy command or COPY TO with a tab delimiter. NULL values are empty by default.

SQLite: Use .mode tabs to output TSV, or .mode csv for direct CSV output. The .separator command can set custom delimiters.

Handling Database NULL Values

Databases export NULL values differently:

• MySQL: NULL (literal text)
• PostgreSQL: empty string or \N
• SQLite: empty string

The converter treats these as regular text values and does not attempt to interpret NULL semantics. If your target system needs specific NULL handling, post-process the converted file.

Large Query Results

For very large query results (millions of rows), consider using the database's native CSV export feature instead:

• MySQL: SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE
• PostgreSQL: COPY TO ... WITH CSV HEADER

For moderate datasets (up to a few hundred thousand rows), this browser-based converter works efficiently.