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Tutorial 13: Exporting Databases on the Mac Desktop
Product: HanDBase Desktop MacArticle Number: 309Creation Date: 12/07/2007

- Topic: Exporting Records of a Database using Mac Desktop

- Product: HanDBase Desktop for Mac

- Version: 4.0

- Date Modified: November 24, 2007

- Handheld OS: n/a

- Desktop OS: Mac OS X (10.4.x, 10.5)

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Tutorial:

This tutorial's goal is to introduce exporting the records of an existing database into a comma separated value (CSV) file as a new feature in HanDBase Desktop for Mac 4.0. Being able to export data extends the previous functionality of HanDBase Desktop for Mac by allowing users to have the information in a format that is interchangeable with other desktop applications, such as spreadsheet programs. In this tutorial, the necessary steps to configure HanDBase on the desktop to take advantage of this new feature will be detailed. Then, the results of properly exporting records will be examined. Finally, additional resources will be provided should any further information be needed.

To take advantage of exporting records into a CSV file, HanDBase Desktop for Mac 4 first needs to be configured properly. The first step in doing so is to launch HanDBase Desktop by finding the application in the Finder and double-clicking the icon. Be default, the application is installed to the following directory:

- Macintosh HD / Applications / HanDBase /

Once running, the following steps illustrate the process of exporting records from a HanDBase database to a CSV file.

Step #1:

a) Set HanDBase’s preferences to define the type of CSV file that will be exported. To do this, select the menu item “HanDBase 4/Preferences”. In the resulting dialog, configure the preferences as illustrated below, for the purpose of this tutorial:

b) As illustrated, the user can define the date and time format as well as the decimal separator for numbers. It is best practice to leave the decimal separator set to a “.”, otherwise changing it to a “,” comma may cause interference with the default delimited.

c) Since most typically CSV files are delimited by a comma, leave the bottom option set as it. In the case that a file happens to be delimited by a tab, this option can be changed.

Step #2:

a) Once the export preferences are set, the next action is to open the HanDBase database to be exported. This can be done by:

- selecting the file from the backup directory in the HanDBase Desktop window

- selecting a valid HanDBase file using the File / Open… menu option

- selecting a recently opened database using the File / Open Recent menu option

b) The contents of the database should now be viewable in HanDBase Desktop for Mac, as illustrated below:

Step #3:

a) Once the database is opened in HanDBase Desktop for Mac, choose the menu option:

File / Export / Export to comma separated value text file

b) As soon as the menu option above is selected, a series of dialogs allow for the definition of parameters for the CSV file.

c) The first dialog asks whether the exported file should include field names on the first line. Including the field names on the first line is best practice, as it can be very easy to lose track of what a particular set of data pertains to.

d) The second dialog asks whether or not the data should be surrounded by quotes.

e) Finally, the third dialog is a standard OS X save as dialog. Be default, the name of the CSV file will be that of the HanDBase file being exported, with a “.csv” file extension appended. Be sure to leave the extension on the filename, as it will be needed by other programs so that they can determine what to do with the file.

f) Choose the appropriate directory to save the file to and click the “save” button. A file titled “filename.csv” should now be located in the directory chosen. This file can be viewed or manipulated with most text editor and spreadsheet programs.

To summarize, this tutorial has introduced exporting data to a comma separated value file as one of the many new features in HanDBase Desktop for Mac 4. Additional resources, if needed, can be found at:

link to video version of tutorial


If further assistance is needed, please contact DDH Software's technical support at http://www.ddhsoftware.com/support

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