Datatables export csv has unicode symbols pound symbol, how to get rid of this?

mohan5070

When i try to export a csv file which has pound symbol in one particular column,, it will get appended with "£" this character..

Kindly guide me to get rid of this.

mohan5070

I want only pound symbol.. i tried export options to replace that extra character.. but it removed pound symbol as well..

This is my code for removing extra character

 exportOptions: {
                format: {
                    body: function ( data, row, column, node ) {
                        debugger;
                        if(column === 3) {
                            return node.innerHTML.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_\.,\-_ !\(\)]/g, "");
                        }else {
                            return node.innerText;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

Please help me to fix this

allan

Happy to take a look at a test case if you provide a link (per the forum rules).

Allan

mohan5070

Hi Allan,

Thanks for quick reply. I have added my code here. https://jsfiddle.net/mohan5070/e6hhfx4h/

Please have a look.. unfortuanately i am not able to show the csv button in jsfiddle.
Kindly have a look at my code and if possible try csv export you will get to know what is the issue..

allan

With the buttons in, it appears to work just fine for me: https://jsfiddle.net/e6hhfx4h/1/ .

Allan

mohan5070

With your changes.. i am still seeing the same error... Screenshot attached..
I am using windows machine...

allan

If you view the CSV file in a text Editor, what do you see?

Allan

mohan5070

When i open with text Editor "Notepad",, it coming like this:-
"name","Amount"
"abc","£159.5"
"xyz","£159.5"

allan

Sounds like an Excel issue in that case . Opening it in LibreOffice and it works no problem.

Does Excel have an open in UTF-8 option?

Allan

allan

I'd forgotten I have Excel in VM. Just tired it and right enough it mashes the UTF8 characters.

You are far from the only one to have this issue with Excel - this SO thread among many others discusses it.

So you need to jump through Excel hoops to have it read CSV as UTF-8. Or just export a Excel file from Buttons.

Allan

mohan5070

Sorry Allan.. I am still not clear what has to be done to resolve this extra characters

allan

Two options that I can see:

1. Use the excelHtml5 button instead
2. Use the instructions in the SO thread I linked to above inside Excel to import the CSV data.

You will not be able to double click the CSV file and have Excel read it correctly. That is an Excel issue. Not one with the CSV file.

Allan

mohan5070

Hi Allan..

I am using excel export. it opens up the file explorer to add filename for saving the excel file.. How can i get rid of this file explorer and directly download the excel file

Thanks,
mohan

allan

If you are using the Flash button (excelFlash) there is no way to remove the save dialogue. That is part of the Flash run time and there is no option to avoid that.

If you are using the HTML5 button (excelHtml5) then it is entirely dependent upon the browser settings. For example on Chrome Mac for me it will immediately download without a "save as" box.

Allan

mohan5070

Thanks Allan

mohan5070

Hi Allan,,

I tried using excel button for export.. but the button is not showing firefox..
Could you tell me what could be the reason?

I dont want to use flash installing process.. Is there any other native way of fixing this?

allan

Without a link to the page showing the issue I don't know what is causing that I'm afraid. As you'll be able to see in my examples, the Excel button should appear in Firefox.

Allan

mohan5070

I am not able reproduce the issue in Jsfiddle .. Same dependency files i am injecting in my backbone module.. but excel button not showing up in firefox.. if I install flash for firefox then it shows up...

I am wondering how come this works fine in jsfiddle? not sure whether this jsFiddle has inbuilt Flash or not?

these are the files i included in my module

require('https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.11/js/jquery.dataTables.min.js');
require('https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.2.4/js/dataTables.buttons.min.js');
require('https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.1.2/css/buttons.dataTables.min.css!');
require('https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jszip/2.5.0/jszip.min.js');
require('https://cdn.rawgit.com/bpampuch/pdfmake/0.1.18/build/vfs_fonts.js');
require('https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.2.4/js/buttons.html5.min.js');
require('https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.2.4/js/buttons.flash.min.js');

then i tried
$('#example').DataTable( {
"bProcessing" : true,
dom: 'Bfrtip',
buttons: [
'excelHtml5'
],
} );

allan

not sure whether this jsFiddle has inbuilt Flash or not?

No. Its the browser that would have Flash built in order, not a site.

I don't see any issue with the above code, that looks like it should basically work. I'd really need a link to a page showing the issue to be able to offer any help. If it can't be reproduced on JSFiddle, then there must be something in your local page that is causing the problem. What it is - I have no idea .

Allan