How to convert an array to CSV file in PHP ?

Last Updated : 01 Aug, 2021

To convert an array into a CSV file we can use fputcsv() function. The fputcsv() function is used to format a line as CSV (comma separated values) file and writes it to an open file. The file which has to be read and the fields are sent as parameters to the fputcsv() function and it returns the length of the written string on success or FALSE on failure. Syntax :

fputcsv( file, fields, separator, enclosure, escape )

Example 1:

php

<?php

// Create an array of elements
$list = array(
    ['Name', 'age', 'Gender'],
    ['Bob', 20, 'Male'],
    ['John', 25, 'Male'],
    ['Jessica', 30, 'Female']
);
 
// Open a file in write mode ('w')
$fp = fopen('persons.csv', 'w');

// Loop through file pointer and a line
foreach ($list as $fields) {
    fputcsv($fp, $fields);
}

fclose($fp);
?>

After running the above PHP program you can find a file named persons.csv in the same directory where the program file is located. When you open this file with a CSV file reader application like Microsoft Excel you'll see the contents as shown in the below image.

Example 2: Suppose you want to put all the form inputs in a CSV file then first create a form to take input from the user and store it into an array. Then convert the array element into csv file.

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        How to Convert Array to
        CSV file in PHP ?
    </title>
</head>

<body> 
        
    <!-- form tag to create form --> 
    <form action = "gfg.php" method = "post"> 
            
        Name <input type = "text" name = "name" /> 
                
        <br><br> 
            
        Email <input type = "text" name = "email" /> 
                
        <br><br>
            
        Phone <input type = "text" name = "phone" /> 
            
        <input type = "submit" name = "submit" value = "Submit"> 
    </form> 
</body>

</html>

gfg.php

<?php
 
$data = array(
    $_POST['name'],
    $_POST['email'],
    $_POST['phone']
);

// Open file in append mode
$fp = fopen('databse.csv', 'a');

// Append input data to the file  
fputcsv($fp, $data);

// close the file
fclose($fp);
?>

Output:

Input form:
Input data display in excel as output:

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.