Choosing a Target File and File Format

The first step in exporting table data to a file is to specify a file to receive the data and the format for that file. Some file formats require you to specify additional parameters. Instructions for defining the Target File are provided below.

To specify a target file to receive data:

1. Click the Browse button to display the Open Export File dialog box and select an existing file. Alternatively, you can type a path and file name in the File Name field.
2. Choose a format for the selected target file. Click the down-arrow button from the Format field to display a drop-down list. Notice that as you choose different formats, the requirements displayed in the Target File Information section vary.
3. Specify the format items required for the selected format.
4. At this point, you have two options for how to specify the source table from which you will be exporting data. You can use Design mode or SQL mode to specify this information.
   • Export Design mode allows you to select a table to export and specify a WHERE condition to limit the number of records that will be exported. In addition, you can select specific fields to export and change the order of the fields exported. Design mode is the default export display for the Export window unless you change your default to SQL mode using the Defaults command from the Export menu. See Specifying the Source Table in Design ModeSpecifyingtheSourceTableinDesignMode.307 to continue setting up your export specifications.
     Note:

     
     
     Click the Export Design button on the toolbar to switch to Design Mode.

   • Export SQL mode allows you to specify export criteria using an SQL SELECT statement.
     Note:

     
     
     Click the Export SQL button on the toolbar to switch to SQL Mode.

   Note:

   If you switch from Design mode to SQL mode after specifying table, column, and WHERE clause information, all of these specifications will be shown as an SQL SELECT statement in the SQL Query section of the Export window.