Koha Question of the Week: How Do I Open Report Results in Excel or Another Spreadsheet Software?

by Hebah Amin-Headley on Apr 28, 2023

Each Friday, we will bring you a new Koha Question of the Week. We will select real questions that we receive and share the answers with you!

Question: How Do I Open Report Results in Excel or Another Spreadsheet Software?

Answer: Koha has several options for downloading results from saved reports. Two of these options, "Comma separated text (.csv)" and "Open Document Spreadsheet" will open as files that can be opened with a spreadsheet software. Of the two, .csv is more versatile.

The description accompanying the .csv download may differ slightly depending on the default separator set in the CSVDelimiter system preference, but it will give you a hint to where your spreadsheet software should be looking for separators. In my screen shot, the delimiter in our site is a semicolon, so the description is "Semicolon separated text."

Different spreadsheet programs handle .csv files a little differently, but most will prompt you for what kind of delimiter the document is using. Here's an example of importing report results into Google Sheets.

From a new, blank spreadsheet, I've selected File, then Import, and uploaded the results from my computer. For simplicity, I've selected "Detect automatically," and my results imported flawlessly, so now I can save local copies of results, perform calculations, or apply additional formatting beyond what a report in Koha offers.

Using other Open Source spreadsheet software like LibreOffice Calc or OpenOffice Calc is a similar process: open .csv file with that software, and indicate what delimiter the file is using.

And of course, a .csv can also be opened in Microsoft Excel. How to do that varies by version of Excel on a computer, so their help center documentation will provide further guidance.

Additional Resources

Koha SQL Reports Library