Feature request: Export entries pane for use in a spreadsheet

[Tim Kempton]

The most common Flex export method I use involves copying from the lexicon entries pane and pasting into a spreadsheet. I use this method more than all the other official export methods combined.

However you can run into problems when newline characters appear in fields e.g. from combining multiple senses. It would be great if this could be fixed. I imagine the solution is either to have the copy-to-clipboard method correctly handle these newline characters or have a dedicated export to a spreadsheet format like CSV. Perhaps both approaches would involve quoting fields that contain newlines. 

One current workaround is to sort by a sense-level field before copying. However this can result in duplicate rows that you don't want. See the bottom of this message for a better workaround using a standalone tool. 

I thought I'd check if this has been discussed on the Flex list before. Historically there has been a demand for it:

2008: Browse view: allow us to select the data in oen column (first time the problem is discussed)

2008: Feature request: CVS/tab delimited export of Browse view (single post but good summary of the problem)

2009: XSL for CSV includes the quote "It would be good to integrate a CSV export function into FLEx for the reasons already mentioned in this thread. It will likely be quite a while before there is a new version of FLEx with these functions.". This thread also includes an export-to-SFM workaround (but this is still fiddly and some fields don't export to SFM e.g. the Source field).

2014: Export to xls, xlsx (less directly relevant since the end goal is a format compatible with ANKI) 

2022: The only related JIRA entry I could find was Export concordance results - requires JIRA SIL login (resolved in 2022)

2022: Kendall Isaac at SIL Cameroon developed a workaround tool: FLExFix.exe to fix the clipboard data copied from Flex: FLEx output to vocabulary cards - requires an existing SIL REAP login . Kendall is kindly willing to make this tool more widely available if there is demand for it e.g. through a publicly accessible google drive link.

[B Kh]

I would love this too!

[Rose Françoise]

This would definitely be useful to have a csv / xls export without the problem of the multiple senses disorganizing the data set.

 

De : flex...@googlegroups.com <flex...@googlegroups.com> De la part de B Kh
Envoyé : mercredi 11 février 2026 10:48
À : FLEx list <flex...@googlegroups.com>
Objet : [FLEx] Re: Feature request: Export entries pane for use in a spreadsheet

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[Craig]

If you could get CSV output, how would you want multiple senses handled?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/766e08a7f71d4297b6edf3b7e553f11b%40univ-lyon2.fr.

[Tim Kempton]

Hi Craig

Good question. Personally I think it would be ok to have a newline like the display in Flex e.g. in the gloss column you'd normally see the gloss for each sense on a new line. In CSV I believe the standard approach for any cells that contain a newline is to have the whole contents in quotes. I think FixFlex.exe uses a semicolon separator which is probably fine too; it's just that a linguist I'm collaborating with likes to use semicolons in this field already. 

While waiting for LT-22424 Feature request: Export entries pane for use in a spreadsheet I've also experimented with my own workaround: lift2csv, a tool being written in the R programming language where the goal is to convert a SIL Flex LIFT file into tidy CSV files. In that case it includes the GUIDs and any joined entry-sense tables will include duplicate entry information.

Tim

On Thursday, 21 May 2026 at 01:00:15 UTC+1 Craig wrote:

If you could get CSV output, how would you want multiple senses handled?

On 11/02/2026 8:56 pm, 'Rose Françoise' via FLEx list wrote:

This would definitely be useful to have a csv / xls export without the problem of the multiple senses disorganizing the data set.

 

De : flex...@googlegroups.com <flex...@googlegroups.com> De la part de B Kh
Envoyé : mercredi 11 février 2026 10:48
À : FLEx list <flex...@googlegroups.com>
Objet : [FLEx] Re: Feature request: Export entries pane for use in a spreadsheet

 

I would love this too!

On Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 3:11:13 PM UTC+5:30 Tim Kempton wrote:

[Kendall Isaac]

Tim,

Just responding off list for an option if you want to use FixFlex without issues with the semi-colon. I know that wasn't the original thread and I don't know if you are even wanting this, but I thought I'd mention it. As the author of FixFlex,  I could easily compile a version with a different separator if that would be helpful. Just let me know what character you would like to use.

Kendall Isaac

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