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
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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