Backbone.Collection.saveToCSV() — adds ability to save all of the collections models as a CSV file. NOTE: only tested on Chrome; may not work on all browsers, but would work well for packaged Chrome apps.

backbone.collection.saveToCSV.js

/*
	Save To CSV 0.0.2

	@author Kevin Jantzer, Blackstone Audio
	@since 2015-01-16

	intial code from http://stackoverflow.com/a/14966131/484780
	
	TODO
	- needs improved (objects as values)
	- consolidate opts and `downloadName`
*/

_.mixin({

	saveToCSV: function(rawData, opts){

		opts = _.extend({
			downloadName: '',
			timestamp: true,
			title: '',
			description: '',
			prettyHeader: true
		}, opts)

		var downloadName = (opts.downloadName ? opts.downloadName : 'CSV data') +(opts.timestamp?' - '+(new XDate()).toString('yyyy-MM-dd hhmmss'):'');
		
		if( !rawData || rawData.length == 0 )
			return console.log('No data to export');
		
		var firstRow = rawData[0] instanceof Backbone.Model ? rawData[0].csvData() : rawData[0];
		var header = _.map(_.keys(firstRow), function(val){ return opts.prettyHeader ? _.keyToText(val) : val; })
		var rows = _.map(rawData, function(m){
						return _.values( m instanceof Backbone.Model ? m.csvData() : m )
					})
		var data = [header].concat(rows);

		if( opts.title || opts.description )
			data.unshift([]);

		if( opts.description )
			data.unshift([opts.description]);

		if( opts.title )
			data.unshift([opts.title]);
		
		data = _.map(data, function(row){
		
			return _.map(row, function(val, key){

				if( _.isString(val) && val.match(/,|\n|"/) ){
					val = '"'+val+'"';
				}
				else if( _.isArray(val) )
					val = '"'+val.toString()+'"';
					
				return val;
			})
		})
		
		var csvContent = "";
		data.forEach(function(infoArray, index){
		
		   dataString = infoArray.join(",");
		   csvContent += index < data.length ? dataString+ "\n" : dataString;
		
		});

		blob = new Blob([csvContent], {type:'text/csv'});
		var csvUrl = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);

		var link = document.createElement("a");
		link.setAttribute("href", csvUrl);
		link.setAttribute("download", downloadName+".csv");
		
		link.click();
	}

});

_.extend(Backbone.Collection.prototype, {

	saveToCSV: function(downloadName, opts){
		var data = this.map(function(m){ return m.csvData() })
		if( data.length > 0 && _.isArray(data[0]) )
			data = _.flatten(data);
		_.saveToCSV(data, _.extend({downloadName: downloadName}, opts))
	}

});


_.extend(Backbone.Model.prototype, {

	csvData: function(str){
		return this.templateData ? this.templateData() : this.toJSON();
	},

	saveToCSV: function(opts){
		_.saveToCSV([this.csvData()], opts)
	}

})

Will break with quotes or , in strings

@pgilad - this is fixed now. Also added csvData method to Backbone.Model that can be overridden to return a formatted or partially omitted dataset.

Example: return _.omit(this.toJSON(), 'id')

Where is _.keyToText coming from? I don't see it in the underscore docs

@avoliva – Oops, _.keyToText was a custom mixin I made. It uses humanize and titlize from Underscore String and a few custom string replacements for capitalizing things like Isbn to ISBN

keyToText: function(text){

        text = text || '';

        text = _.humanize(text) // convert underscore and hypen to spaces
        text = text.replace(/ id$/, ' ID') // capitialize ID
        text = text.replace(/isbn/g, 'ISBN') // capitialize ISBN
        text = text.replace(/www/g, 'WWW') // capitialize ISBN
        text = text.replace(/drm/g, 'DRM') // capitialize DRM
        text = text.replace(/amt/g, 'Amount') // convert amt to Amount
        text = text.replace(/nyt/g, 'NYT')
        text = text.replace(/html/g, 'HTML')
        text = text.replace(/poid/g, 'POID')
        text = _.titleize(text);

        return text;
    }