Outputting SQL SERVER Query Results to CSV file

Question

I'm using a basic query to gather data from a few joined tables, and I need to be able to export the data to a CSV (or text) file in order to be imported into Excel. The query format is:

SELECT  
Item1 as 'blah'  
FROM  
table1 JOIN table2  
WHERE Condition  
GROUP BY ...  
HAVING ....  

I have the proper output setup correctly through the query, so I'm only looking for a way to output it to a file. If it would be easier to use a stored procedure, then it would be no problem to throw that around the query. I'm just looking for something that can write the output to a file, WITHOUT using a third-party tool, as this needs to be moderately portable.

If you need more detail from the query, I can supply that (but it really is basic).

Answer 1

Use a BCP utility [MSDN]

That's what most commonly used.

Answer 2

If you have access to SSIS (through the Business Intelligence Development Studio), create a data flow task with an OLE DB Source going to a Flat File Destination. Or, you can go straight to Excel, if you don't want to worry about converting the delimited file.