title: Is there any straightforward way to output text files (or CSV) from SQL Server?
body: <p>I've done a fair amount of tinkering and searching and the best option seems to be either:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>sending output to text and copy/pasting into a text file or Excel OR </p></li>
  <li><p>outputting to a somewhat unorthodox .rpt file, which I'm not sure what you'd do with--opening it in Excel doesn't preserve formatting present in the original output.  </p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>For what seems like a pretty common task, I'm surprised there isn't a simpler way to do this.  </p>
  
  <p>Can anyone suggest an easier way to go about this than the two methods I outlined?</p>
  
  <p>Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm working on SQL Server 2008.  </p>