Export mediawiki blobs into text

Mediawiki's default database format is blob, even for textual elements. This can be an issue when you want to export and process the textual data.

Luckily, there is a query that will allow you to export into text. All you need is a database management tool like PhpMyAdmin. To export mediawiki articles from blob to text run the following line:

SELECT CAST(old_text AS CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8) FROM text

Magic provided by courtesy of the MySQL command CAST().

First published in translatum