Bug #119036 Data export to utf8mb4 is impossible from Workbench UI – default-character-set utf8 hardcoded in Python files

• Submitted: 18 Sep 14:49
• Modified: 19 Sep 16:12
• Reporter: Stefanie Chapman
• Status: Verified
• Category: MySQL Workbench
• Severity: S4 (Feature request)
• Version: 8.0
• OS: Windows
• CPU Architecture: Any
• Tags: export data

[18 Sep 14:49] Stefanie Chapman

Description:
Product: MySQL Workbench
Version: 8.0.x
Component: Data Export / Migration
Platform: All (Windows, macOS, Linux)

When attempting to export data with utf8mb4 encoding through the Workbench UI, the operation fails to preserve full Unicode characters (e.g., emoji). The root cause is that the Workbench Python script wb_admin_export.py explicitly sets default-character-set to utf8, ignoring user configuration and preventing the use of utf8mb4.

Manual fix by editing the python itself:  
  - Open \MySQL\MySQL Workbench 8.0 CE\modules\wb_admin_export.py
  - Find all occurrences of default-character-set and replace utf8 (or whatever value they has) to utf8mb4

How to repeat:
every time under server / data export

Suggested fix:
make it editable in the export advanced options

[19 Sep 16:12] MySQL Verification Team

Thank for your report

I suggest you try the MySQL Shell extension for Visual Studio Code
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell-gui/en/mysql-shell-for-vscode-setup.html