Let's first clarify some vocabulary. In MySQL documentation, you will encounter the term dump and in other applications, the term backup or export. All these terms have the same meaning in the phpMyAdmin context.
MySQL includes mysqldump, a command-line utility that can be used to generate export files, but the shell access needed for command-line utilities is not offered by every host provider. Also, access to the export feature from within the Web interface is more convenient. This is why phpMyAdmin (since version 1.2.0) offers the Export feature with more export formats than mysqldump. This chapter will focus on phpMyAdmin's export features.
Before starting an export, we must have a clear picture of the intended goal of the export, and the following questions may help:
Do we need the complete database or just some tables?
Do we need just the structure, just the data, or both?
Which utility will be used to import back the data? (Not every export format can be...