When you back up your database that's exactly what you are doing.

You can use phpMyAdmin to export selected tables as SQL or CSV files, MySQL is just a database engine where as SQL is the language used, though there are some differences between the SQL used on MySQL and standardised SQL but this shouldn't be an issue for what you want to do with it

Just export the tables you want then import them into your hubby's application.I can't see there being any problems and if there is a slight incompatibility issue then it will only be a simple matter to fix but it's unlikely.

You can have he whole process automated if you'd rather not use phpMySQL with a script, though I can't name an exiting one off the top of my head but there are plenty out there.

So either export the required tables as SQL and import them directly into the other database or export them as a CSV file and get your hubby to write a script to import it into the other database in the format he needs.

Either way, what he wants to do is an easy process.

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Lawrence