CSV format

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CSV format

Easy Data Transform can input from and output to CSV format files. Default file extension ".csv".

 

CSV (Comma Separated Value) format is commonly used for exchanging tabular data between programs.

 

CSV is a type of delimited text file format. Carriage return denotes the end of a row. The column delimiter is usually commas, but not always.

 

Easy Data Transform supports the following column delimiters:

comma (,)

semi-colon (;)

colon (:)

pipe (|)

caret (^)

 

For all the above delimiters:

If a value field contains a quote (") character, then the quote will be 'escaped' by an additional quote when output.

If a value field contains a delimiter, quote or carriage return character, then the value be surrounded by quotes (") when output.

 

For example:

 

convert to csv

 

Is output as:

 

CategoryID,CategoryName,Description,In stock

1,Beverages,"Soft drinks, coffees & teas",true

2,Condiments,Sweet and savory sauces,false

3,Confections,Candies and sweet breads,true 

 

If the file has a different delimiter to those listed, then:

1.Input it with a delimiter unlikely to be in the text, e.g. caret (^), to input it as 1 column

2.Use the Split Col transform to transform it into multiple columns.

 

Many CSV file are not well formed. For example, they have unescaped quotes. As the CSV format is not well-defined, badly formed CSV files can be interpreted in more than one way. Easy Data Transform will do the best it can in these circumstances.

 

Tab delimited (TSV) files are treated a bit differently.