csv(n)								  CSV processing							    csv(n)

NAME

       csv - Procedures to handle CSV data.

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl 8.3

       package require csv ?0.3?

       ::csv::join values {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::joinlist values {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::read2matrix chan m {sepChar ,} {expand none}

       ::csv::read2queue chan q {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::report cmd matrix ?chan?

       ::csv::split line {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::split2matrix m line {sepChar ,} {expand none}

       ::csv::split2queue q line {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::writematrix m chan {sepChar ,}

       ::csv::writequeue q chan {sepChar ,}

DESCRIPTION

       The csv package provides commands to manipulate information in CSV FORMAT (CSV = Comma Separated Values).

COMMANDS

       The following commands are available:

       ::csv::join values {sepChar ,}
	      Takes  a	list  of  values and returns a string in CSV format containing these values. The separator character can be defined by the
	      caller, but this is optional. The default is ",".

       ::csv::joinlist values {sepChar ,}
	      Takes a list of lists of values and returns a string in CSV format containing these values. The separator character can  be  defined
	      by  the caller, but this is optional. The default is ",". Each element of the outer list is considered a record, these are separated
	      by newlines in the result. The elements of each record are formatted as usual (via ::csv::join).

       ::csv::read2matrix chan m {sepChar ,} {expand none}
	      A wrapper around ::csv::split2matrix (see below) reading CSV-formatted lines from the specified channel (until EOF) and adding  them
	      to the given matrix. For an explanation of the expand argument see ::csv::split2matrix.

       ::csv::read2queue chan q {sepChar ,}
	      A  wrapper  around ::csv::split2queue (see below) reading CSV-formatted lines from the specified channel (until EOF) and adding them
	      to the given queue.

       ::csv::report cmd matrix ?chan?
	      A report command which can be used by the matrix methods format 2string and format 2chan. For the latter this command delegates  the
	      work  to	::csv::writematrix. cmd is expected to be either printmatrix or printmatrix2channel. The channel argument, chan, has to be
	      present for the latter and must not be present for the first.

       ::csv::split line {sepChar ,}
	      converts a line in CSV format into a list of the values contained in the line. The character used to separate the values	from  each
	      other can be defined by the caller, via sepChar, but this is optional. The default is ",".

       ::csv::split2matrix m line {sepChar ,} {expand none}
	      The  same as ::csv::split, but appends the resulting list as a new row to the matrix m, using the method add row. The expansion mode
	      specified via expand determines how the command handles a matrix with less columns than contained in line. The allowed modes are:

	      none   This is the default mode. In this mode it is the responsibility of the caller to ensure that the matrix has enough columns to
		     contain the full line. If there are not enough columns the list of values is silently truncated at the end to fit.

	      empty  In  this mode the command expands an empty matrix to hold all columns of the specified line, but goes no further. The overall
		     effect is that the first of a series of lines determines the number of columns in the matrix  and	all  following	lines  are
		     truncated to that size, as if mode none was set.

	      auto   In this mode the command expands the matrix as needed to hold all columns contained in line. The overall effect is that after
		     adding a series of lines the matrix will have enough columns to hold all columns of the longest line encountered so far.

       ::csv::split2queue q line {sepChar ,}
	      The same as ::csv::split, but appending the resulting list as a single item to the queue q, using the method put.

       ::csv::writematrix m chan {sepChar ,}
	      A wrapper around ::csv::join taking all rows in the matrix m and writing them CSV formatted into the channel chan.

       ::csv::writequeue q chan {sepChar ,}
	      A wrapper around ::csv::join taking all items in the queue q (assumes that they are lists) and writing them CSV formatted  into  the
	      channel chan.

FORMAT

       Each  record  of  a  csv file (comma-separated values, as exported e.g. by Excel) is a set of ASCII values separated by ",". For other lan-
       guages it may be ";" however, although this is not important for this case (The functions provided here allow any separator character).

       If a value contains itself the separator ",", then it (the value) is put between "".

       If a value contains ", it is replaced by "".

EXAMPLE

       The record

       123,"123,521.2","Mary says ""Hello, I am Mary"""

       is parsed as follows:

       a) 123
       b) 123,521.2
       c) Mary says "Hello, I am Mary"

SEE ALSO

       matrix, queue

KEYWORDS

       csv, matrix, queue, package, tcllib

csv									0.3								    csv(n)