CSV(3pm)						User Contributed Perl Documentation						  CSV(3pm)

NAME

       Class::CSV - Class based CSV parser/writer

SYNOPSIS

	 use Class::CSV;

	 my $csv = Class::CSV->parse(
	   filename => 'test.csv',
	   fields   => [qw/item qty sub_total/]
	 );

	 foreach my $line (@{$csv->lines()}) {
	   $line->sub_total('$'. sprintf("%0.2f", $line->sub_total()));

	   print 'Item:     '. $line->item(). "
".
		 'Qty:	    '. $line->qty(). "
".
		 'SubTotal: '. $line->sub_total(). "
";
	 }

	 my $cvs_as_string = $csv->string();

	 $csv->print();

	 my $csv = Class::CSV->new(
	   fields	  => [qw/userid username/],
	   line_separator => "
";
	 );

	 $csv->add_line([2063, 'testuser']);
	 $csv->add_line({
	   userid   => 2064,
	   username => 'testuser2'
	 });

DESCRIPTION

       This module can be used to create objects from CSV files, or to create CSV files from objects. Text::CSV_XS is used for parsing and
       creating CSV file lines, so any limitations in Text::CSV_XS will of course be inherant in this module.

       EXPORT

       None by default.

METHOD

       CONSTRUCTOR

       parse
	   the parse constructor takes a hash as its paramater, the various options that can be in this hash are detailed below.

	   Required Options
	       o   fields - an array ref containing the list of field names to use for each row.  there are some reserved words that cannot be
		   used as field names, there is no checking done for this at the moment but it is something to be aware of. the reserved field
		   names are as follows: "string", "set", "get". also field names cannot contain whitespace or any characters that would not be
		   allowed in a method name.

	   Source Options (only one of these is needed)
	       o   filename - the path of the CSV file to be opened and parsed.

	       o   filehandle - the file handle of the CSV file to be parsed.

	       o   objects - an array ref of objects (e.g. Class::DBI objects). for this to work properly the field names provided in fields needs
		   to correspond to the field names of the objects in the array ref.

	       o   classdbi_objects - depreciated use objects instead - using classdbi_objects will still work but its advisable to update your
		   code.

	   Optional Options
	       o   line_separator - the line seperator to be included at the end of every line. defaulting to "
" (unix carriage return).

       new the new constructor takes a hash as its paramater, the same options detailed in parse apply to new however no Source Options can be
	   used. this constructor creates a blank CSV object of which lines can be added via add_line.

       ACCESSING

       lines
	   returns an array ref containing objects of each CSV line (made via Class::Accessor). the field names given upon construction are
	   available as accessors and can be set or get. for more information please see the notes below or the perldoc for Class::Accessor. the
	   lines accessor is also able to be updated/retrieved in the same way as individual lines fields (examples below).

	   Example
	       retrieving the lines:

		 my @lines = @{$csv->lines()};

	       removing the first line:

		 pop @lines;

		 $csv->lines(@lines);

	       sorting the lines:

		 @lines = sort { $a->userid() <=> $b->userid() } @lines:

		 $csv->lines(@lines);

	       sorting the lines (all-in-one way):

		 $csv->lines([ sort { $a->userid() <=> $b->userid() } @{$csv->lines()} ]);

	   Retrieving a fields value
	       there is two ways to retrieve a fields value (as documented in Class::Accessor). firstly you can call the field name on the object
	       and secondly you can call "get" on the object with the field name as the argument (multiple field names can be specified to
	       retrieve an array of values). examples are below.

		 my $value = $line->test();

	       OR

		 my $value = $line->get('test');

	       OR

		 my @values = $line->get(qw/test test2 test3/);

	   Setting a fields value
	       setting a fields value is simmilar to getting a fields value. there are two ways to set a fields value (as documented in
	       Class::Accessor).  firstly you can simply call the field name on the object with the value as the argument or secondly you can call
	       "set" on the object with a hash of fields and their values to set (this isn't standard in Class::Accessor, i have overloaded the
	       "set" method to allow this). examples are below.

		 $line->test('123');

	       OR

		 $line->set( test => '123' );

	       OR

		 $line->set(
		   test  => '123',
		   test2 => '456'
		 );

	   Retrieving a line as a string
	       to retrieve a line as a string simply call "string" on the object.

		 my $string = $line->string();

       new_line
	   returns a new line object, this can be useful for to "splice" a line into lines (see example below). you can pass the values of the
	   line as an ARRAY ref or a HASH ref.

	   Example
		 my $line = $csv->new_line({ userid => 123, domainname => 'splicey.com' });
		 my @lines = $csv->lines();
		 splice(@lines, 1, 0, $line);

	       OR

		 splice(@{$csv->lines()}, 1, 0, $csv->new_line({ userid => 123, domainname => 'splicey.com' }));

       add_line
	   adds a line to the lines stack. this is mainly useful when the new constructor is used but can of course be used with any constructor.
	   it will add a new line to the end of the lines stack. you can pass the values of the line as an ARRAY ref or a HASH ref. examples of
	   how to use this are below.

	   Example
		 $csv->add_line(['house', 100000, 4]);

		 $csv->add_line({
		   item     => 'house',
		   cost     => 100000,
		   bedrooms => 4
		 });

       OUTPUT

       string
	   returns the object as a string (CSV file format).

       print
	   calls "print" on string (prints the CSV to STDOUT).

SEE ALSO

       Text::CSV_XS, Class::Accessor

AUTHOR

       David Radunz, <david@boxen.net>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       Copyright 2004 by David Radunz

       This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

perl v5.10.0							    2007-02-08								  CSV(3pm)