CSV2LATEX(1)						      General Commands Manual						      CSV2LATEX(1)

NAME

       csv2latex -- convert a csv file into a LaTeX document

SYNOPSIS

       csv2latex  [--nohead]   [--longtable]   [--noescape]   [--guess]  [--separator c|s|t|p|l]  [--block q|d|n]  [--lines #]	[--position l|c|r]
       [--colorrows 0-1]  [--reduce 1|2|3|4]  [--repeatheader]	[--nohlines]  [--novlines]  [file]

DESCRIPTION

       This manual page documents the csv2latex program.

       csv2latex is a program that reads a "comma separated values" (csv) file and outputs a LaTeX file with one or more tabular  environments	to
       display the printable values of the csv file. The LaTeX code is flushed on the standard output.

       So-called "comma separated values" files are common formats for exchanging two-dimensinal tables between programs such as spreadsheets edi-
       tors, to represent almost any kind of data.  By default, a csv file is made of printable data separated by commas (`,'), each comma  repre-
       senting a `cell' separator, and each line representing a row. By extension, cell separators can be represented by tabs if the comma is con-
       sidered as printable data.  Moreover, some non true csv files can be assumed as two-dimensional tables as well.	In some circumstances,	if
       the printable data includes the cell separator of the exchange format, the latter can use a second extra character to embrace the printable
       data into a block (e.g: quoted text). Thus, it is still possible to parse the file by using the block delimiter (used twice to embrace  the
       cell) instead of the separator.

       csv2latex  aims	to  parse various csv formats plus formats that fits into the above definiton, assuming the data is text, and to produce a
       yet simple LaTeX file using the "tabular" environment for a table-style layout.	Some options of output will also use  macros  provided	by
       extra LaTeX packages that are commonly included in the main LaTeX distributions.

OPTIONS

       This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-').  A summary of options is included
       below.

       -h	    --help
		 Show summary of options.

       -v	    --version
		 Show version of program.

       -n	    --nohead
		 Do not output the LaTeX document header.  This is useful when the output is to be included as a separate  file  into  the  master
		 document.

       -t	    --longtable
		 uses  the  'longtable' package instead of the 'tabular' one.  This is useful when the input is long, with --lines 0 option.  This
		 option uses the extra `longtable' LaTeX package.  If you also use --nohead option, do not forget to add the following	line  into
		 the header of your master document: "usepackage{longtable}".

       -x	    --noescape
		 Do not escape TeX control characters from the input.  This is useful when the input contains already TeX code.

       -g	    --guess
		 Try  to  guess the csv format.  This is useful when the input is not strictly a comma separated set of printable data.  For exam-
		 ple, a line like %Foo, Bar%:%Wizz: Hey% may be parsed as "Foo, Bar" then "Wizz: Hey".

       -s c|s|t|p|l	      --separator c|s|t|p|l
		 Set the given separator as cell separator of the csv format.  `c' means a comma (default).  `s' means a semicolon.  `t'  means  a
		 tab.  `p' means a space.  `l' means a colon.

       -b q|d|n 	  --block q|d|n
		 Set  the given block delimiter that embraces the printable data of the csv format.  `q' means a simple quote.	`d' means a double
		 quote.  `n' means no quoting at all (default).

       -l #	      --lines #
		 Force to output multiple tabulars, each having a limited number of lines.  The given argument must be a POSITIVE  INTEGER  VALUE.
		 This is useful when the number of input rows is too big to fit into a single papersheet.  A good average for a4 paper is about 40
		 lines (default). 0 means infinity (actualy about 2 Giga lines).

       -p l|c|r 	  --position l|c|r
		 Set the text position in all cells at once.  This simply uses one of the three basic cell formating options of the LaTeX  tabular
		 environment.  `l' means left-aligned (default).  `c' means centered.  `r' means right-aligned.

       -c 0-1		--colorrows 0-1
		 Alternate  white/gray	rows  on the LaTeX output, having the given graylevel.	The given argument must be a REAL NUMBER BETWEEN 0
		 AND 1.  0 means black while 1 means white.  A nice looking value is 0.75 when printed on white paper.	This option uses the extra
		 `colortbl'  LaTeX package.  If you also use --nohead option, do not forget to add the following line into the header of your mas-
		 ter document: "usepackage{colortbl}".

       -r 1|2|3|4	    --reduce 1|2|3|4
		 Reduce the size of the tabular and the font in the LaTeX output, given a reduction level.  The given argument must be one  of	1,
		 2,  3	or  4.	The more the level is high, the more the tabular will appear small.  This is useful to shrink the table width when
		 the printable data is made of very long text.	This option uses the extra `relsize' LaTeX package.   If  you  also  use  --nohead
		 option, do not forget to add the following line into the header of your master document: "usepackage{relsize}".

       -z	    --nohlines
		 Do not output horizontal lines in the table(s).

       -y	    --novlines
		 Do not output vertical lines in the table(s).

       -e	    --repeatheader
		 Repeat  the  first  row of the first table in every table.  This is useful when the output is very long and separated in multiple
		 tables.

EXAMPLES

       Create a PDF document with small text, alternate gray rows, 80 lines per table, from a guessed csv format of the january stats that my boss
       created with his super point-and-click spreadsheet program (which could not generate a PDF output!).

       csv2latex --guess --lines 80 --colorrows 0.75 --reduce 2 january_stats.csv > january_stats.tex && pdflatex january_stats.tex

       Quickly preview a phonebook from a file formated as "Surname" "Name" "Phone" "Cellular":

       csv2latex -s p -b d -l 42 phonebook-sorted.txt | latex

SEE ALSO

       tex (1), latex (1).

																      CSV2LATEX(1)