Comma-Separated (CSV) File Format
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A Comma-Separated Values (CSV) File Format is a delimited text file format that uses comma characters as field separators to represent tabular data in plain text form.
- AKA: CSV Format, Comma-Separated File Format, Comma-Separated Data File Format, .CSV File Format, CSV.
- Context:
- It can typically represent tabular data structures with rows and columns using plain text encoding.
- It can typically store spreadsheet data and database tables in human-readable format.
- It can typically use comma delimiters to separate field values within data records.
- It can often include header rows containing column names as the first line.
- It can often handle special characters through quotation mark enclosure and escape sequences.
- It can often support data interchange between heterogeneous systems and applications.
- It can utilize RFC 4180 as the de facto standard for CSV formatting rules.
- It can employ text qualifiers (typically double quotes) for fields containing commas, newlines, or quotes.
- It can represent missing values through empty fields between consecutive delimiters.
- It can encounter encoding issues with international characters requiring UTF-8 or other character encodings.
- It can range from being a Simple CSV File Format to being a Complex CSV File Format, depending on its data complexity.
- It can range from being a Standard-Compliant CSV File Format to being a Variant CSV File Format, depending on its delimiter choice.
- It can integrate with spreadsheet applications, database systems, and data analysis tools.
- ...
- Example(s):
- CSV Implementation Variants, such as:
- RFC 4180 CSV Format, the standard CSV specification.
- Excel CSV Format, Microsoft Excel's CSV implementation.
- Google Sheets CSV Format, supporting UTF-8 encoding by default.
- LibreOffice Calc CSV Format, with configurable delimiter options.
- CSV Application Domains, such as:
- Data Export CSV, for database table export.
- Financial Data CSV, containing transaction records and account statements.
- Scientific Data CSV, storing experimental measurements and observations.
- Log File CSV, recording structured event data.
- Configuration CSV, defining application settings and parameters.
- CSV Processing Tools, such as:
- CSV Features, such as:
- CSV Header Row, containing column identifiers.
- CSV Escape Mechanism, handling special characters within fields.
- CSV Line Terminator, using CRLF or LF for record separation.
- CSV BOM (Byte Order Mark), indicating file encoding.
- CSV Challenges, such as:
- CSV Parsing Ambiguity, when delimiters appear in data values.
- CSV Type Inference, determining data types from string representations.
- CSV Encoding Mismatch, causing character corruption.
- CSV Size Limitations in spreadsheet applications.
- ...
- CSV Implementation Variants, such as:
- Counter-Example(s):
- Tab-Separated Values (TSV) Format, which uses tab characters as delimiters.
- Space-Separated File Format, which uses space characters for field separation.
- Pipe-Delimited Format, which uses pipe symbols as separators.
- Fixed-Width Format, which uses column positions rather than delimiters.
- JSON Format, which uses hierarchical structure rather than tabular format.
- XML Format, which uses tagged markup rather than delimited fields.
- Excel Binary Format (XLSX), which uses binary encoding rather than plain text.
- Parquet File Format, which uses columnar storage rather than row-based text.
- See: Delimited Text Format, CSV File Parser, Tabular Data Format, Data Interchange Format, RFC 4180, Spreadsheet File Format, Database Export Format, Plain Text Format, Data Serialization, Tab-Separated Values Format.
References
2005
- (RFC 4180, 2005) ⇒ Y. Shafranovich. (2005). "Common Format and MIME Type for Comma-Separated Values (CSV) Files." RFC 4180, Internet Engineering Task Force.
- QUOTE: This RFC documents the format used for Comma-Separated Values (CSV) files and registers the associated MIME type "text/csv". The CSV format has been used for exchanging and converting data between various spreadsheet programs for quite some time.