Comma-Separated (CSV) File Format

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:
    • Python pandas Library, for CSV data manipulation.
    • csvkit Command-Line Tools, for CSV file processing.
    • OpenCSV Java Library, for CSV reading and writing.
    • Papa Parse JavaScript Library, for browser-based CSV parsing.
  • 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.
  • ...
• 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.

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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.

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