CSV Reader

Reading CSV files

Use the following source definition to read CSV files:

<Source config="[configuration]">file://[path to csv file]</Source>

Notes:

• The file name must end with .csv, otherwise the CSV Reader will not pick it up
• The prefix must be file://; other location types are currently not supported.

Configuration of the CSV Reader

The config attribute may contain configuration settings of the CSV Reader using the following notation: parameter=value. The following parameters are supported:

Parameter	Default	Description
delim	';'	The delimiter used in the CSV file; normally ',' or ','.
encoding	tries to deduce from input file	The encoding to use for the CSV file; supported values are any valid encoding, like UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1.
multiline	true	Determines whether the CSV reader supports multiline content or not. Normally you don't need to change this.

Example

<Source config="delim=';'">file://C:\Temp\my_table.csv</Source>

This instanciates the CSV reader for the file C:\Temp\my_table.csv, assuming that it uses the ; character as a field delimiter.

On escaping field content

The CSV Reader assumes that the double quote is used to "escape" field content which contains the delimiter. If you need double quotes inside the field content, use a double double quote in the CSV file. This will be read as a single double quote.

Example: The file uses the delimiter ,, and a field contains a comma inside:

• Oh my, this is awesome must look like this: "Oh my, this is awesome".
• Oh my, he was "ironic" must look like this: "Oh my, he was ""ironic"""

Example CSV input file (using ; as a delimiter):

Key;Text
001;Random text without problems
002;"Text containing a ; for some reason"
003;"I like ""double quotes"" in CSV files"
004;"This is a
multiline text
which does not pose problems."
005;Last line in file

Note: For multiline field content, the content must mandatorily be wrapped in double quotes; otherwise the CSV reader will not be able to recognize the content belongs together.