_CSV2Array

[Stilgar]

A simple function that loads a CSV-file into a 2-dim array:

; Name ..........: _CSV2Array
; Description ...:
; AutoIt Version : V3.3.0.0
; Syntax ........: _CSV2Array($hFile[, $cSeperator = "auto"[, $bFilterString = True[, $iColumnMode = 0]]])
; Parameter(s): .: $hFile       - Handle for the CSV file to Read
;                  $cSeperator  - Optional: (Default = "auto") : Tries to find the separator char (; or , or TAB or | or space)
;                               | Data-seperator-char
;                               | Empty-string = Opt("GUIDataSeparatorChar")
;                  $bFilterString - Optional: (Default = True) : Removes leading and trailing " or '
;                  $iColumnMode - Optional: (Default = 0) :
;                               | 0: Sets error if lines have different columns and @extended to the csv-line number
;                               | 1: returns lines with different columns numbers comparing to the first line, too
;                               | 2: removing all columns > column numbers in the first line
; Return Value ..: Success      - 2-dim Array
;                  Failure      - 0
;                  @ERROR       - 1: error file read
;                  @ERROR       - 2: different number of columns / @EXTENDED = CSV-line
;                               - 3: parameter error
; Author(s) .....: Thorsten Willert
; Date ..........: Mon Dec 07 18:59:46 CET 2009

_CSV2Array($hFile[, $cSeperator = "auto"[, $bFilterString = True[, $iColumnMode = 0]]])

Download: _CSV2Array.au3

Edited January 1, 2014 by Stilgar

[czardas]

Fields containing breaks, the delimiter or double quotes themselves (which are repeated within fields) are enclosed between double quotes. The code does not cater for these exceptions. Here's a useful description:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values#Toward_standardization

[jchd]

Funny: I'm currently writing my own _CsvFromArray and _CsvToArray.

Yet it departs from the guidelines cited above in that it handles Nulls and supports AutoIt and SQLite types as much as possible, e.g.:

123,0.5,"abc""def",,0x616263646566676869

will be interpreted as:

integer 123

double 0.5

string 'abc"def'

Null

Binary 0x616263646566676869

In the CSV, every string is Unicode (UTF8 in CSV) and must be within double quotes. An empty field is a Null.

Integer, double and binary have the correct type.

The goal is to offer a convenient support with SQLite as well.

In _CsvFromArray, types will be converted when it makes sense:

string, integers, floats, binary go verbatim

boolean->{0,1}

pointers and hWnd are converted to their numeric value (whatever meaning that may have)

other types are '<invalid>'

[czardas]

It sounds interesting. The wiki article points out that there is no clear definition of csv format. I believe most programs that use csv should be able to interpret files which use the suggested standardization. What you are creating goes above and beyond basic csv parsing.

Edited January 1, 2014 by czardas

[jchd]

Yes but a minimum beyond. Perserving basic types is essential (e.g. 123 vs. "123"). The possibility to round-trip between AutoIt array, CSV file and SQLite table while preserving strings, numbers, binary and nulls would be interesting.

Also I don't put stringent rules on the contents: every field/cell can be any type, just like AutoIt uses flexible types and SQLite uses dynamic typing (very close to what we are used to with AutoIt). But I insist on consistent number of fields in CSV, else things become fuzzy and need two passes.

Local $aTest[2][7] = [ _
    [123, 123.456, "abc""def", Binary("grhoghniogrhnio"), Null, Ptr(123456), WinWait("[REGEXPTITLE:(?i)(.*SciTE.*)]")], _
    ["123", Null, Binary("grhoghniogrhnio"), "abc""def", Null, Ptr(123456789), WinWait("[REGEXPTITLE:(?i)(.*Firefox.*)]")] _
]

ConsoleWrite(_CsvFromArray($aTest, 0) & @LF)

Produces:
123,123.456,"abc""def",0x6772686F67686E696F6772686E696F,,0x0001E240,0x00300C32
"123",,0x6772686F67686E696F6772686E696F,"abc""def",,0x075BCD15,0x000406F6

I realize I'm just hijacking the thread. Please Stigard, accept my apologies. I'll create a separate thread later.

Edited January 1, 2014 by jchd

[czardas]

I like the idea.