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Questions tagged [csv]

Comma-separated values: a rudimentary plain-text spreadsheet. Also includes tab, space, semicolon or other-separated values.

Comma-separated values are a widely-supported and easy-to-parse rudimentary plain-text spreadsheet which is commonly used for exchanging data between programs.

In general, data is separated by a delimiter (comma, pipe |, semi-colon ;, etc..) that will trigger a break in the data by the application that is reading the file. The data is then parsed into the groupings native for the application whether it be cells on a spreadsheet or boxes in a form. The widely-supported nature of .csv files make them extremely versatile.

Additionally, there are specific types of csv files which will dictate what delimiter is used (windows csv, ms-dos csv, etc).

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Easiest way to open CSV with commas in Excel

CSV files are automatically associated with Excel but when I open them, all the rows are basically in the first column, like this: It's probably because when Excel thinks "comma-separated values", it actually searches for some other delimiter (I…
Borek Bernard
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Is it possible to paste CSV formatted data into Excel 2007?

I want to copy and paste CSV formatted text into Excel 2007. Is there a way of doing this without saving it to a temporary file first? I'm sure in previous versions of Excel there was a way to trigger the CSV import wizard by hand in this situation,…
therefromhere
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How can I stop Excel from eating my delicious CSV files and excreting useless data?

I have a database which tracks sales of widgets by serial number. Users enter purchaser data and quantity, and scan each widget into a custom client program. They then finalize the order. This all works flawlessly. Some customers want an…
atroon
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How to get Excel to interpret the comma as a default delimiter in CSV files?

I have a number of .csv files. Some of them are comma delimited, some are tab delimited (maybe they should be called .tsv ...) The csv extension gets associated with Excel when Excel is installed. However, if I open one of these files with excel,…
Szabolcs
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Formatting a comma-delimited CSV to force Excel to interpret value as a string

I've been searching around for a while trying to figure out how to output a CSV file in such a way to force Excel to interpret the values as a string and not try to convert them to numbers or dates. e.g.: "141", "10/11/2002", "350.00",…
Simon E.
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How do you force excel to quote all columns of a CSV file?

Excel only places quotes around certain fields, how do I force excel to save a CSV file with quotes around every column?
Michael Shnitzer
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How to set character encoding when opening a CSV file in Excel?

Is it possible to set the default encoding for Excel (any version, e.g. 2010) when opening files like csv files (like you can in Open Office Calc)? I When I try to open a csv file encoded in Japanese SHIFT-JIS, it opens but with mojibake (corrupted…
LozzerJP
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How to open semicolon delimited CSV-files in US-version of Excel

When I double-click on a .csv file, it is opened in Excel. The csv-files have columns delimited with semicolons (not commas, but also a valid format). Using a German Windows/Excel setup, the opened file is displayed correctly, the columns are…
Holgerwa
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How to force Excel to open CSV files with data arranged in columns

I generate a CSV file with an extension .csv in which every piece of data in one line is separated with a comma: 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 The file is sent via email and I want that when a customer opens it she sees data arranged into columns. Is such thing…
Timofey
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Lightweight CSV viewer for Mac?

I need to view (large) CSV files on my Mac. I could use something like OpenOffice, but unfortunately it's pretty big and slow. I'm wondering if there's a Mac equivalent of some of the Windows tools mentioned on this SU question.
Hay
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Can I create an Anki deck from a .CSV file?

Can I convert my CSV file into an Anki deck? I can't find any options in the program.
Thalecress
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What is the "sep=" metadata you can add to CSVs?

While trying to find out how to get CSVs to open correctly in Excel on a Spanish PC (belonging to a customer) I found many answers recommending using sep=, at the top of the file: Easiest way to open CSV with commas in Excel How to control CSV…
Burhan Ali
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How do you change default delimiter in the Text Import in Excel?

I want to import a CSV file to Excel. The CSV file has comma separated data (go figure), but the delimiter in the Text Import Wizard is set to "Tab" by default. How can I change the default to "Comma" instead?
Lars
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Converting CSV to fixed-width in Notepad++?

Is there a way in Notepad++ to convert a comma-separated file to fixed width columns? This feature exists in UltraEdit and explained in Working with CSV files, but I am happy with my Notepad++, and I don't want to pay for a copy of UltraEdit.
ercan
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How to export selected columns into csv file

I want to export specific number of columns from excel into .csv file. I have around 10 columns like lname, fname, phone, address, email and so on. What should I do to export only certain columns like lname, email, and so on?
raul
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