Re: Parsing a CSV file with embedded commas in text field

Thanks Eric,
Unfortunatly, this file is being exported from a PC program and the format can
not be changed.
I will have to inform the user that when creating this file, they can not have
embedded commas in the description.

Thanks,

 
Jeff Young
Sr. Programmer Analyst
IBM -e(logo) server Certified Systems Exper - iSeries Technical Solutions V5R2 
IBM  Certified Specialist- e(logo) server i5Series Technical Solutions
Designer V5R3
IBM  Certified Specialist- e(logo)server i5Series Technical
Solutions Implementer V5R3

  
 






________________________________
From: "DeLong, Eric" <EDeLong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, July 16, 2010 10:43:28 AM
Subject: RE: Parsing a CSV file with embedded commas in text field

I assume that this CSV does not use the convention to quote character data?  The
"standard" will place ""s around text data, giving you a way to safely handle
embedded commas in a description field.  However, this leads to issues with
embedded quote character in text field (ie. "DISPLAY, 24"x10", BLUE", which now
requires another workaround.  Too many compromises and workarounds, IMO.

I have sometimes tried to convert special characters into something else, ( " ->
in. ) ( ' -> ft.), but this makes the export field longer (can cause problems),
and other programs might not know that you translated the description, expecting
to see what's in the database...  More problems, difficult to find and fix...

Simple improvement<<<, use Tab Delimited instead of comma delimited.  This is a
minor variation on the standard CSV, and is supported by most platforms.  For
your issue, without quoting the text strings, this seems to address your
concerns.

XML is much better for data exchange, IMO.

-Eric DeLong
-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jeff Young
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 9:00 AM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Parsing a CSV file with embeded commas in text field

I am using the GETTOK routine to parse records from a csv file where some of the

character fields have embedded commas.
I seem to recall that this was addressed in the past, but I do not recall how to

do it.
ex: ...,Apples, Red Delicious   88ct,nnnn,nnnn   ....

All help will be appreciated.

Thanks,


 
Jeff Young
Sr. Programmer Analyst
IBM -e(logo) server Certified Systems Exper - iSeries Technical Solutions V5R2 
IBM  Certified Specialist- e(logo) server i5Series Technical Solutions
Designer V5R3
IBM  Certified Specialist- e(logo)server i5Series Technical
Solutions Implementer V5R3