Package csv reads and writes comma-separated values (CSV) files. There are many kinds of CSV files; this package supports the format described in RFC 4180.
A csv file contains zero or more records of one or more fields per record. Each record is separated by the newline character. The final record may optionally be followed by a newline character.
field1,field2,field3
White space is considered part of a field.
Carriage returns before newline characters are silently removed.
Blank lines are ignored. A line with only whitespace characters (excluding the ending newline character) is not considered a blank line.
Fields which start and stop with the quote character " are called quoted-fields. The beginning and ending quote are not part of the field.
The source:
normal string,"quoted-field"
results in the fields
{`normal string`, `quoted-field`}
Within a quoted-field a quote character followed by a second quote character is considered a single quote.
"the ""word"" is true","a ""quoted-field"""
results in
{`the "word" is true`, `a "quoted-field"`}
Newlines and commas may be included in a quoted-field
"Multi-line
field","comma is ,"
results in
{`Multi-line
field`, `comma is ,`}