juank-pa / Perl-CSV

Perl CSV parser

Perl-CSV

This is a simple CSV parser library that doesn't have dependencies underneath. It provides interface to CSV files and data. It offers tools to enable you to read and write to and from Strings or IO handlers, as needed.

The most generic interface of the library is:

my $csv = CSV->new(string_or_io, $options);

# Reading: IO handler should be open for read
my $rows = $csv->readLines(); # => arrayref of arrayrefs
# or
$csv->each({
  my $row = shift;
  # ...
});
# or
my $row = $csv->readLine();

# Writing: IO handler should be open for write
$csv->addRow($row);

There are several specialized class methods for one-statement reading or writing, described in the Specialized Methods section.

If a String is passed into CSV::new, it is internally opened as an IO handler.

Specialized Methods

Reading

# From a file: all at once
my $arr_of_rows = CSV->read("path/to/file.csv", $options);
# iterator-style:
CSV->foreach("path/to/file.csv", $options, sub {
  my $row = shift;
  # ...
});

# From a string
my $arr_of_rows = CSV->parse("CSV,data,String", $options);
# or
CSV->parse("CSV,data,String", $options, sub {
  my $row = shift;
  # ...
});

Writing

# To a file
CSV->open("path/to/file.csv", ">", $options, sub {
  my $csv = shift;
  $csv->addRow(["row", "of", "CSV", "data"]);
  $csv->addRow(["another", "row"]);
  # ...
});

# To a string
my $csv_string = CSV->generate($options, sub {
  my $csv = shift;
  $csv->addRow(["row", "of", "CSV", "data"]);
  $csv->addRow(["another", "row"]);
  # ...
});

Data Headers

CSV allows to specify column names of CSV file, whether they are in data, or provided separately. If headers specified, reading methods return an instance of CSV::Table, consisting of CSV::Row.

# Headers are part of data
my $data = CSV->parse(<<ROWS, { headers => 1 });
Name,Department,Salary
Bob,Engineering,1000
Jane,Sales,2000
John,Management,5000
ROWS

ref($data);              #=> CSV::Table
ref($data->[0]);         #=> CSV::Row
$data->[0]->toHashRef(); #=> { "Name"=>"Bob", "Department"=>"Engineering", "Salary"=>"1000" }

# Headers provided by developer
$data = CSV->parse('Bob,Engeneering,1000', { headers => [qw(name department salary)] });
$data->[0]->toHashRef(); #=> { "name" => "Bob", "department" => "Engineering", "salary" => "1000" }