Lua

CSV Special Chars - Comma, Double-Quotes

See more CSV Examples

The Chilkat CSV class/component automatically handles special characters which include double-quotes, and the delimiter character (comma or semicolon).

The Chilkat CSV library/component/class is freeware. The downloads for .NET, C++, Perl, Java, Ruby, and Python contain all of the Chilkat classes, some of which are freeware and some of which require licensing.

Lua

local chilkat = require("chilkat")

-- This example program loads a file (sample.csv)
-- that contains this content:
--
-- year,color,country,food
-- 2001,red,France,cheese
-- 2005,blue,"United States",hamburger
-- 2008,green,Italy,pasta
-- 1998,orange,Japan,sushi
--
-- The first row contains the column names.
-- This file is available at:
-- http://www.chilkatsoft.com/testData/sample.csv

local csv = chilkat.Csv.new()

-- Prior to loading the CSV file, indicate that the 1st row
-- should be treated as column names:
csv.has_column_names = true

-- Load the CSV records from the file:

local success = csv:load_file("sample.csv")
if not success then
    print(csv.last_error_text)
    return
end

-- A field may contain the delimiter character (in this case
-- the delimiter is a comma):
-- Change "cheese" to "cheese,baguette"
-- ("cheese" is at row=0, column=3
success = csv:set_cell(0, 3, "cheese,baguette")

-- A field may also contain double-quotes:
-- Change blue to shiny "metallic" blue
success = csv:set_cell(1, 1, "shiny \"metallic\" blue")

-- Write the updated CSV to a string and display:
local csvDoc = csv:save_to_string()
print(csvDoc)

-- Save the CSV to a file:
success = csv:save_file("out.csv")
if not success then
    print(csv.last_error_text)
end

-- The out.csv contains this:
-- year,color,country,food
-- 2001,red,France,"cheese,baguette"
-- 2005,"shiny ""metallic"" blue","United States",hamburger
-- 2008,green,Italy,pasta
-- 1998,orange,Japan,sushi