Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)

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.

Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)

program ChilkatDemo;

// Demonstrates using the Chilkat Pascal wrapper via the C bridge DLL.
// Builds as a console application under Lazarus (FPC) or Delphi.

{$IFDEF FPC}
  {$MODE DELPHI}
{$ENDIF}
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  {$IFDEF UNIX}
  cthreads,
  {$ENDIF}
  SysUtils,
  CkDllLoader,
  Chilkat.Csv;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

procedure RunDemo;
var
  success: Boolean;
  csv: TCsv;
  csvDoc: string;

begin
  success := False;

  //  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

  csv := TCsv.Create;

  //  Prior to loading the CSV file, indicate that the 1st row
  //  should be treated as column names:
  csv.HasColumnNames := True;

  //  Load the CSV records from the file:

  success := csv.LoadFile('sample.csv');
  if (success <> True) then
    begin
      WriteLn(csv.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    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.SetCell(0,3,'cheese,baguette');

  //  A field may also contain double-quotes:
  //  Change blue to shiny "metallic" blue
  success := csv.SetCell(1,1,'shiny "metallic" blue');

  //  Write the updated CSV to a string and display:

  csvDoc := csv.SaveToString();
  WriteLn(csvDoc);

  //  Save the CSV to a file:
  success := csv.SaveFile('out.csv');
  if (success <> True) then
    begin
      WriteLn(csv.LastErrorText);
    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


  csv.Free;

end;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

begin

  try
    RunDemo;
  except
    on E: Exception do
      WriteLn('Unhandled exception: ', E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;

  WriteLn;
  {$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
  WriteLn('Press Enter to exit...');
  ReadLn;
  {$ENDIF}
end.