From a76ced995d56cec82a915a7d0024ff315376e894 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jim Myhrberg Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 10:42:18 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Initial commit --- README.md | 62 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 62 insertions(+) create mode 100644 README.md diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71a5d5d --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +# CSV Spec + +CSV is not a file format, it is typically a loose set of guidelines of how to +structure tabular data into a plain text string. As such there's an endless +amount of `*.csv` files floating around which are highly incompatible with +each other. The closest thing there is to a specification is +[RFC 4180](http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180). + + +## Goals + +This project is an attempt to summarize RFC 4180 and the information in the +[Comma-separated values (CSV)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values) +Wikipedia article into a easy to understand format. The spec will also take +into account that the comma (`,`) character is not the only character used as +a field delimiter. Semi-colons (`;`), tabs (`\t`), and more are popular field +delimiter characters. As such the specification will more accurately be +describing a CSV-like structured data format. + +We will also provide input/output test files that CSV parser/writer software +libraries can use to validate if they properly adhere to the rules laid out in +this specification. And if possible we will even try to provide code snippets +in various languages that attempts to automatically determine the delimiter +character used in any given input CSV-like formatted file/data. + + +## Roadmap + +1. Write up core specification rules. _[in-progress]_ +2. Create input/output test files covering all rules in the specification. +3. Create website for [csv-spec.org](http://csv-spec.org/). +4. Create linting tool as a NPM module, allowing easy validation of CSV + data both client-side in a web browser, and server side via a command line + tool. +5. Create automatic delimiter character detection code snippets in various + programming languages which CSV parser developers can freely use to enhance + their libraries. + + +## License + +(The MIT license) + +Copyright (c) 2014 Jim Myhrberg. + +Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy +of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal +in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights +to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell +copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is +furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: + +The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all +copies or substantial portions of the Software. + +THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR +IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, +FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE +AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER +LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, +OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE +SOFTWARE.