Thread: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
Searched  through the archives and found this perl one-liner that's supposed
to replace commas with tabs in text files.

It worked in as much as it created the new output file; but the output was
exactly the same as the input.

Anyone know what's wrong? Or have another way to do this?



perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
your-table.csv > your-table.tab


--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
I answered my question by writing the following perl script:


#!/usr/local/bin/perl
# comma_to_tab.pl
#
# usage: ./comma_to_tab.pl data.csv > data.tab
#
# Description:
#    1. finds any occurences of a comma between double quotes and replaces
it with low ASCII char x00
#    2. replaces all remaining commas with tabs
#    3. changes all x00 chars back to commas

while (<>) {
    s/\"(.*)(,)(.*)\"/$1\x00$3/g;
    s/,/\t/g;
    s/\x00/,/g;
    print $_;
}


> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
> your-table.csv > your-table.tab

--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Frank Finner
Date:
Hi,

if you just want to replace all commas by tabs, try this one:

perl -ne 's/,/\t/g; print $_;' file.csv > file.tab

mfg Frank.

On 31-Mar-02 Randall Perry sat down, thought for a long time and then
wrote:
> Searched  through the archives and found this perl one-liner that's
> supposed
> to replace commas with tabs in text files.
>
> It worked in as much as it created the new output file; but the
> output was
> exactly the same as the input.
>
> Anyone know what's wrong? Or have another way to do this?
>
>
>
> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
> your-table.csv > your-table.tab
>
>
> --
> Randy Perry
> sysTame
> Mac Consulting/Sales
>
> phn                 561.589.6449
> mobile email        help@systame.com
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 6: Have you searched our list archives?
>
> http://archives.postgresql.org

--
Frank Finner

Thus we are all responsible for one another, through all the myriad
dimensions of time and space that make up the multiverse . . .
                              (M. Moorcock, "The Revenge Of The Rose")

Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
Just discovered the following code only works if there's only ONE comma
between quotes. Back to the drawing board :(

> I answered my question by writing the following perl script:
>
>
> #!/usr/local/bin/perl
> # comma_to_tab.pl
> #
> # usage: ./comma_to_tab.pl data.csv > data.tab
> #
> # Description:
> #    1. finds any occurences of a comma between double quotes and replaces
> it with low ASCII char x00
> #    2. replaces all remaining commas with tabs
> #    3. changes all x00 chars back to commas
>
> while (<>) {
>   s/\"(.*)(,)(.*)\"/$1\x00$3/g;
>   s/,/\t/g;
>   s/\x00/,/g;
>   print $_;
> }
>
>
>> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
>> your-table.csv > your-table.tab

--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
Tried the following to replace multiple occurences of commas within quotes,
but the 2nd while loop never fires:

while (<>) {
    while (m/\"(.*)(,)(.*)\"/) {
        s/\"(.*)(,)(.*)\"/$1\x00$3/;
    }
    s/,/\t/g;
    s/\x00/,/g;
    print $_;
}

Can anyone help?


> Just discovered the following code only works if there's only ONE comma
> between quotes. Back to the drawing board :(
>
>> I answered my question by writing the following perl script:
>>
>>
>> #!/usr/local/bin/perl
>> # comma_to_tab.pl
>> #
>> # usage: ./comma_to_tab.pl data.csv > data.tab
>> #
>> # Description:
>> #    1. finds any occurences of a comma between double quotes and replaces
>> it with low ASCII char x00
>> #    2. replaces all remaining commas with tabs
>> #    3. changes all x00 chars back to commas
>>
>> while (<>) {
>>   s/\"(.*)(,)(.*)\"/$1\x00$3/g;
>>   s/,/\t/g;
>>   s/\x00/,/g;
>>   print $_;
>> }
>>
>>
>>> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
>>> your-table.csv > your-table.tab

--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
merlyn@stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Date:
>>>>> "Randall" == Randall Perry <rgp@systame.com> writes:

Randall> Searched  through the archives and found this perl one-liner that's supposed
Randall> to replace commas with tabs in text files.

Randall> It worked in as much as it created the new output file; but the output was
Randall> exactly the same as the input.

Randall> Anyone know what's wrong? Or have another way to do this?

Randall> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
Randall> your-table.csv > your-table.tab

CSV is a bear, and best parsed with the Text::CSV module:

        use Text::CSV;

        my $t = Text::CSV->new;
        while (<>) {
                chomp;
                csv->parse($_);
                print join("\t", $csv->columns), "\n";
        }

Which correctly handles quotish things, commas in quotes, etc.

print "Just another Perl hacker,"

--
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!

Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
Thanks, I needed that.

For the benefit of anyone else who needs this feature, I've corrected some
errors in your code, and also used the latest version of the module:
Text::CSV_XS.

Here's the new code:


#!/usr/local/bin/perl -I

use Text::CSV_XS;

my $csv = Text::CSV->new;
while (<>) {
        chomp;
        $csv->parse($_);
        print join("\t", $csv->columns), "\n";
}


Old code:

>
>       use Text::CSV;
>
>       my $t = Text::CSV->new;
>       while (<>) {
>               chomp;
>               csv->parse($_);
>               print join("\t", $csv->columns), "\n";
>       }
>


--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Randall Perry
Date:
Sorry, that last code didn't work. This does:

use Text::CSV_XS;

my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new();


while (<>) {
                $csv->parse($_);
                print join("\t", $csv->fields) . "\n";
}


> Thanks, I needed that.
>
> For the benefit of anyone else who needs this feature, I've corrected some
> errors in your code, and also used the latest version of the module:
> Text::CSV_XS.
>
> Here's the new code:
>
>
> #!/usr/local/bin/perl -I
>
> use Text::CSV_XS;
>
> my $csv = Text::CSV->new;
> while (<>) {
>       chomp;
>       $csv->parse($_);
>       print join("\t", $csv->columns), "\n";
> }
>
>
> Old code:
>
>>
>>       use Text::CSV;
>>
>>       my $t = Text::CSV->new;
>>       while (<>) {
>>               chomp;
>>               csv->parse($_);
>>               print join("\t", $csv->columns), "\n";
>>       }
>>
>

--
Randy Perry
sysTame
Mac Consulting/Sales

phn                 561.589.6449
mobile email        help@systame.com



Re: Converting comma-delimited data to tab-delimited

From
Frank Finner
Date:
Hi,

if you just want to replace all commas by tabs, try this one:

perl -ne 's/,/\t/g; print $_;' file.csv > file.tab

mfg Frank.

On 31-Mar-02 Randall Perry sat down, thought for a long time and then
wrote:
> Searched  through the archives and found this perl one-liner that's
> supposed
> to replace commas with tabs in text files.
>
> It worked in as much as it created the new output file; but the
> output was
> exactly the same as the input.
>
> Anyone know what's wrong? Or have another way to do this?
>
>
>
> perl -ne 's/^ *"//; s/" *$//; print join("\t", split(/\" *, *\"/))'
> your-table.csv > your-table.tab
>
>
> --
> Randy Perry
> sysTame
> Mac Consulting/Sales
>
> phn                 561.589.6449
> mobile email        help@systame.com
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 6: Have you searched our list archives?
>
> http://archives.postgresql.org

--
Frank Finner

Thus we are all responsible for one another, through all the myriad
dimensions of time and space that make up the multiverse . . .
                              (M. Moorcock, "The Revenge Of The Rose")