csvlib Reference

Module defined in lua/common/csvlib.lua. Provides CSV and TSV creation, writing, and RFC 4180-compliant parsing.

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Exports

Functions

M.newCSV(...)

Creates a new CSV writer with optional column headers.

• Parameters:
  • ... - string - Column header names
• Returns: csvWriter - A CSV writer object with comma delimiter

M.newTSV(...)

Creates a new TSV writer with optional column headers.

• Parameters:
  • ... - string - Column header names
• Returns: csvWriter - A TSV writer object with tab delimiter

M.decode(s, sep)

Parses a CSV/TSV string into a 2D table. Handles quoted fields, embedded delimiters, and numeric auto-detection.

• Parameters:
  • s - string|nil - CSV content to parse
  • sep - string|nil - Single-character delimiter (default: comma)
• Returns: table - Parsed result

M.readFileCSV(filename, sep)

Reads and parses a CSV file from disk.

• Parameters:
  • filename - string - Path to CSV file
  • sep - string|nil - Delimiter character
• Returns: self (module table, for chaining)

csvWriter Methods

writer:add(...)

Appends a row of values. Handles string quoting, number formatting (%.10g), boolean conversion (1/0).

• Parameters:
  • ... - any - Values for each column
• Returns: csvWriter - Self (for chaining)

writer:dump()

Returns the accumulated CSV content as a string.

• Returns: string - Full CSV content

writer:write(filename)

Writes the CSV to a file. Auto-appends datetime suffix if no extension present.

• Parameters:
  • filename - string|nil - Output filename (defaults to header abbreviation or "csv")
• Returns: string - Actual filename written

Internal Notes

• Uses string.buffer for efficient concatenation
• The decoder handles: quoted strings with escaped quotes, numeric auto-detection, trailing empty row cleanup
• Writer properly escapes fields containing delimiters, quotes, CR, or LF