305 lines
12 KiB
TeX
305 lines
12 KiB
TeX
\section{\module{csv} --- CSV File Reading and Writing}
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\declaremodule{standard}{csv}
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\modulesynopsis{Write and read tabular data to and from delimited files.}
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\sectionauthor{Skip Montanaro}{skip@pobox.com}
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\versionadded{2.3}
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\index{csv}
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\indexii{data}{tabular}
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The so-called CSV (Comma Separated Values) format is the most common import
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and export format for spreadsheets and databases. There is no ``CSV
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standard'', so the format is operationally defined by the many applications
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which read and write it. The lack of a standard means that subtle
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differences often exist in the data produced and consumed by different
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applications. These differences can make it annoying to process CSV files
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from multiple sources. Still, while the delimiters and quoting characters
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vary, the overall format is similar enough that it is possible to write a
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single module which can efficiently manipulate such data, hiding the details
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of reading and writing the data from the programmer.
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The \module{csv} module implements classes to read and write tabular data in
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CSV format. It allows programmers to say, ``write this data in the format
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preferred by Excel,'' or ``read data from this file which was generated by
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Excel,'' without knowing the precise details of the CSV format used by
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Excel. Programmers can also describe the CSV formats understood by other
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applications or define their own special-purpose CSV formats.
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The \module{csv} module's \class{reader} and \class{writer} objects read and
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write sequences. Programmers can also read and write data in dictionary
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form using the \class{DictReader} and \class{DictWriter} classes.
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\begin{notice}
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This version of the \module{csv} module doesn't support Unicode
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input. Also, there are currently some issues regarding \ASCII{} NUL
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characters. Accordingly, all input should generally be printable
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\ASCII{} to be safe. These restrictions will be removed in the future.
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\end{notice}
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\begin{seealso}
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% \seemodule{array}{Arrays of uniformly types numeric values.}
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\seepep{305}{CSV File API}
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{The Python Enhancement Proposal which proposed this addition
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to Python.}
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\end{seealso}
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\subsection{Module Contents}
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The \module{csv} module defines the following functions:
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\begin{funcdesc}{reader}{csvfile\optional{,
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dialect=\code{'excel'}\optional{, fmtparam}}}
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Return a reader object which will iterate over lines in the given
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{}\var{csvfile}. \var{csvfile} can be any object which supports the
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iterator protocol and returns a string each time its \method{next}
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method is called. An optional \var{dialect} parameter can be given
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which is used to define a set of parameters specific to a particular CSV
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dialect. It may be an instance of a subclass of the \class{Dialect}
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class or one of the strings returned by the \function{list_dialects}
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function. The other optional {}\var{fmtparam} keyword arguments can be
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given to override individual formatting parameters in the current
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dialect. For more information about the dialect and formatting
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parameters, see section~\ref{fmt-params}, ``Dialects and Formatting
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Parameters'' for details of these parameters.
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All data read are returned as strings. No automatic data type
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conversion is performed.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdesc}{writer}{csvfile\optional{,
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dialect=\code{'excel'}\optional{, fmtparam}}}
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Return a writer object responsible for converting the user's data into
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delimited strings on the given file-like object. An optional
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{}\var{dialect} parameter can be given which is used to define a set of
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parameters specific to a particular CSV dialect. It may be an instance
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of a subclass of the \class{Dialect} class or one of the strings
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returned by the \function{list_dialects} function. The other optional
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{}\var{fmtparam} keyword arguments can be given to override individual
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formatting parameters in the current dialect. For more information
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about the dialect and formatting parameters, see
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section~\ref{fmt-params}, ``Dialects and Formatting Parameters'' for
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details of these parameters. To make it as easy as possible to
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interface with modules which implement the DB API, the value
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\constant{None} is written as the empty string. While this isn't a
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reversible transformation, it makes it easier to dump SQL NULL data values
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to CSV files without preprocessing the data returned from a
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\code{cursor.fetch*()} call. All other non-string data are stringified
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with \function{str()} before being written.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdesc}{register_dialect}{name, dialect}
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Associate \var{dialect} with \var{name}. \var{dialect} must be a subclass
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of \class{csv.Dialect}. \var{name} must be a string or Unicode object.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdesc}{unregister_dialect}{name}
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Delete the dialect associated with \var{name} from the dialect registry. An
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\exception{Error} is raised if \var{name} is not a registered dialect
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name.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdesc}{get_dialect}{name}
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Return the dialect associated with \var{name}. An \exception{Error} is
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raised if \var{name} is not a registered dialect name.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdesc}{list_dialects}{}
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Return the names of all registered dialects.
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\end{funcdesc}
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The \module{csv} module defines the following classes:
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\begin{classdesc}{DictReader}{csvfile, fieldnames\optional{,
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restkey=\constant{None}\optional{,
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restval=\constant{None}\optional{,
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dialect=\code{'excel'}\optional{,
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fmtparam}}}}}
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Create an object which operates like a regular reader but maps the
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information read into a dict whose keys are given by the \var{fieldnames}
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parameter. If the row read has fewer fields than the fieldnames sequence,
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the value of \var{restval} will be used as the default value. If the row
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read has more fields than the fieldnames sequence, the remaining data is
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added as a sequence keyed by the value of \var{restkey}. If the row read
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has fewer fields than the fieldnames sequence, the remaining keys take the
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value of the optiona \var{restval} parameter. All other parameters are
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interpreted as for regular readers.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc}{DictWriter}{csvfile, fieldnames\optional{,
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restval=""\optional{,
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extrasaction=\code{'raise'}\optional{,
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dialect=\code{'excel'}\optional{, fmtparam}}}}}
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Create an object which operates like a regular writer but maps dictionaries
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onto output rows. The \var{fieldnames} parameter identifies the order in
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which values in the dictionary passed to the \method{writerow()} method are
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written to the \var{csvfile}. The optional \var{restval} parameter
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specifies the value to be written if the dictionary is missing a key in
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\var{fieldnames}. If the dictionary passed to the \method{writerow()}
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method contains a key not found in \var{fieldnames}, the optional
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\var{extrasaction} parameter indicates what action to take. If it is set
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to \code{'raise'} a \exception{ValueError} is raised. If it is set to
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\code{'ignore'}, extra values in the dictionary are ignored. All other
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parameters are interpreted as for regular writers.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc*}{Dialect}{}
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The \class{Dialect} class is a container class relied on primarily for its
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attributes, which are used to define the parameters for a specific
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\class{reader} or \class{writer} instance.
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\end{classdesc*}
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\begin{classdesc}{Sniffer}{\optional{sample=16384}}
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The \class{Sniffer} class is used to deduce the format of a CSV file. The
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optional \var{sample} argument to the constructor specifies the number of
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bytes to use when determining Dialect parameters.
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\end{classdesc}
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The \class{Sniffer} class provides a single method:
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\begin{methoddesc}{sniff}{fileobj}
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Analyze the next chunk of \var{fileobj} and return a \class{Dialect} subclass
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reflecting the parameters found.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{has_header}{sample}
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Analyze the sample text (presumed to be in CSV format) and return
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\constant{True} if the first row appears to be a series of column
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headers.
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\end{methoddesc}
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The \module{csv} module defines the following constants:
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\begin{datadesc}{QUOTE_ALWAYS}
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Instructs \class{writer} objects to quote all fields.
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\end{datadesc}
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\begin{datadesc}{QUOTE_MINIMAL}
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Instructs \class{writer} objects to only quote those fields which contain
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the current \var{delimiter} or begin with the current \var{quotechar}.
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\end{datadesc}
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\begin{datadesc}{QUOTE_NONNUMERIC}
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Instructs \class{writer} objects to quote all non-numeric fields.
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\end{datadesc}
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\begin{datadesc}{QUOTE_NONE}
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Instructs \class{writer} objects to never quote fields. When the current
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\var{delimiter} occurs in output data it is preceded by the current
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\var{escapechar} character. When \constant{QUOTE_NONE} is in effect, it
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is an error not to have a single-character \var{escapechar} defined, even if
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no data to be written contains the \var{delimiter} character.
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\end{datadesc}
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The \module{csv} module defines the following exception:
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\begin{excdesc}{Error}
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Raised by any of the functions when an error is detected.
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\end{excdesc}
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\subsection{Dialects and Formatting Parameters\label{csv-fmt-params}}
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To make it easier to specify the format of input and output records,
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specific formatting parameters are grouped together into dialects. A
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dialect is a subclass of the \class{Dialect} class having a set of specific
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methods and a single \method{validate()} method. When creating \class{reader}
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or \class{writer} objects, the programmer can specify a string or a subclass
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of the \class{Dialect} class as the dialect parameter. In addition to, or
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instead of, the \var{dialect} parameter, the programmer can also specify
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individual formatting parameters, which have the same names as the
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attributes defined above for the \class{Dialect} class.
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Dialects support the following attributes:
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{delimiter}
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A one-character string used to separate fields. It defaults to \code{','}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{doublequote}
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Controls how instances of \var{quotechar} appearing inside a field should be
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themselves be quoted. When \constant{True}, the character is doubledd.
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When \constant{False}, the \var{escapechar} must be a one-character string
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which is used as a prefix to the \var{quotechar}. It defaults to
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\constant{True}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{escapechar}
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A one-character string used to escape the \var{delimiter} if \var{quoting}
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is set to \constant{QUOTE_NONE}. It defaults to \constant{None}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{lineterminator}
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The string used to terminate lines in the CSV file. It defaults to
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\code{'\e r\e n'}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{quotechar}
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A one-character string used to quote elements containing the \var{delimiter}
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or which start with the \var{quotechar}. It defaults to \code{'"'}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{quoting}
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Controls when quotes should be generated by the writer. It can take on any
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of the \constant{QUOTE_*} constants defined below and defaults to
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\constant{QUOTE_MINIMAL}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\begin{memberdesc}[Dialect]{skipinitialspace}
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When \constant{True}, whitespace immediately following the \var{delimiter}
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is ignored. The default is \constant{False}.
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\end{memberdesc}
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\subsection{Reader Objects}
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Reader objects (\class{DictReader} instances and objects returned by
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the \function{reader()}function) have the following public methods:
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\begin{methoddesc}[csv reader]{next}{}
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Return the next row of the reader's iterable object as a list, parsed
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according to the current dialect.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\subsection{Writer Objects}
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Writer objects (\class{DictWriter} instances and objects returned by
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the \function{writer()} function) have the following public methods:
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\begin{methoddesc}[csv writer]{writerow}{row}
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Write the \var{row} parameter to the writer's file object, formatted
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according to the current dialect.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}[csv writer]{writerows}{rows}
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Write all the \var{rows} parameters to the writer's file object, formatted
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according to the current dialect.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\subsection{Examples}
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The ``Hello, world'' of csv reading is
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\begin{verbatim}
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import csv
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reader = csv.reader(file("some.csv"))
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for row in reader:
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print row
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\end{verbatim}
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The corresponding simplest possible writing example is
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\begin{verbatim}
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import csv
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writer = csv.writer(file("some.csv", "w"))
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for row in someiterable:
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writer.writerow(row)
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\end{verbatim}
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