Provided by: libtext-csv-perl_2.02-2_all 
NAME
Text::CSV - comma-separated values manipulator (using XS or PurePerl)
SYNOPSIS
This section is taken from Text::CSV_XS.
# Functional interface
use Text::CSV qw( csv );
# Read whole file in memory
my $aoa = csv (in => "data.csv"); # as array of array
my $aoh = csv (in => "data.csv",
headers => "auto"); # as array of hash
# Write array of arrays as csv file
csv (in => $aoa, out => "file.csv", sep_char=> ";");
# Only show lines where "code" is odd
csv (in => "data.csv", filter => { code => sub { $_ % 2 }});
# Object interface
use Text::CSV;
my @rows;
# Read/parse CSV
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1, auto_diag => 1 });
open my $fh, "<:encoding(utf8)", "test.csv" or die "test.csv: $!";
while (my $row = $csv->getline ($fh)) {
$row->[2] =~ m/pattern/ or next; # 3rd field should match
push @rows, $row;
}
close $fh;
# and write as CSV
open $fh, ">:encoding(utf8)", "new.csv" or die "new.csv: $!";
$csv->say ($fh, $_) for @rows;
close $fh or die "new.csv: $!";
DESCRIPTION
Text::CSV is a thin wrapper for Text::CSV_XS-compatible modules now. All the backend
modules provide facilities for the composition and decomposition of comma-separated
values. Text::CSV uses Text::CSV_XS by default, and when Text::CSV_XS is not available,
falls back on Text::CSV_PP, which is bundled in the same distribution as this module.
CHOOSING BACKEND
This module respects an environmental variable called "PERL_TEXT_CSV" when it decides a
backend module to use. If this environmental variable is not set, it tries to load
Text::CSV_XS, and if Text::CSV_XS is not available, falls back on Text::CSV_PP;
If you always don't want it to fall back on Text::CSV_PP, set the variable like this
("export" may be "setenv", "set" and the likes, depending on your environment):
> export PERL_TEXT_CSV=Text::CSV_XS
If you prefer Text::CSV_XS to Text::CSV_PP (default), then:
> export PERL_TEXT_CSV=Text::CSV_XS,Text::CSV_PP
You may also want to set this variable at the top of your test files, in order not to be
bothered with incompatibilities between backends (you need to wrap this in "BEGIN", and
set before actually "use"-ing Text::CSV module, as it decides its backend as soon as it's
loaded):
BEGIN { $ENV{PERL_TEXT_CSV}='Text::CSV_PP'; }
use Text::CSV;
NOTES
This section is also taken from Text::CSV_XS.
Embedded newlines
Important Note: The default behavior is to accept only ASCII characters in the range from
0x20 (space) to 0x7E (tilde). This means that the fields can not contain newlines. If
your data contains newlines embedded in fields, or characters above 0x7E (tilde), or
binary data, you must set "binary => 1" in the call to "new". To cover the widest range of
parsing options, you will always want to set binary.
But you still have the problem that you have to pass a correct line to the "parse"
method, which is more complicated from the usual point of usage:
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1, eol => $/ });
while (<>) { # WRONG!
$csv->parse ($_);
my @fields = $csv->fields ();
}
this will break, as the "while" might read broken lines: it does not care about the
quoting. If you need to support embedded newlines, the way to go is to not pass "eol"
in the parser (it accepts "\n", "\r", and "\r\n" by default) and then
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1 });
open my $fh, "<", $file or die "$file: $!";
while (my $row = $csv->getline ($fh)) {
my @fields = @$row;
}
The old(er) way of using global file handles is still supported
while (my $row = $csv->getline (*ARGV)) { ... }
Unicode
Unicode is only tested to work with perl-5.8.2 and up.
See also "BOM".
The simplest way to ensure the correct encoding is used for in- and output is by either
setting layers on the filehandles, or setting the "encoding" argument for "csv".
open my $fh, "<:encoding(UTF-8)", "in.csv" or die "in.csv: $!";
or
my $aoa = csv (in => "in.csv", encoding => "UTF-8");
open my $fh, ">:encoding(UTF-8)", "out.csv" or die "out.csv: $!";
or
csv (in => $aoa, out => "out.csv", encoding => "UTF-8");
On parsing (both for "getline" and "parse"), if the source is marked being UTF8, then
all fields that are marked binary will also be marked UTF8.
On combining ("print" and "combine"): if any of the combining fields was marked UTF8,
the resulting string will be marked as UTF8. Note however that all fields before the
first field marked UTF8 and contained 8-bit characters that were not upgraded to UTF8,
these will be "bytes" in the resulting string too, possibly causing unexpected errors.
If you pass data of different encoding, or you don't know if there is different
encoding, force it to be upgraded before you pass them on:
$csv->print ($fh, [ map { utf8::upgrade (my $x = $_); $x } @data ]);
For complete control over encoding, please use Text::CSV::Encoded:
use Text::CSV::Encoded;
my $csv = Text::CSV::Encoded->new ({
encoding_in => "iso-8859-1", # the encoding comes into Perl
encoding_out => "cp1252", # the encoding comes out of Perl
});
$csv = Text::CSV::Encoded->new ({ encoding => "utf8" });
# combine () and print () accept *literally* utf8 encoded data
# parse () and getline () return *literally* utf8 encoded data
$csv = Text::CSV::Encoded->new ({ encoding => undef }); # default
# combine () and print () accept UTF8 marked data
# parse () and getline () return UTF8 marked data
BOM
BOM (or Byte Order Mark) handling is available only inside the "header" method. This
method supports the following encodings: "utf-8", "utf-1", "utf-32be", "utf-32le",
"utf-16be", "utf-16le", "utf-ebcdic", "scsu", "bocu-1", and "gb-18030". See Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_order_mark>.
If a file has a BOM, the easiest way to deal with that is
my $aoh = csv (in => $file, detect_bom => 1);
All records will be encoded based on the detected BOM.
This implies a call to the "header" method, which defaults to also set the
"column_names". So this is not the same as
my $aoh = csv (in => $file, headers => "auto");
which only reads the first record to set "column_names" but ignores any meaning of
possible present BOM.
METHODS
This section is also taken from Text::CSV_XS.
version
(Class method) Returns the current module version.
new
(Class method) Returns a new instance of class Text::CSV. The attributes are described by
the (optional) hash ref "\%attr".
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ attributes ... });
The following attributes are available:
eol
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ eol => $/ });
$csv->eol (undef);
my $eol = $csv->eol;
The end-of-line string to add to rows for "print" or the record separator for "getline".
When not passed in a parser instance, the default behavior is to accept "\n", "\r", and
"\r\n", so it is probably safer to not specify "eol" at all. Passing "undef" or the empty
string behave the same.
When not passed in a generating instance, records are not terminated at all, so it is
probably wise to pass something you expect. A safe choice for "eol" on output is either $/
or "\r\n".
Common values for "eol" are "\012" ("\n" or Line Feed), "\015\012" ("\r\n" or Carriage
Return, Line Feed), and "\015" ("\r" or Carriage Return). The "eol" attribute cannot
exceed 7 (ASCII) characters.
If both $/ and "eol" equal "\015", parsing lines that end on only a Carriage Return
without Line Feed, will be "parse"d correct.
sep_char
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ sep_char => ";" });
$csv->sep_char (";");
my $c = $csv->sep_char;
The char used to separate fields, by default a comma. (","). Limited to a single-byte
character, usually in the range from 0x20 (space) to 0x7E (tilde). When longer sequences
are required, use "sep".
The separation character can not be equal to the quote character or to the escape
character.
sep
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ sep => "\N{FULLWIDTH COMMA}" });
$csv->sep (";");
my $sep = $csv->sep;
The chars used to separate fields, by default undefined. Limited to 8 bytes.
When set, overrules "sep_char". If its length is one byte it acts as an alias to
"sep_char".
quote_char
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ quote_char => "'" });
$csv->quote_char (undef);
my $c = $csv->quote_char;
The character to quote fields containing blanks or binary data, by default the double
quote character ("""). A value of undef suppresses quote chars (for simple cases only).
Limited to a single-byte character, usually in the range from 0x20 (space) to 0x7E
(tilde). When longer sequences are required, use "quote".
"quote_char" can not be equal to "sep_char".
quote
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ quote => "\N{FULLWIDTH QUOTATION MARK}" });
$csv->quote ("'");
my $quote = $csv->quote;
The chars used to quote fields, by default undefined. Limited to 8 bytes.
When set, overrules "quote_char". If its length is one byte it acts as an alias to
"quote_char".
This method does not support "undef". Use "quote_char" to disable quotation.
escape_char
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ escape_char => "\\" });
$csv->escape_char (":");
my $c = $csv->escape_char;
The character to escape certain characters inside quoted fields. This is limited to a
single-byte character, usually in the range from 0x20 (space) to 0x7E (tilde).
The "escape_char" defaults to being the double-quote mark ("""). In other words the same
as the default "quote_char". This means that doubling the quote mark in a field escapes
it:
"foo","bar","Escape ""quote mark"" with two ""quote marks""","baz"
If you change the "quote_char" without changing the "escape_char", the
"escape_char" will still be the double-quote ("""). If instead you want to escape the
"quote_char" by doubling it you will need to also change the "escape_char" to be the
same as what you have changed the "quote_char" to.
Setting "escape_char" to "undef" or "" will completely disable escapes and is greatly
discouraged. This will also disable "escape_null".
The escape character can not be equal to the separation character.
binary
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1 });
$csv->binary (0);
my $f = $csv->binary;
If this attribute is 1, you may use binary characters in quoted fields, including line
feeds, carriage returns and "NULL" bytes. (The latter could be escaped as ""0".) By
default this feature is off.
If a string is marked UTF8, "binary" will be turned on automatically when binary
characters other than "CR" and "NL" are encountered. Note that a simple string like
"\x{00a0}" might still be binary, but not marked UTF8, so setting "{ binary => 1 }" is
still a wise option.
strict
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ strict => 1 });
$csv->strict (0);
my $f = $csv->strict;
If this attribute is set to 1, any row that parses to a different number of fields than
the previous row will cause the parser to throw error 2014.
skip_empty_rows
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ skip_empty_rows => 1 });
$csv->skip_empty_rows (0);
my $f = $csv->skip_empty_rows;
If this attribute is set to 1, any row that has an "eol" immediately following the start
of line will be skipped. Default behavior is to return one single empty field.
This attribute is only used in parsing.
formula_handling
Alias for "formula"
formula
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ formula => "none" });
$csv->formula ("none");
my $f = $csv->formula;
This defines the behavior of fields containing formulas. As formulas are considered
dangerous in spreadsheets, this attribute can define an optional action to be taken if a
field starts with an equal sign ("=").
For purpose of code-readability, this can also be written as
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ formula_handling => "none" });
$csv->formula_handling ("none");
my $f = $csv->formula_handling;
Possible values for this attribute are
none
Take no specific action. This is the default.
$csv->formula ("none");
die
Cause the process to "die" whenever a leading "=" is encountered.
$csv->formula ("die");
croak
Cause the process to "croak" whenever a leading "=" is encountered. (See Carp)
$csv->formula ("croak");
diag
Report position and content of the field whenever a leading "=" is found. The value of
the field is unchanged.
$csv->formula ("diag");
empty
Replace the content of fields that start with a "=" with the empty string.
$csv->formula ("empty");
$csv->formula ("");
undef
Replace the content of fields that start with a "=" with "undef".
$csv->formula ("undef");
$csv->formula (undef);
a callback
Modify the content of fields that start with a "=" with the return-value of the
callback. The original content of the field is available inside the callback as $_;
# Replace all formula's with 42
$csv->formula (sub { 42; });
# same as $csv->formula ("empty") but slower
$csv->formula (sub { "" });
# Allow =4+12
$csv->formula (sub { s/^=(\d+\+\d+)$/$1/eer });
# Allow more complex calculations
$csv->formula (sub { eval { s{^=([-+*/0-9()]+)$}{$1}ee }; $_ });
All other values will give a warning and then fallback to "diag".
decode_utf8
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ decode_utf8 => 1 });
$csv->decode_utf8 (0);
my $f = $csv->decode_utf8;
This attributes defaults to TRUE.
While parsing, fields that are valid UTF-8, are automatically set to be UTF-8, so that
$csv->parse ("\xC4\xA8\n");
results in
PV("\304\250"\0) [UTF8 "\x{128}"]
Sometimes it might not be a desired action. To prevent those upgrades, set this attribute
to false, and the result will be
PV("\304\250"\0)
auto_diag
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ auto_diag => 1 });
$csv->auto_diag (2);
my $l = $csv->auto_diag;
Set this attribute to a number between 1 and 9 causes "error_diag" to be automatically
called in void context upon errors.
In case of error "2012 - EOF", this call will be void.
If "auto_diag" is set to a numeric value greater than 1, it will "die" on errors instead
of "warn". If set to anything unrecognized, it will be silently ignored.
Future extensions to this feature will include more reliable auto-detection of "autodie"
being active in the scope of which the error occurred which will increment the value of
"auto_diag" with 1 the moment the error is detected.
diag_verbose
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ diag_verbose => 1 });
$csv->diag_verbose (2);
my $l = $csv->diag_verbose;
Set the verbosity of the output triggered by "auto_diag". Currently only adds the
current input-record-number (if known) to the diagnostic output with an indication of
the position of the error.
blank_is_undef
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ blank_is_undef => 1 });
$csv->blank_is_undef (0);
my $f = $csv->blank_is_undef;
Under normal circumstances, "CSV" data makes no distinction between quoted- and unquoted
empty fields. These both end up in an empty string field once read, thus
1,"",," ",2
is read as
("1", "", "", " ", "2")
When writing "CSV" files with either "always_quote" or "quote_empty" set, the unquoted
empty field is the result of an undefined value. To enable this distinction when
reading "CSV" data, the "blank_is_undef" attribute will cause unquoted empty fields
to be set to "undef", causing the above to be parsed as
("1", "", undef, " ", "2")
Note that this is specifically important when loading "CSV" fields into a database that
allows "NULL" values, as the perl equivalent for "NULL" is "undef" in DBI land.
empty_is_undef
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ empty_is_undef => 1 });
$csv->empty_is_undef (0);
my $f = $csv->empty_is_undef;
Going one step further than "blank_is_undef", this attribute converts all empty
fields to "undef", so
1,"",," ",2
is read as
(1, undef, undef, " ", 2)
Note that this affects only fields that are originally empty, not fields that are empty
after stripping allowed whitespace. YMMV.
allow_whitespace
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ allow_whitespace => 1 });
$csv->allow_whitespace (0);
my $f = $csv->allow_whitespace;
When this option is set to true, the whitespace ("TAB"'s and "SPACE"'s) surrounding the
separation character is removed when parsing. If either "TAB" or "SPACE" is one of the
three characters "sep_char", "quote_char", or "escape_char" it will not be considered
whitespace.
Now lines like:
1 , "foo" , bar , 3 , zapp
are parsed as valid "CSV", even though it violates the "CSV" specs.
Note that all whitespace is stripped from both start and end of each field. That
would make it more than a feature to enable parsing bad "CSV" lines, as
1, 2.0, 3, ape , monkey
will now be parsed as
("1", "2.0", "3", "ape", "monkey")
even if the original line was perfectly acceptable "CSV".
allow_loose_quotes
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ allow_loose_quotes => 1 });
$csv->allow_loose_quotes (0);
my $f = $csv->allow_loose_quotes;
By default, parsing unquoted fields containing "quote_char" characters like
1,foo "bar" baz,42
would result in parse error 2034. Though it is still bad practice to allow this format,
we cannot help the fact that some vendors make their applications spit out lines
styled this way.
If there is really bad "CSV" data, like
1,"foo "bar" baz",42
or
1,""foo bar baz"",42
there is a way to get this data-line parsed and leave the quotes inside the quoted field
as-is. This can be achieved by setting "allow_loose_quotes" AND making sure that the
"escape_char" is not equal to "quote_char".
allow_loose_escapes
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ allow_loose_escapes => 1 });
$csv->allow_loose_escapes (0);
my $f = $csv->allow_loose_escapes;
Parsing fields that have "escape_char" characters that escape characters that do not
need to be escaped, like:
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ escape_char => "\\" });
$csv->parse (qq{1,"my bar\'s",baz,42});
would result in parse error 2025. Though it is bad practice to allow this format, this
attribute enables you to treat all escape character sequences equal.
allow_unquoted_escape
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ allow_unquoted_escape => 1 });
$csv->allow_unquoted_escape (0);
my $f = $csv->allow_unquoted_escape;
A backward compatibility issue where "escape_char" differs from "quote_char" prevents
"escape_char" to be in the first position of a field. If "quote_char" is equal to the
default """ and "escape_char" is set to "\", this would be illegal:
1,\0,2
Setting this attribute to 1 might help to overcome issues with backward compatibility and
allow this style.
always_quote
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ always_quote => 1 });
$csv->always_quote (0);
my $f = $csv->always_quote;
By default the generated fields are quoted only if they need to be. For example, if they
contain the separator character. If you set this attribute to 1 then all defined fields
will be quoted. ("undef" fields are not quoted, see "blank_is_undef"). This makes it quite
often easier to handle exported data in external applications.
quote_space
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ quote_space => 1 });
$csv->quote_space (0);
my $f = $csv->quote_space;
By default, a space in a field would trigger quotation. As no rule exists this to be
forced in "CSV", nor any for the opposite, the default is true for safety. You can
exclude the space from this trigger by setting this attribute to 0.
quote_empty
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ quote_empty => 1 });
$csv->quote_empty (0);
my $f = $csv->quote_empty;
By default the generated fields are quoted only if they need to be. An empty (defined)
field does not need quotation. If you set this attribute to 1 then empty defined fields
will be quoted. ("undef" fields are not quoted, see "blank_is_undef"). See also
"always_quote".
quote_binary
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ quote_binary => 1 });
$csv->quote_binary (0);
my $f = $csv->quote_binary;
By default, all "unsafe" bytes inside a string cause the combined field to be quoted. By
setting this attribute to 0, you can disable that trigger for bytes ">= 0x7F".
escape_null
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ escape_null => 1 });
$csv->escape_null (0);
my $f = $csv->escape_null;
By default, a "NULL" byte in a field would be escaped. This option enables you to treat
the "NULL" byte as a simple binary character in binary mode (the "{ binary => 1 }" is
set). The default is true. You can prevent "NULL" escapes by setting this attribute to
0.
When the "escape_char" attribute is set to undefined, this attribute will be set to
false.
The default setting will encode "=\x00=" as
"="0="
With "escape_null" set, this will result in
"=\x00="
The default when using the "csv" function is "false".
For backward compatibility reasons, the deprecated old name "quote_null" is still
recognized.
keep_meta_info
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ keep_meta_info => 1 });
$csv->keep_meta_info (0);
my $f = $csv->keep_meta_info;
By default, the parsing of input records is as simple and fast as possible. However,
some parsing information - like quotation of the original field - is lost in that process.
Setting this flag to true enables retrieving that information after parsing with the
methods "meta_info", "is_quoted", and "is_binary" described below. Default is false for
performance.
If you set this attribute to a value greater than 9, then you can control output
quotation style like it was used in the input of the the last parsed record (unless
quotation was added because of other reasons).
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({
binary => 1,
keep_meta_info => 1,
quote_space => 0,
});
my $row = $csv->parse (q{1,,"", ," ",f,"g","h""h",help,"help"});
$csv->print (*STDOUT, \@row);
# 1,,, , ,f,g,"h""h",help,help
$csv->keep_meta_info (11);
$csv->print (*STDOUT, \@row);
# 1,,"", ," ",f,"g","h""h",help,"help"
undef_str
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ undef_str => "\\N" });
$csv->undef_str (undef);
my $s = $csv->undef_str;
This attribute optionally defines the output of undefined fields. The value passed is not
changed at all, so if it needs quotation, the quotation needs to be included in the value
of the attribute. Use with caution, as passing a value like ",",,,,""" will for sure
mess up your output. The default for this attribute is "undef", meaning no special
treatment.
This attribute is useful when exporting CSV data to be imported in custom loaders, like
for MySQL, that recognize special sequences for "NULL" data.
This attribute has no meaning when parsing CSV data.
comment_str
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ comment_str => "#" });
$csv->comment_str (undef);
my $s = $csv->comment_str;
This attribute optionally defines a string to be recognized as comment. If this attribute
is defined, all lines starting with this sequence will not be parsed as CSV but skipped
as comment.
This attribute has no meaning when generating CSV.
Comment strings that start with any of the special characters/sequences are not supported
(so it cannot start with any of "sep_char", "quote_char", "escape_char", "sep", "quote",
or "eol").
For convenience, "comment" is an alias for "comment_str".
verbatim
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ verbatim => 1 });
$csv->verbatim (0);
my $f = $csv->verbatim;
This is a quite controversial attribute to set, but makes some hard things possible.
The rationale behind this attribute is to tell the parser that the normally special
characters newline ("NL") and Carriage Return ("CR") will not be special when this flag
is set, and be dealt with as being ordinary binary characters. This will ease working
with data with embedded newlines.
When "verbatim" is used with "getline", "getline" auto-"chomp"'s every line.
Imagine a file format like
M^^Hans^Janssen^Klas 2\n2A^Ja^11-06-2007#\r\n
where, the line ending is a very specific "#\r\n", and the sep_char is a "^" (caret).
None of the fields is quoted, but embedded binary data is likely to be present. With the
specific line ending, this should not be too hard to detect.
By default, Text::CSV' parse function is instructed to only know about "\n" and "\r" to
be legal line endings, and so has to deal with the embedded newline as a real
"end-of-line", so it can scan the next line if binary is true, and the newline is inside
a quoted field. With this option, we tell "parse" to parse the line as if "\n" is just
nothing more than a binary character.
For "parse" this means that the parser has no more idea about line ending and "getline"
"chomp"s line endings on reading.
types
A set of column types; the attribute is immediately passed to the "types" method.
callbacks
See the "Callbacks" section below.
accessors
To sum it up,
$csv = Text::CSV->new ();
is equivalent to
$csv = Text::CSV->new ({
eol => undef, # \r, \n, or \r\n
sep_char => ',',
sep => undef,
quote_char => '"',
quote => undef,
escape_char => '"',
binary => 0,
decode_utf8 => 1,
auto_diag => 0,
diag_verbose => 0,
blank_is_undef => 0,
empty_is_undef => 0,
allow_whitespace => 0,
allow_loose_quotes => 0,
allow_loose_escapes => 0,
allow_unquoted_escape => 0,
always_quote => 0,
quote_empty => 0,
quote_space => 1,
escape_null => 1,
quote_binary => 1,
keep_meta_info => 0,
strict => 0,
skip_empty_rows => 0,
formula => 0,
verbatim => 0,
undef_str => undef,
comment_str => undef,
types => undef,
callbacks => undef,
});
For all of the above mentioned flags, an accessor method is available where you can
inquire the current value, or change the value
my $quote = $csv->quote_char;
$csv->binary (1);
It is not wise to change these settings halfway through writing "CSV" data to a stream. If
however you want to create a new stream using the available "CSV" object, there is no harm
in changing them.
If the "new" constructor call fails, it returns "undef", and makes the fail reason
available through the "error_diag" method.
$csv = Text::CSV->new ({ ecs_char => 1 }) or
die "".Text::CSV->error_diag ();
"error_diag" will return a string like
"INI - Unknown attribute 'ecs_char'"
known_attributes
@attr = Text::CSV->known_attributes;
@attr = Text::CSV::known_attributes;
@attr = $csv->known_attributes;
This method will return an ordered list of all the supported attributes as described
above. This can be useful for knowing what attributes are valid in classes that use or
extend Text::CSV.
print
$status = $csv->print ($fh, $colref);
Similar to "combine" + "string" + "print", but much more efficient. It expects an array
ref as input (not an array!) and the resulting string is not really created, but
immediately written to the $fh object, typically an IO handle or any other object that
offers a "print" method.
For performance reasons "print" does not create a result string, so all "string",
"status", "fields", and "error_input" methods will return undefined information after
executing this method.
If $colref is "undef" (explicit, not through a variable argument) and "bind_columns"
was used to specify fields to be printed, it is possible to make performance
improvements, as otherwise data would have to be copied as arguments to the method call:
$csv->bind_columns (\($foo, $bar));
$status = $csv->print ($fh, undef);
A short benchmark
my @data = ("aa" .. "zz");
$csv->bind_columns (\(@data));
$csv->print ($fh, [ @data ]); # 11800 recs/sec
$csv->print ($fh, \@data ); # 57600 recs/sec
$csv->print ($fh, undef ); # 48500 recs/sec
say
$status = $csv->say ($fh, $colref);
Like "print", but "eol" defaults to "$\".
print_hr
$csv->print_hr ($fh, $ref);
Provides an easy way to print a $ref (as fetched with "getline_hr") provided the column
names are set with "column_names".
It is just a wrapper method with basic parameter checks over
$csv->print ($fh, [ map { $ref->{$_} } $csv->column_names ]);
combine
$status = $csv->combine (@fields);
This method constructs a "CSV" record from @fields, returning success or failure.
Failure can result from lack of arguments or an argument that contains an invalid
character. Upon success, "string" can be called to retrieve the resultant "CSV" string.
Upon failure, the value returned by "string" is undefined and "error_input" could be
called to retrieve the invalid argument.
string
$line = $csv->string ();
This method returns the input to "parse" or the resultant "CSV" string of "combine",
whichever was called more recently.
getline
$colref = $csv->getline ($fh);
This is the counterpart to "print", as "parse" is the counterpart to "combine": it
parses a row from the $fh handle using the "getline" method associated with $fh and
parses this row into an array ref. This array ref is returned by the function or "undef"
for failure. When $fh does not support "getline", you are likely to hit errors.
When fields are bound with "bind_columns" the return value is a reference to an empty
list.
The "string", "fields", and "status" methods are meaningless again.
getline_all
$arrayref = $csv->getline_all ($fh);
$arrayref = $csv->getline_all ($fh, $offset);
$arrayref = $csv->getline_all ($fh, $offset, $length);
This will return a reference to a list of getline ($fh) results. In this call,
"keep_meta_info" is disabled. If $offset is negative, as with "splice", only the last
"abs ($offset)" records of $fh are taken into consideration.
Given a CSV file with 10 lines:
lines call
----- ---------------------------------------------------------
0..9 $csv->getline_all ($fh) # all
0..9 $csv->getline_all ($fh, 0) # all
8..9 $csv->getline_all ($fh, 8) # start at 8
- $csv->getline_all ($fh, 0, 0) # start at 0 first 0 rows
0..4 $csv->getline_all ($fh, 0, 5) # start at 0 first 5 rows
4..5 $csv->getline_all ($fh, 4, 2) # start at 4 first 2 rows
8..9 $csv->getline_all ($fh, -2) # last 2 rows
6..7 $csv->getline_all ($fh, -4, 2) # first 2 of last 4 rows
getline_hr
The "getline_hr" and "column_names" methods work together to allow you to have rows
returned as hashrefs. You must call "column_names" first to declare your column names.
$csv->column_names (qw( code name price description ));
$hr = $csv->getline_hr ($fh);
print "Price for $hr->{name} is $hr->{price} EUR\n";
"getline_hr" will croak if called before "column_names".
Note that "getline_hr" creates a hashref for every row and will be much slower than the
combined use of "bind_columns" and "getline" but still offering the same easy to use
hashref inside the loop:
my @cols = @{$csv->getline ($fh)};
$csv->column_names (@cols);
while (my $row = $csv->getline_hr ($fh)) {
print $row->{price};
}
Could easily be rewritten to the much faster:
my @cols = @{$csv->getline ($fh)};
my $row = {};
$csv->bind_columns (\@{$row}{@cols});
while ($csv->getline ($fh)) {
print $row->{price};
}
Your mileage may vary for the size of the data and the number of rows. With perl-5.14.2
the comparison for a 100_000 line file with 14 columns:
Rate hashrefs getlines
hashrefs 1.00/s -- -76%
getlines 4.15/s 313% --
getline_hr_all
$arrayref = $csv->getline_hr_all ($fh);
$arrayref = $csv->getline_hr_all ($fh, $offset);
$arrayref = $csv->getline_hr_all ($fh, $offset, $length);
This will return a reference to a list of getline_hr ($fh) results. In this call,
"keep_meta_info" is disabled.
parse
$status = $csv->parse ($line);
This method decomposes a "CSV" string into fields, returning success or failure.
Failure can result from a lack of argument or the given "CSV" string is improperly
formatted. Upon success, "fields" can be called to retrieve the decomposed fields. Upon
failure calling "fields" will return undefined data and "error_input" can be called to
retrieve the invalid argument.
You may use the "types" method for setting column types. See "types"' description below.
The $line argument is supposed to be a simple scalar. Everything else is supposed to croak
and set error 1500.
fragment
This function tries to implement RFC7111 (URI Fragment Identifiers for the text/csv Media
Type) - https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7111
my $AoA = $csv->fragment ($fh, $spec);
In specifications, "*" is used to specify the last item, a dash ("-") to indicate a
range. All indices are 1-based: the first row or column has index 1. Selections can be
combined with the semi-colon (";").
When using this method in combination with "column_names", the returned reference will
point to a list of hashes instead of a list of lists. A disjointed cell-based
combined selection might return rows with different number of columns making the use of
hashes unpredictable.
$csv->column_names ("Name", "Age");
my $AoH = $csv->fragment ($fh, "col=3;8");
If the "after_parse" callback is active, it is also called on every line parsed and
skipped before the fragment.
row
row=4
row=5-7
row=6-*
row=1-2;4;6-*
col
col=2
col=1-3
col=4-*
col=1-2;4;7-*
cell
In cell-based selection, the comma (",") is used to pair row and column
cell=4,1
The range operator ("-") using "cell"s can be used to define top-left and bottom-right
"cell" location
cell=3,1-4,6
The "*" is only allowed in the second part of a pair
cell=3,2-*,2 # row 3 till end, only column 2
cell=3,2-3,* # column 2 till end, only row 3
cell=3,2-*,* # strip row 1 and 2, and column 1
Cells and cell ranges may be combined with ";", possibly resulting in rows with
different numbers of columns
cell=1,1-2,2;3,3-4,4;1,4;4,1
Disjointed selections will only return selected cells. The cells that are not
specified will not be included in the returned set, not even as "undef". As an
example given a "CSV" like
11,12,13,...19
21,22,...28,29
: :
91,...97,98,99
with "cell=1,1-2,2;3,3-4,4;1,4;4,1" will return:
11,12,14
21,22
33,34
41,43,44
Overlapping cell-specs will return those cells only once, So
"cell=1,1-3,3;2,2-4,4;2,3;4,2" will return:
11,12,13
21,22,23,24
31,32,33,34
42,43,44
RFC7111 <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7111> does not allow different types
of specs to be combined (either "row" or "col" or "cell"). Passing an invalid fragment
specification will croak and set error 2013.
column_names
Set the "keys" that will be used in the "getline_hr" calls. If no keys (column names)
are passed, it will return the current setting as a list.
"column_names" accepts a list of scalars (the column names) or a single array_ref, so
you can pass the return value from "getline" too:
$csv->column_names ($csv->getline ($fh));
"column_names" does no checking on duplicates at all, which might lead to unexpected
results. Undefined entries will be replaced with the string "\cAUNDEF\cA", so
$csv->column_names (undef, "", "name", "name");
$hr = $csv->getline_hr ($fh);
will set "$hr->{"\cAUNDEF\cA"}" to the 1st field, "$hr->{""}" to the 2nd field, and
"$hr->{name}" to the 4th field, discarding the 3rd field.
"column_names" croaks on invalid arguments.
header
This method does NOT work in perl-5.6.x
Parse the CSV header and set "sep", column_names and encoding.
my @hdr = $csv->header ($fh);
$csv->header ($fh, { sep_set => [ ";", ",", "|", "\t" ] });
$csv->header ($fh, { detect_bom => 1, munge_column_names => "lc" });
The first argument should be a file handle.
This method resets some object properties, as it is supposed to be invoked only once per
file or stream. It will leave attributes "column_names" and "bound_columns" alone if
setting column names is disabled. Reading headers on previously process objects might fail
on perl-5.8.0 and older.
Assuming that the file opened for parsing has a header, and the header does not contain
problematic characters like embedded newlines, read the first line from the open handle
then auto-detect whether the header separates the column names with a character from the
allowed separator list.
If any of the allowed separators matches, and none of the other allowed separators match,
set "sep" to that separator for the current CSV instance and use it to parse the first
line, map those to lowercase, and use that to set the instance "column_names":
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1, auto_diag => 1 });
open my $fh, "<", "file.csv";
binmode $fh; # for Windows
$csv->header ($fh);
while (my $row = $csv->getline_hr ($fh)) {
...
}
If the header is empty, contains more than one unique separator out of the allowed set,
contains empty fields, or contains identical fields (after folding), it will croak with
error 1010, 1011, 1012, or 1013 respectively.
If the header contains embedded newlines or is not valid CSV in any other way, this
method will croak and leave the parse error untouched.
A successful call to "header" will always set the "sep" of the $csv object. This
behavior can not be disabled.
return value
On error this method will croak.
In list context, the headers will be returned whether they are used to set "column_names"
or not.
In scalar context, the instance itself is returned. Note: the values as found in the
header will effectively be lost if "set_column_names" is false.
Options
sep_set
$csv->header ($fh, { sep_set => [ ";", ",", "|", "\t" ] });
The list of legal separators defaults to "[ ";", "," ]" and can be changed by this
option. As this is probably the most often used option, it can be passed on its own as
an unnamed argument:
$csv->header ($fh, [ ";", ",", "|", "\t", "::", "\x{2063}" ]);
Multi-byte sequences are allowed, both multi-character and Unicode. See "sep".
detect_bom
$csv->header ($fh, { detect_bom => 1 });
The default behavior is to detect if the header line starts with a BOM. If the header
has a BOM, use that to set the encoding of $fh. This default behavior can be disabled
by passing a false value to "detect_bom".
Supported encodings from BOM are: UTF-8, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-32BE, and UTF-32LE.
BOM also supports UTF-1, UTF-EBCDIC, SCSU, BOCU-1, and GB-18030 but Encode does not
(yet). UTF-7 is not supported.
If a supported BOM was detected as start of the stream, it is stored in the object
attribute "ENCODING".
my $enc = $csv->{ENCODING};
The encoding is used with "binmode" on $fh.
If the handle was opened in a (correct) encoding, this method will not alter the
encoding, as it checks the leading bytes of the first line. In case the stream starts
with a decoded BOM ("U+FEFF"), "{ENCODING}" will be "" (empty) instead of the default
"undef".
munge_column_names
This option offers the means to modify the column names into something that is most
useful to the application. The default is to map all column names to lower case.
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => "lc" });
The following values are available:
lc - lower case
uc - upper case
db - valid DB field names
none - do not change
\%hash - supply a mapping
\&cb - supply a callback
Lower case
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => "lc" });
The header is changed to all lower-case
$_ = lc;
Upper case
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => "uc" });
The header is changed to all upper-case
$_ = uc;
Literal
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => "none" });
Hash
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => { foo => "sombrero" });
if a value does not exist, the original value is used unchanged
Database
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => "db" });
- lower-case
- all sequences of non-word characters are replaced with an underscore
- all leading underscores are removed
$_ = lc (s/\W+/_/gr =~ s/^_+//r);
Callback
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => sub { fc } });
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => sub { "column_".$col++ } });
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => sub { lc (s/\W+/_/gr) } });
As this callback is called in a "map", you can use $_ directly.
set_column_names
$csv->header ($fh, { set_column_names => 1 });
The default is to set the instances column names using "column_names" if the method is
successful, so subsequent calls to "getline_hr" can return a hash. Disable setting the
header can be forced by using a false value for this option.
As described in "return value" above, content is lost in scalar context.
Validation
When receiving CSV files from external sources, this method can be used to protect
against changes in the layout by restricting to known headers (and typos in the header
fields).
my %known = (
"record key" => "c_rec",
"rec id" => "c_rec",
"id_rec" => "c_rec",
"kode" => "code",
"code" => "code",
"vaule" => "value",
"value" => "value",
);
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1, auto_diag => 1 });
open my $fh, "<", $source or die "$source: $!";
$csv->header ($fh, { munge_column_names => sub {
s/\s+$//;
s/^\s+//;
$known{lc $_} or die "Unknown column '$_' in $source";
}});
while (my $row = $csv->getline_hr ($fh)) {
say join "\t", $row->{c_rec}, $row->{code}, $row->{value};
}
bind_columns
Takes a list of scalar references to be used for output with "print" or to store in the
fields fetched by "getline". When you do not pass enough references to store the fetched
fields in, "getline" will fail with error 3006. If you pass more than there are fields to
return, the content of the remaining references is left untouched.
$csv->bind_columns (\$code, \$name, \$price, \$description);
while ($csv->getline ($fh)) {
print "The price of a $name is \x{20ac} $price\n";
}
To reset or clear all column binding, call "bind_columns" with the single argument
"undef". This will also clear column names.
$csv->bind_columns (undef);
If no arguments are passed at all, "bind_columns" will return the list of current bindings
or "undef" if no binds are active.
Note that in parsing with "bind_columns", the fields are set on the fly. That implies
that if the third field of a row causes an error (or this row has just two fields where
the previous row had more), the first two fields already have been assigned the values of
the current row, while the rest of the fields will still hold the values of the previous
row. If you want the parser to fail in these cases, use the "strict" attribute.
eof
$eof = $csv->eof ();
If "parse" or "getline" was used with an IO stream, this method will return true (1) if
the last call hit end of file, otherwise it will return false (''). This is useful to
see the difference between a failure and end of file.
Note that if the parsing of the last line caused an error, "eof" is still true. That
means that if you are not using "auto_diag", an idiom like
while (my $row = $csv->getline ($fh)) {
# ...
}
$csv->eof or $csv->error_diag;
will not report the error. You would have to change that to
while (my $row = $csv->getline ($fh)) {
# ...
}
+$csv->error_diag and $csv->error_diag;
types
$csv->types (\@tref);
This method is used to force that (all) columns are of a given type. For example, if
you have an integer column, two columns with doubles and a string column, then you
might do a
$csv->types ([Text::CSV::IV (),
Text::CSV::NV (),
Text::CSV::NV (),
Text::CSV::PV ()]);
Column types are used only for decoding columns while parsing, in other words by the
"parse" and "getline" methods.
You can unset column types by doing a
$csv->types (undef);
or fetch the current type settings with
$types = $csv->types ();
IV
CSV_TYPE_IV
Set field type to integer.
NV
CSV_TYPE_NV
Set field type to numeric/float.
PV
CSV_TYPE_PV
Set field type to string.
fields
@columns = $csv->fields ();
This method returns the input to "combine" or the resultant decomposed fields of a
successful "parse", whichever was called more recently.
Note that the return value is undefined after using "getline", which does not fill the
data structures returned by "parse".
meta_info
@flags = $csv->meta_info ();
This method returns the "flags" of the input to "combine" or the flags of the resultant
decomposed fields of "parse", whichever was called more recently.
For each field, a meta_info field will hold flags that inform something about the
field returned by the "fields" method or passed to the "combine" method. The flags
are bit-wise-"or"'d like:
0x0001
"CSV_FLAGS_IS_QUOTED"
The field was quoted.
0x0002
"CSV_FLAGS_IS_BINARY"
The field was binary.
0x0004
"CSV_FLAGS_ERROR_IN_FIELD"
The field was invalid.
Currently only used when "allow_loose_quotes" is active.
0x0010
"CSV_FLAGS_IS_MISSING"
The field was missing.
See the "is_***" methods below.
is_quoted
my $quoted = $csv->is_quoted ($column_idx);
where $column_idx is the (zero-based) index of the column in the last result of
"parse".
This returns a true value if the data in the indicated column was enclosed in
"quote_char" quotes. This might be important for fields where content ",20070108," is to
be treated as a numeric value, and where ","20070108"," is explicitly marked as character
string data.
This method is only valid when "keep_meta_info" is set to a true value.
is_binary
my $binary = $csv->is_binary ($column_idx);
where $column_idx is the (zero-based) index of the column in the last result of
"parse".
This returns a true value if the data in the indicated column contained any byte in the
range "[\x00-\x08,\x10-\x1F,\x7F-\xFF]".
This method is only valid when "keep_meta_info" is set to a true value.
is_missing
my $missing = $csv->is_missing ($column_idx);
where $column_idx is the (zero-based) index of the column in the last result of
"getline_hr".
$csv->keep_meta_info (1);
while (my $hr = $csv->getline_hr ($fh)) {
$csv->is_missing (0) and next; # This was an empty line
}
When using "getline_hr", it is impossible to tell if the parsed fields are "undef"
because they where not filled in the "CSV" stream or because they were not read at all,
as all the fields defined by "column_names" are set in the hash-ref. If you still need
to know if all fields in each row are provided, you should enable "keep_meta_info" so you
can check the flags.
If "keep_meta_info" is "false", "is_missing" will always return "undef", regardless of
$column_idx being valid or not. If this attribute is "true" it will return either 0 (the
field is present) or 1 (the field is missing).
A special case is the empty line. If the line is completely empty - after dealing with
the flags - this is still a valid CSV line: it is a record of just one single empty
field. However, if "keep_meta_info" is set, invoking "is_missing" with index 0 will now
return true.
status
$status = $csv->status ();
This method returns the status of the last invoked "combine" or "parse" call. Status is
success (true: 1) or failure (false: "undef" or 0).
Note that as this only keeps track of the status of above mentioned methods, you are
probably looking for "error_diag" instead.
error_input
$bad_argument = $csv->error_input ();
This method returns the erroneous argument (if it exists) of "combine" or "parse",
whichever was called more recently. If the last invocation was successful, "error_input"
will return "undef".
Depending on the type of error, it might also hold the data for the last error-input of
"getline".
error_diag
Text::CSV->error_diag ();
$csv->error_diag ();
$error_code = 0 + $csv->error_diag ();
$error_str = "" . $csv->error_diag ();
($cde, $str, $pos, $rec, $fld) = $csv->error_diag ();
If (and only if) an error occurred, this function returns the diagnostics of that error.
If called in void context, this will print the internal error code and the associated
error message to STDERR.
If called in list context, this will return the error code and the error message in
that order. If the last error was from parsing, the rest of the values returned are a
best guess at the location within the line that was being parsed. Their values are
1-based. The position currently is index of the byte at which the parsing failed in the
current record. It might change to be the index of the current character in a later
release. The records is the index of the record parsed by the csv instance. The field
number is the index of the field the parser thinks it is currently trying to parse. See
examples/csv-check for how this can be used.
If called in scalar context, it will return the diagnostics in a single scalar, a-la
$!. It will contain the error code in numeric context, and the diagnostics message in
string context.
When called as a class method or a direct function call, the diagnostics are that of
the last "new" call.
record_number
$recno = $csv->record_number ();
Returns the records parsed by this csv instance. This value should be more accurate than
$. when embedded newlines come in play. Records written by this instance are not counted.
SetDiag
$csv->SetDiag (0);
Use to reset the diagnostics if you are dealing with errors.
ADDITIONAL METHODS
backend
Returns the backend module name called by Text::CSV. "module" is an alias.
is_xs
Returns true value if Text::CSV uses an XS backend.
is_pp
Returns true value if Text::CSV uses a pure-Perl backend.
FUNCTIONS
This section is also taken from Text::CSV_XS.
csv
This function is not exported by default and should be explicitly requested:
use Text::CSV qw( csv );
This is a high-level function that aims at simple (user) interfaces. This can be used to
read/parse a "CSV" file or stream (the default behavior) or to produce a file or write to
a stream (define the "out" attribute). It returns an array- or hash-reference on
parsing (or "undef" on fail) or the numeric value of "error_diag" on writing. When this
function fails you can get to the error using the class call to "error_diag"
my $aoa = csv (in => "test.csv") or
die Text::CSV->error_diag;
This function takes the arguments as key-value pairs. This can be passed as a list or as
an anonymous hash:
my $aoa = csv ( in => "test.csv", sep_char => ";");
my $aoh = csv ({ in => $fh, headers => "auto" });
The arguments passed consist of two parts: the arguments to "csv" itself and the optional
attributes to the "CSV" object used inside the function as enumerated and explained in
"new".
If not overridden, the default option used for CSV is
auto_diag => 1
escape_null => 0
The option that is always set and cannot be altered is
binary => 1
As this function will likely be used in one-liners, it allows "quote" to be abbreviated
as "quo", and "escape_char" to be abbreviated as "esc" or "escape".
Alternative invocations:
my $aoa = Text::CSV::csv (in => "file.csv");
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ();
my $aoa = $csv->csv (in => "file.csv");
In the latter case, the object attributes are used from the existing object and the
attribute arguments in the function call are ignored:
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ sep_char => ";" });
my $aoh = $csv->csv (in => "file.csv", bom => 1);
will parse using ";" as "sep_char", not ",".
in
Used to specify the source. "in" can be a file name (e.g. "file.csv"), which will be
opened for reading and closed when finished, a file handle (e.g. $fh or "FH"), a
reference to a glob (e.g. "\*ARGV"), the glob itself (e.g. *STDIN), or a reference to a
scalar (e.g. "\q{1,2,"csv"}").
When used with "out", "in" should be a reference to a CSV structure (AoA or AoH) or a
CODE-ref that returns an array-reference or a hash-reference. The code-ref will be
invoked with no arguments.
my $aoa = csv (in => "file.csv");
open my $fh, "<", "file.csv";
my $aoa = csv (in => $fh);
my $csv = [ [qw( Foo Bar )], [ 1, 2 ], [ 2, 3 ]];
my $err = csv (in => $csv, out => "file.csv");
If called in void context without the "out" attribute, the resulting ref will be used as
input to a subsequent call to csv:
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => { 2 => sub { length > 2 }})
will be a shortcut to
csv (in => csv (in => "file.csv", filter => { 2 => sub { length > 2 }}))
where, in the absence of the "out" attribute, this is a shortcut to
csv (in => csv (in => "file.csv", filter => { 2 => sub { length > 2 }}),
out => *STDOUT)
out
csv (in => $aoa, out => "file.csv");
csv (in => $aoa, out => $fh);
csv (in => $aoa, out => STDOUT);
csv (in => $aoa, out => *STDOUT);
csv (in => $aoa, out => \*STDOUT);
csv (in => $aoa, out => \my $data);
csv (in => $aoa, out => undef);
csv (in => $aoa, out => \"skip");
csv (in => $fh, out => \@aoa);
csv (in => $fh, out => \@aoh, bom => 1);
csv (in => $fh, out => \%hsh, key => "key");
In output mode, the default CSV options when producing CSV are
eol => "\r\n"
The "fragment" attribute is ignored in output mode.
"out" can be a file name (e.g. "file.csv"), which will be opened for writing and closed
when finished, a file handle (e.g. $fh or "FH"), a reference to a glob (e.g.
"\*STDOUT"), the glob itself (e.g. *STDOUT), or a reference to a scalar (e.g. "\my
$data").
csv (in => sub { $sth->fetch }, out => "dump.csv");
csv (in => sub { $sth->fetchrow_hashref }, out => "dump.csv",
headers => $sth->{NAME_lc});
When a code-ref is used for "in", the output is generated per invocation, so no buffering
is involved. This implies that there is no size restriction on the number of records. The
"csv" function ends when the coderef returns a false value.
If "out" is set to a reference of the literal string "skip", the output will be suppressed
completely, which might be useful in combination with a filter for side effects only.
my %cache;
csv (in => "dump.csv",
out => \"skip",
on_in => sub { $cache{$_[1][1]}++ });
Currently, setting "out" to any false value ("undef", "", 0) will be equivalent to
"\"skip"".
If the "in" argument point to something to parse, and the "out" is set to a reference to
an "ARRAY" or a "HASH", the output is appended to the data in the existing reference. The
result of the parse should match what exists in the reference passed. This might come
handy when you have to parse a set of files with similar content (like data stored per
period) and you want to collect that into a single data structure:
my %hash;
csv (in => $_, out => \%hash, key => "id") for sort glob "foo-[0-9]*.csv";
my @list; # List of arrays
csv (in => $_, out => \@list) for sort glob "foo-[0-9]*.csv";
my @list; # List of hashes
csv (in => $_, out => \@list, bom => 1) for sort glob "foo-[0-9]*.csv";
encoding
If passed, it should be an encoding accepted by the ":encoding()" option to "open".
There is no default value. This attribute does not work in perl 5.6.x. "encoding" can be
abbreviated to "enc" for ease of use in command line invocations.
If "encoding" is set to the literal value "auto", the method "header" will be invoked on
the opened stream to check if there is a BOM and set the encoding accordingly. This is
equal to passing a true value in the option "detect_bom".
Encodings can be stacked, as supported by "binmode":
# Using PerlIO::via::gzip
csv (in => \@csv,
out => "test.csv:via.gz",
encoding => ":via(gzip):encoding(utf-8)",
);
$aoa = csv (in => "test.csv:via.gz", encoding => ":via(gzip)");
# Using PerlIO::gzip
csv (in => \@csv,
out => "test.csv:via.gz",
encoding => ":gzip:encoding(utf-8)",
);
$aoa = csv (in => "test.csv:gzip.gz", encoding => ":gzip");
detect_bom
If "detect_bom" is given, the method "header" will be invoked on the opened stream to
check if there is a BOM and set the encoding accordingly.
"detect_bom" can be abbreviated to "bom".
This is the same as setting "encoding" to "auto".
Note that as the method "header" is invoked, its default is to also set the headers.
headers
If this attribute is not given, the default behavior is to produce an array of arrays.
If "headers" is supplied, it should be an anonymous list of column names, an anonymous
hashref, a coderef, or a literal flag: "auto", "lc", "uc", or "skip".
skip
When "skip" is used, the header will not be included in the output.
my $aoa = csv (in => $fh, headers => "skip");
auto
If "auto" is used, the first line of the "CSV" source will be read as the list of field
headers and used to produce an array of hashes.
my $aoh = csv (in => $fh, headers => "auto");
lc
If "lc" is used, the first line of the "CSV" source will be read as the list of field
headers mapped to lower case and used to produce an array of hashes. This is a
variation of "auto".
my $aoh = csv (in => $fh, headers => "lc");
uc
If "uc" is used, the first line of the "CSV" source will be read as the list of field
headers mapped to upper case and used to produce an array of hashes. This is a
variation of "auto".
my $aoh = csv (in => $fh, headers => "uc");
CODE
If a coderef is used, the first line of the "CSV" source will be read as the list of
mangled field headers in which each field is passed as the only argument to the coderef.
This list is used to produce an array of hashes.
my $aoh = csv (in => $fh,
headers => sub { lc ($_[0]) =~ s/kode/code/gr });
this example is a variation of using "lc" where all occurrences of "kode" are replaced
with "code".
ARRAY
If "headers" is an anonymous list, the entries in the list will be used as field
names. The first line is considered data instead of headers.
my $aoh = csv (in => $fh, headers => [qw( Foo Bar )]);
csv (in => $aoa, out => $fh, headers => [qw( code description price )]);
HASH
If "headers" is a hash reference, this implies "auto", but header fields that exist as
key in the hashref will be replaced by the value for that key. Given a CSV file like
post-kode,city,name,id number,fubble
1234AA,Duckstad,Donald,13,"X313DF"
using
csv (headers => { "post-kode" => "pc", "id number" => "ID" }, ...
will return an entry like
{ pc => "1234AA",
city => "Duckstad",
name => "Donald",
ID => "13",
fubble => "X313DF",
}
See also "munge_column_names" and "set_column_names".
munge_column_names
If "munge_column_names" is set, the method "header" is invoked on the opened stream
with all matching arguments to detect and set the headers.
"munge_column_names" can be abbreviated to "munge".
key
If passed, will default "headers" to "auto" and return a hashref instead of an array of
hashes. Allowed values are simple scalars or array-references where the first element is
the joiner and the rest are the fields to join to combine the key.
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => "code");
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => [ ":" => "code", "color" ]);
with test.csv like
code,product,price,color
1,pc,850,gray
2,keyboard,12,white
3,mouse,5,black
the first example will return
{ 1 => {
code => 1,
color => 'gray',
price => 850,
product => 'pc'
},
2 => {
code => 2,
color => 'white',
price => 12,
product => 'keyboard'
},
3 => {
code => 3,
color => 'black',
price => 5,
product => 'mouse'
}
}
the second example will return
{ "1:gray" => {
code => 1,
color => 'gray',
price => 850,
product => 'pc'
},
"2:white" => {
code => 2,
color => 'white',
price => 12,
product => 'keyboard'
},
"3:black" => {
code => 3,
color => 'black',
price => 5,
product => 'mouse'
}
}
The "key" attribute can be combined with "headers" for "CSV" date that has no header line,
like
my $ref = csv (
in => "foo.csv",
headers => [qw( c_foo foo bar description stock )],
key => "c_foo",
);
value
Used to create key-value hashes.
Only allowed when "key" is valid. A "value" can be either a single column label or an
anonymous list of column labels. In the first case, the value will be a simple scalar
value, in the latter case, it will be a hashref.
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => "code",
value => "price");
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => "code",
value => [ "product", "price" ]);
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => [ ":" => "code", "color" ],
value => "price");
my $ref = csv (in => "test.csv", key => [ ":" => "code", "color" ],
value => [ "product", "price" ]);
with test.csv like
code,product,price,color
1,pc,850,gray
2,keyboard,12,white
3,mouse,5,black
the first example will return
{ 1 => 850,
2 => 12,
3 => 5,
}
the second example will return
{ 1 => {
price => 850,
product => 'pc'
},
2 => {
price => 12,
product => 'keyboard'
},
3 => {
price => 5,
product => 'mouse'
}
}
the third example will return
{ "1:gray" => 850,
"2:white" => 12,
"3:black" => 5,
}
the fourth example will return
{ "1:gray" => {
price => 850,
product => 'pc'
},
"2:white" => {
price => 12,
product => 'keyboard'
},
"3:black" => {
price => 5,
product => 'mouse'
}
}
keep_headers
When using hashes, keep the column names into the arrayref passed, so all headers are
available after the call in the original order.
my $aoh = csv (in => "file.csv", keep_headers => \my @hdr);
This attribute can be abbreviated to "kh" or passed as "keep_column_names".
This attribute implies a default of "auto" for the "headers" attribute.
The headers can also be kept internally to keep stable header order:
csv (in => csv (in => "file.csv", kh => "internal"),
out => "new.csv",
kh => "internal");
where "internal" can also be 1, "yes", or "true". This is similar to
my @h;
csv (in => csv (in => "file.csv", kh => \@h),
out => "new.csv",
headers => \@h);
fragment
Only output the fragment as defined in the "fragment" method. This option is ignored when
generating "CSV". See "out".
Combining all of them could give something like
use Text::CSV qw( csv );
my $aoh = csv (
in => "test.txt",
encoding => "utf-8",
headers => "auto",
sep_char => "|",
fragment => "row=3;6-9;15-*",
);
say $aoh->[15]{Foo};
sep_set
If "sep_set" is set, the method "header" is invoked on the opened stream to detect and set
"sep_char" with the given set.
"sep_set" can be abbreviated to "seps".
Note that as the "header" method is invoked, its default is to also set the headers.
set_column_names
If "set_column_names" is passed, the method "header" is invoked on the opened stream
with all arguments meant for "header".
If "set_column_names" is passed as a false value, the content of the first row is only
preserved if the output is AoA:
With an input-file like
bAr,foo
1,2
3,4,5
This call
my $aoa = csv (in => $file, set_column_names => 0);
will result in
[[ "bar", "foo" ],
[ "1", "2" ],
[ "3", "4", "5" ]]
and
my $aoa = csv (in => $file, set_column_names => 0, munge => "none");
will result in
[[ "bAr", "foo" ],
[ "1", "2" ],
[ "3", "4", "5" ]]
Callbacks
Callbacks enable actions triggered from the inside of Text::CSV.
While most of what this enables can easily be done in an unrolled loop as described in
the "SYNOPSIS" callbacks can be used to meet special demands or enhance the "csv"
function.
error
$csv->callbacks (error => sub { $csv->SetDiag (0) });
the "error" callback is invoked when an error occurs, but only when "auto_diag" is
set to a true value. A callback is invoked with the values returned by "error_diag":
my ($c, $s);
sub ignore3006 {
my ($err, $msg, $pos, $recno, $fldno) = @_;
if ($err == 3006) {
# ignore this error
($c, $s) = (undef, undef);
Text::CSV->SetDiag (0);
}
# Any other error
return;
} # ignore3006
$csv->callbacks (error => \&ignore3006);
$csv->bind_columns (\$c, \$s);
while ($csv->getline ($fh)) {
# Error 3006 will not stop the loop
}
after_parse
$csv->callbacks (after_parse => sub { push @{$_[1]}, "NEW" });
while (my $row = $csv->getline ($fh)) {
$row->[-1] eq "NEW";
}
This callback is invoked after parsing with "getline" only if no error occurred. The
callback is invoked with two arguments: the current "CSV" parser object and an array
reference to the fields parsed.
The return code of the callback is ignored unless it is a reference to the string
"skip", in which case the record will be skipped in "getline_all".
sub add_from_db {
my ($csv, $row) = @_;
$sth->execute ($row->[4]);
push @$row, $sth->fetchrow_array;
} # add_from_db
my $aoa = csv (in => "file.csv", callbacks => {
after_parse => \&add_from_db });
This hook can be used for validation:
FAIL
Die if any of the records does not validate a rule:
after_parse => sub {
$_[1][4] =~ m/^[0-9]{4}\s?[A-Z]{2}$/ or
die "5th field does not have a valid Dutch zipcode";
}
DEFAULT
Replace invalid fields with a default value:
after_parse => sub { $_[1][2] =~ m/^\d+$/ or $_[1][2] = 0 }
SKIP
Skip records that have invalid fields (only applies to "getline_all"):
after_parse => sub { $_[1][0] =~ m/^\d+$/ or return \"skip"; }
before_print
my $idx = 1;
$csv->callbacks (before_print => sub { $_[1][0] = $idx++ });
$csv->print (*STDOUT, [ 0, $_ ]) for @members;
This callback is invoked before printing with "print" only if no error occurred. The
callback is invoked with two arguments: the current "CSV" parser object and an array
reference to the fields passed.
The return code of the callback is ignored.
sub max_4_fields {
my ($csv, $row) = @_;
@$row > 4 and splice @$row, 4;
} # max_4_fields
csv (in => csv (in => "file.csv"), out => *STDOUT,
callbacks => { before_print => \&max_4_fields });
This callback is not active for "combine".
Callbacks for csv ()
The "csv" allows for some callbacks that do not integrate in XS internals but only feature
the "csv" function.
csv (in => "file.csv",
callbacks => {
filter => { 6 => sub { $_ > 15 } }, # first
after_parse => sub { say "AFTER PARSE"; }, # first
after_in => sub { say "AFTER IN"; }, # second
on_in => sub { say "ON IN"; }, # third
},
);
csv (in => $aoh,
out => "file.csv",
callbacks => {
on_in => sub { say "ON IN"; }, # first
before_out => sub { say "BEFORE OUT"; }, # second
before_print => sub { say "BEFORE PRINT"; }, # third
},
);
filter
This callback can be used to filter records. It is called just after a new record has
been scanned. The callback accepts a:
hashref
The keys are the index to the row (the field name or field number, 1-based) and the
values are subs to return a true or false value.
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => {
3 => sub { m/a/ }, # third field should contain an "a"
5 => sub { length > 4 }, # length of the 5th field minimal 5
});
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => { foo => sub { $_ > 4 }});
If the keys to the filter hash contain any character that is not a digit it will also
implicitly set "headers" to "auto" unless "headers" was already passed as argument.
When headers are active, returning an array of hashes, the filter is not applicable to
the header itself.
All sub results should match, as in AND.
The context of the callback sets $_ localized to the field indicated by the filter.
The two arguments are as with all other callbacks, so the other fields in the current
row can be seen:
filter => { 3 => sub { $_ > 100 ? $_[1][1] =~ m/A/ : $_[1][6] =~ m/B/ }}
If the context is set to return a list of hashes ("headers" is defined), the current
record will also be available in the localized %_:
filter => { 3 => sub { $_ > 100 && $_{foo} =~ m/A/ && $_{bar} < 1000 }}
If the filter is used to alter the content by changing $_, make sure that the sub
returns true in order not to have that record skipped:
filter => { 2 => sub { $_ = uc }}
will upper-case the second field, and then skip it if the resulting content evaluates
to false. To always accept, end with truth:
filter => { 2 => sub { $_ = uc; 1 }}
coderef
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => sub { $n++; 0; });
If the argument to "filter" is a coderef, it is an alias or shortcut to a filter on
column 0:
csv (filter => sub { $n++; 0 });
is equal to
csv (filter => { 0 => sub { $n++; 0 });
filter-name
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => "not_blank");
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => "not_empty");
csv (in => "file.csv", filter => "filled");
These are predefined filters
Given a file like (line numbers prefixed for doc purpose only):
1:1,2,3
2:
3:,
4:""
5:,,
6:, ,
7:"",
8:" "
9:4,5,6
not_blank
Filter out the blank lines
This filter is a shortcut for
filter => { 0 => sub { @{$_[1]} > 1 or
defined $_[1][0] && $_[1][0] ne "" } }
Due to the implementation, it is currently impossible to also filter lines that
consists only of a quoted empty field. These lines are also considered blank lines.
With the given example, lines 2 and 4 will be skipped.
not_empty
Filter out lines where all the fields are empty.
This filter is a shortcut for
filter => { 0 => sub { grep { defined && $_ ne "" } @{$_[1]} } }
A space is not regarded being empty, so given the example data, lines 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 7 are skipped.
filled
Filter out lines that have no visible data
This filter is a shortcut for
filter => { 0 => sub { grep { defined && m/\S/ } @{$_[1]} } }
This filter rejects all lines that not have at least one field that does not
evaluate to the empty string.
With the given example data, this filter would skip lines 2 through 8.
One could also use modules like Types::Standard:
use Types::Standard -types;
my $type = Tuple[Str, Str, Int, Bool, Optional[Num]];
my $check = $type->compiled_check;
# filter with compiled check and warnings
my $aoa = csv (
in => \$data,
filter => {
0 => sub {
my $ok = $check->($_[1]) or
warn $type->get_message ($_[1]), "\n";
return $ok;
},
},
);
after_in
This callback is invoked for each record after all records have been parsed but before
returning the reference to the caller. The hook is invoked with two arguments: the
current "CSV" parser object and a reference to the record. The reference can be a
reference to a HASH or a reference to an ARRAY as determined by the arguments.
This callback can also be passed as an attribute without the "callbacks" wrapper.
before_out
This callback is invoked for each record before the record is printed. The hook is
invoked with two arguments: the current "CSV" parser object and a reference to the
record. The reference can be a reference to a HASH or a reference to an ARRAY as
determined by the arguments.
This callback can also be passed as an attribute without the "callbacks" wrapper.
This callback makes the row available in %_ if the row is a hashref. In this case %_ is
writable and will change the original row.
on_in
This callback acts exactly as the "after_in" or the "before_out" hooks.
This callback can also be passed as an attribute without the "callbacks" wrapper.
This callback makes the row available in %_ if the row is a hashref. In this case %_ is
writable and will change the original row. So e.g. with
my $aoh = csv (
in => \"foo\n1\n2\n",
headers => "auto",
on_in => sub { $_{bar} = 2; },
);
$aoh will be:
[ { foo => 1,
bar => 2,
}
{ foo => 2,
bar => 2,
}
]
csv
The function "csv" can also be called as a method or with an existing Text::CSV object.
This could help if the function is to be invoked a lot of times and the overhead of
creating the object internally over and over again would be prevented by passing an
existing instance.
my $csv = Text::CSV->new ({ binary => 1, auto_diag => 1 });
my $aoa = $csv->csv (in => $fh);
my $aoa = csv (in => $fh, csv => $csv);
both act the same. Running this 20000 times on a 20 lines CSV file, showed a 53%
speedup.
DIAGNOSTICS
This section is also taken from Text::CSV_XS.
Still under construction ...
If an error occurs, "$csv->error_diag" can be used to get information on the cause of the
failure. Note that for speed reasons the internal value is never cleared on success, so
using the value returned by "error_diag" in normal cases - when no error occurred - may
cause unexpected results.
If the constructor failed, the cause can be found using "error_diag" as a class method,
like "Text::CSV->error_diag".
The "$csv->error_diag" method is automatically invoked upon error when the contractor was
called with "auto_diag" set to 1 or 2, or when autodie is in effect. When set to 1,
this will cause a "warn" with the error message, when set to 2, it will "die". "2012 -
EOF" is excluded from "auto_diag" reports.
Errors can be (individually) caught using the "error" callback.
The errors as described below are available. I have tried to make the error itself
explanatory enough, but more descriptions will be added. For most of these errors, the
first three capitals describe the error category:
• INI
Initialization error or option conflict.
• ECR
Carriage-Return related parse error.
• EOF
End-Of-File related parse error.
• EIQ
Parse error inside quotation.
• EIF
Parse error inside field.
• ECB
Combine error.
• EHR
HashRef parse related error.
And below should be the complete list of error codes that can be returned:
• 1001 "INI - sep_char is equal to quote_char or escape_char"
The separation character cannot be equal to the quotation character or to the escape
character, as this would invalidate all parsing rules.
• 1002 "INI - allow_whitespace with escape_char or quote_char SP or TAB"
Using the "allow_whitespace" attribute when either "quote_char" or "escape_char" is
equal to "SPACE" or "TAB" is too ambiguous to allow.
• 1003 "INI - \r or \n in main attr not allowed"
Using default "eol" characters in either "sep_char", "quote_char", or "escape_char"
is not allowed.
• 1004 "INI - callbacks should be undef or a hashref"
The "callbacks" attribute only allows one to be "undef" or a hash reference.
• 1005 "INI - EOL too long"
The value passed for EOL is exceeding its maximum length (16).
• 1006 "INI - SEP too long"
The value passed for SEP is exceeding its maximum length (16).
• 1007 "INI - QUOTE too long"
The value passed for QUOTE is exceeding its maximum length (16).
• 1008 "INI - SEP undefined"
The value passed for SEP should be defined and not empty.
• 1010 "INI - the header is empty"
The header line parsed in the "header" is empty.
• 1011 "INI - the header contains more than one valid separator"
The header line parsed in the "header" contains more than one (unique) separator
character out of the allowed set of separators.
• 1012 "INI - the header contains an empty field"
The header line parsed in the "header" contains an empty field.
• 1013 "INI - the header contains nun-unique fields"
The header line parsed in the "header" contains at least two identical fields.
• 1014 "INI - header called on undefined stream"
The header line cannot be parsed from an undefined source.
• 1500 "PRM - Invalid/unsupported argument(s)"
Function or method called with invalid argument(s) or parameter(s).
• 1501 "PRM - The key attribute is passed as an unsupported type"
The "key" attribute is of an unsupported type.
• 1502 "PRM - The value attribute is passed without the key attribute"
The "value" attribute is only allowed when a valid key is given.
• 1503 "PRM - The value attribute is passed as an unsupported type"
The "value" attribute is of an unsupported type.
• 2010 "ECR - QUO char inside quotes followed by CR not part of EOL"
When "eol" has been set to anything but the default, like "\r\t\n", and the
"\r" is following the second (closing) "quote_char", where the characters
following the "\r" do not make up the "eol" sequence, this is an error.
• 2011 "ECR - Characters after end of quoted field"
Sequences like "1,foo,"bar"baz,22,1" are not allowed. "bar" is a quoted field and after
the closing double-quote, there should be either a new-line sequence or a separation
character.
• 2012 "EOF - End of data in parsing input stream"
Self-explaining. End-of-file while inside parsing a stream. Can happen only when reading
from streams with "getline", as using "parse" is done on strings that are not required
to have a trailing "eol".
• 2013 "INI - Specification error for fragments RFC7111"
Invalid specification for URI "fragment" specification.
• 2014 "ENF - Inconsistent number of fields"
Inconsistent number of fields under strict parsing.
• 2021 "EIQ - NL char inside quotes, binary off"
Sequences like "1,"foo\nbar",22,1" are allowed only when the binary option has been
selected with the constructor.
• 2022 "EIQ - CR char inside quotes, binary off"
Sequences like "1,"foo\rbar",22,1" are allowed only when the binary option has been
selected with the constructor.
• 2023 "EIQ - QUO character not allowed"
Sequences like ""foo "bar" baz",qu" and "2023,",2008-04-05,"Foo, Bar",\n" will cause
this error.
• 2024 "EIQ - EOF cannot be escaped, not even inside quotes"
The escape character is not allowed as last character in an input stream.
• 2025 "EIQ - Loose unescaped escape"
An escape character should escape only characters that need escaping.
Allowing the escape for other characters is possible with the attribute
"allow_loose_escapes".
• 2026 "EIQ - Binary character inside quoted field, binary off"
Binary characters are not allowed by default. Exceptions are fields that contain
valid UTF-8, that will automatically be upgraded if the content is valid UTF-8. Set
"binary" to 1 to accept binary data.
• 2027 "EIQ - Quoted field not terminated"
When parsing a field that started with a quotation character, the field is expected to
be closed with a quotation character. When the parsed line is exhausted before the
quote is found, that field is not terminated.
• 2030 "EIF - NL char inside unquoted verbatim, binary off"
• 2031 "EIF - CR char is first char of field, not part of EOL"
• 2032 "EIF - CR char inside unquoted, not part of EOL"
• 2034 "EIF - Loose unescaped quote"
• 2035 "EIF - Escaped EOF in unquoted field"
• 2036 "EIF - ESC error"
• 2037 "EIF - Binary character in unquoted field, binary off"
• 2110 "ECB - Binary character in Combine, binary off"
• 2200 "EIO - print to IO failed. See errno"
• 3001 "EHR - Unsupported syntax for column_names ()"
• 3002 "EHR - getline_hr () called before column_names ()"
• 3003 "EHR - bind_columns () and column_names () fields count mismatch"
• 3004 "EHR - bind_columns () only accepts refs to scalars"
• 3006 "EHR - bind_columns () did not pass enough refs for parsed fields"
• 3007 "EHR - bind_columns needs refs to writable scalars"
• 3008 "EHR - unexpected error in bound fields"
• 3009 "EHR - print_hr () called before column_names ()"
• 3010 "EHR - print_hr () called with invalid arguments"
SEE ALSO
Text::CSV_PP, Text::CSV_XS and Text::CSV::Encoded.
AUTHORS and MAINTAINERS
Alan Citterman <alan[at]mfgrtl.com> wrote the original Perl module. Please don't send mail
concerning Text::CSV to Alan, as he's not a present maintainer.
Jochen Wiedmann <joe[at]ispsoft.de> rewrote the encoding and decoding in C by implementing
a simple finite-state machine and added the variable quote, escape and separator
characters, the binary mode and the print and getline methods. See ChangeLog releases 0.10
through 0.23.
H.Merijn Brand <h.m.brand[at]xs4all.nl> cleaned up the code, added the field flags
methods, wrote the major part of the test suite, completed the documentation, fixed some
RT bugs. See ChangeLog releases 0.25 and on.
Makamaka Hannyaharamitu, <makamaka[at]cpan.org> wrote Text::CSV_PP which is the pure-Perl
version of Text::CSV_XS.
New Text::CSV (since 0.99) is maintained by Makamaka, and Kenichi Ishigaki since 1.91.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Text::CSV
Copyright (C) 1997 Alan Citterman. All rights reserved. Copyright (C) 2007-2015 Makamaka
Hannyaharamitu. Copyright (C) 2017- Kenichi Ishigaki A large portion of the doc is taken
from Text::CSV_XS. See below.
Text::CSV_PP:
Copyright (C) 2005-2015 Makamaka Hannyaharamitu. Copyright (C) 2017- Kenichi Ishigaki A
large portion of the code/doc are also taken from Text::CSV_XS. See below.
Text:CSV_XS:
Copyright (C) 2007-2016 H.Merijn Brand for PROCURA B.V. Copyright (C) 1998-2001 Jochen
Wiedmann. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright (C) 1997 Alan Citterman. All rights
reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.