uk.org.ogsadai.converters.csv
Class CSVConfigurator

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--uk.org.ogsadai.converters.csv.CSVConfigurator

public class CSVConfigurator

extends java.lang.Object

A class that defines the format of CSV file.

There is currently no such thing as CSV format. This class is ment to inform other classes what format should be used to produce or parse CSV files. It is especially imporant for parsers as it is very difficult to determine the exact convention used in CSV file automatically. Flexible format used here conforms to the following guidelines:

• fields are separated by delimiter which can be any single char except double quote,
• each record is located on a separate line, delimited by a line break which can be set to CR, LF or CRLF
• last record may or may not have an ending line break,
• there may be an optional header line included as a first line with the same format as normal record lines. Header will contain names corresponding to the record fields (column names),
• within the header and each record there must be the same number of fields,
• fields with embedded delimiters must be enclosed in double quotes,
• fields that contain double quotes must be enclosed in double quotes and the embedded double quotes must each be escaped by preceding it with another double quote,
• fields with embedded line breaks must be surrounded by double quotes,
• fields may always be enclosed in double quotes.

User can set the following parameters:

• mLineBreak - symbol used to delimit records (default: CRLF)
• mDelimiter - character used to separate fields (default: ,)
• mNullDataStr - string to represent null value fields (default: NULL)
• mIncludeHeader - informs if toCSV converters should include header and if fromCSV parsers should treat first line as header (default: true),
• mEscapeFields - informs if either all or none of the character based fields should be surrounded by double quotes. If user is sure that data will not require enclosing fields in double quotes this information can be used by toCSV converters to speed up their operation (default: true)

Author:

The OGSA-DAI Project Team

COPYRIGHT_NOTICE

private static final java.lang.String COPYRIGHT_NOTICE

See Also:

Constant Field Values

mLineBreakChars

private java.lang.String mLineBreakChars

mLineBreak

private java.lang.String mLineBreak

mDelimiter

private java.lang.String mDelimiter

mNullDataStr

private java.lang.String mNullDataStr

mIncludeHeader

private boolean mIncludeHeader

mEscapeFields

private boolean mEscapeFields

CSVConfigurator

public CSVConfigurator()

getMLineBreakChars

public java.lang.String getMLineBreakChars()

Returns proper ASCII representation of lineBreak.

Returns:

ASCII representation of lineBreak

getMLineBreak

public java.lang.String getMLineBreak()

Returns lineBreak.

Returns:

lineBreak

setMLineBreak

public void setMLineBreak(java.lang.String lineBreak)
                   throws CSVConfigurationException

Set the code used to break lines.

Parameters:

lineBreak - Allowed values are: CR (used in UNIX), LF (used in Apple Mac), LFCR (used in Windows)

Throws:

CSVConfigurationException

getMNullDataStr

public java.lang.String getMNullDataStr()

Returns string that is used to signify null data fields

Returns:

string used for null data fields

setMNullDataStr

public void setMNullDataStr(java.lang.String nullDataStr)
                     throws CSVConfigurationException

Set the string that signifies null value fields.

Parameters:

nullDataStr -

Throws:

CSVConfigurationException

isMIncludeHeader

public boolean isMIncludeHeader()

Informs if header line with column names is included.

Returns:

true if header is included

setMIncludeHeader

public void setMIncludeHeader(boolean includeHeader)

Set the field informing about header line inclusion.

Parameters:

includeHeader - true if header is included

getMDelimiter

public java.lang.String getMDelimiter()

Returns string used as delimiter for fields

Returns:

delimiter

setMDelimiter

public void setMDelimiter(java.lang.String delimiter)
                   throws CSVConfigurationException

Set the delimiter used to separate fields.

Parameters:

delimiter - Any single character except double quote can be used as delimiter

Throws:

CSVConfigurationException

isMEscapeFields

public boolean isMEscapeFields()

Informs if textual fields should be enclosed in double quotes

Returns:

true if fileds should be surrounded by double quotes

setMEscapeFields

public void setMEscapeFields(boolean escapeFields)

Set the field informing about if fields should be surrounded by double quotes.

Parameters:

escapeFields - true if fields should be enclosed in double quotes.

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object