README

CSV Files and Haskell

CSV files are the de-facto standard in many cases of data transfer, particularly when dealing with enterprise application or disparate database systems.

While there are a number of csv libraries in Haskell, at the time of this project's start in 2010, there wasn't one that provided all of the following:

• Full flexibility in quote characters, separators, input/output
• Constant space operation
• Robust parsing and error resiliency
• Fast operation
• Convenient interface that supports a variety of use cases

This library is an attempt to close these gaps.

This package

csv-conduit is a conduits based CSV parsing library that is easy to use, flexible and fast. Furthermore, it provides ways to use constant-space during operation, which is absolutely critical in many real world use cases.

Introduction

• The CSVeable typeclass implements the key operations.
• CSVeable is parameterized on both a stream type and a target CSV row type.
• There are 2 basic row types and they implement exactly the same operations, so you can chose the right one for the job at hand:
  • type MapRow t = Map t t
  • type Row t = [t]
• You basically use the Conduits defined in this library to do the parsing from a CSV stream and rendering back into a CSV stream.
• Use the full flexibility and modularity of conduits for sources and sinks.

Speed

While fast operation is of concern, I have so far cared more about correct operation and a flexible API. Please let me know if you notice any performance regressions or optimization opportunities.

Usage Examples

Example #1: Basics Using Convenience API

{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}

import Data.Conduit
import Data.Conduit.Binary
import Data.Conduit.List as CL
import Data.CSV.Conduit
import Data.Text (Text)

-- Just reverse te columns
myProcessor :: Monad m => Conduit (Row Text) m (Row Text)
myProcessor = CL.map reverse

test :: IO ()
test = runResourceT $ 
  transformCSV defCSVSettings 
               (sourceFile "input.csv") 
               myProcessor
               (sinkFile "output.csv")

Example #2: Basics Using Conduit API

{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}

import Data.Conduit
import Data.Conduit.Binary
import Data.CSV.Conduit
import Data.Text (Text)

myProcessor :: Conduit (Row Text) m (Row Text)
myProcessor = undefined

-- Let's simply stream from a file, parse the CSV, reserialize it
-- and push back into another file.
test :: IO ()
test = runResourceT $ 
  sourceFile "test/BigFile.csv" $= 
  intoCSV defCSVSettings $=
  myProcessor $=
  fromCSV defCSVSettings $$
  sinkFile "test/BigFileOut.csv"