Bug #47464 for Text-CSV_XS: Quote of nulls

Tue Jun 30 13:07:21 2009 perl [...] evancarroll.com - Ticket created

Subject:

Quote of nulls

Is there anyway to pull in a null as an empty quote? "foo","","bar" as ['foo',undef,'bar']

Tue Jun 30 13:51:56 2009 h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl - Correspondence added

Subject:	Re: [rt.cpan.org #47464] Quote of nulls
Date:	Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:51:36 +0200
To:	bug-Text-CSV_XS [...] rt.cpan.org
From:	"H.Merijn Brand" <h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl>

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:07:22 -0400, "Evan Carroll via RT" <bug-Text-CSV_XS@rt.cpan.org> wrote: Show quoted text

> Is there anyway to pull in a null as an empty quote? > "foo","","bar" > > as ['foo',undef,'bar']

no, I don't think so /If/ it is possible, I'm sure it'll break other things. And how would you differentiate between empty and undef? even with a combination of allow_loose_quotes => 1, blank_is_undef => 1, echo '"foo","","bar"' | perl -MDP -MText::CSV_XS -we'my$csv=Text::CSV_XS->new({binary=>1,allow_loose_quotes=>1,blank_is_undef=>1});DDumper$csv->getline(*STDIN)' $VAR1 = [ 'foo', '', 'bar' ]; -- H.Merijn Brand http://tux.nl Perl Monger http://amsterdam.pm.org/ using & porting perl 5.6.2, 5.8.x, 5.10.x, 5.11.x on HP-UX 10.20, 11.00, 11.11, 11.23, and 11.31, OpenSuSE 10.3, 11.0, and 11.1, AIX 5.2 and 5.3. http://mirrors.develooper.com/hpux/ http://www.test-smoke.org/ http://qa.perl.org http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/

Tue Jun 30 13:51:57 2009 The RT System itself - Status changed from 'new' to 'open'

Tue Jun 30 14:37:23 2009 perl [...] evancarroll.com - Correspondence added

On Tue Jun 30 13:51:56 2009, h.m.brand@xs4all.nl wrote: Show quoted text

> On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:07:22 -0400, "Evan Carroll via RT" > <bug-Text-CSV_XS@rt.cpan.org> wrote: >

> > Is there anyway to pull in a null as an empty quote? > > "foo","","bar" > > > > as ['foo',undef,'bar']

> > no, I don't think so > /If/ it is possible, I'm sure it'll break other things. > And how would you differentiate between empty and undef? > > even with a combination of > > allow_loose_quotes => 1, > blank_is_undef => 1, > > echo '"foo","","bar"' | perl -MDP -MText::CSV_XS >

-we'my$csv=Text::CSV_XS->new({binary=>1,allow_loose_quotes=>1,blank_is_undef=>1});DDumper$csv->getline(*STDIN)' Show quoted text

> $VAR1 = [ > 'foo', > '', > 'bar' > ]; >

Well it is ambiguous either way.. But, for perl, using the MooseX::Types I'd rather it be "undefined" than defined as an empty string (even though it is literally what it is, it is part of the CSV-exportation process). Actually, I can't think of any practical case where you would want to send an empty string in a csv file anyway, and not want the receiving end to correct it as NULL. Maybe something like this is called for: naked_quotes_are_undef => 1 Then I can say has 'price_term' => ( isa => 'Maybe[Int]', is => rw ); and do $self->price_term( value from $csv->fields )

Tue Jun 30 15:25:09 2009 h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl - Correspondence added

Subject:	Re: [rt.cpan.org #47464] Quote of nulls
Date:	Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:24:47 +0200
To:	bug-Text-CSV_XS [...] rt.cpan.org
From:	"H.Merijn Brand" <h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl>

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:37:24 -0400, "Evan Carroll via RT" <bug-Text-CSV_XS@rt.cpan.org> wrote: Show quoted text

> Well it is ambiguous either way.. But, for perl, using the MooseX::Types > I'd rather it be "undefined" than defined as an empty string (even > though it is literally what it is, it is part of the CSV-exportation > process). Actually, I can't think of any practical case where you would > want to send an empty string in a csv file anyway,

Oh, but I do, and use it day-in-day-out. When *exporting* databases to CSV, ,"", is an empty string, and ,, is a NULL value when using { quote_always => 1 } I see no other way to do that. Show quoted text

> and not want the receiving end to correct it as NULL. Maybe something > like this is called for: > > naked_quotes_are_undef => 1

in my perception that would be empty_is_undef => 1, but where is the reading function? How hard would it be to while (my $row = getline ($fh)) { my @row = @$row; to while (my $row = getline ($fh)) { my @row = map { $_ eq "" ? undef : $_ } @$row; Show quoted text

> Then I can say > has 'price_term' => ( isa => 'Maybe[Int]', is => rw ); > > and do $self->price_term (value from $csv->fields)

-- H.Merijn Brand http://tux.nl Perl Monger http://amsterdam.pm.org/ using & porting perl 5.6.2, 5.8.x, 5.10.x, 5.11.x on HP-UX 10.20, 11.00, 11.11, 11.23, and 11.31, OpenSuSE 10.3, 11.0, and 11.1, AIX 5.2 and 5.3. http://mirrors.develooper.com/hpux/ http://www.test-smoke.org/ http://qa.perl.org http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/

Tue Jun 30 15:43:36 2009 perl [...] evancarroll.com - Correspondence added

Show quoted text

> Oh, but I do, and use it day-in-day-out. When *exporting* databases to > CSV, ,"", is an empty string, and ,, is a NULL value when using > { quote_always => 1 } I see no other way to do that.

Well, I wasn't saying it was useless, I just said it was a poor default that can you can't override in the library. To each their own, though, this was just a wishlist item for me. I personally view an empty string, as a stringification of a NULL more likely than an verbatum empty field, simply because you can always not-know something, but only in select cases can you know something to be empty. Examples would include a practical application of a person's name. Show quoted text

> while (my $row = getline ($fh)) { > my @row = map { $_ eq "" ? undef : $_ } @$row;

This works so long as you only use functionality that retrieves the array-row and not the hashref-row.

Wed Jul 01 02:43:08 2009 h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl - Correspondence added

Subject:	Re: [rt.cpan.org #47464] Quote of nulls
Date:	Wed, 1 Jul 2009 08:42:49 +0200
To:	bug-Text-CSV_XS [...] rt.cpan.org
From:	"H.Merijn Brand" <h.m.brand [...] xs4all.nl>

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:43:37 -0400, "Evan Carroll via RT" <bug-Text-CSV_XS@rt.cpan.org> wrote: Show quoted text

> Queue: Text-CSV_XS > Ticket <URL: https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=47464 > >

> > Oh, but I do, and use it day-in-day-out. When *exporting* databases to > > CSV, ,"", is an empty string, and ,, is a NULL value when using > > { quote_always => 1 } I see no other way to do that.

> > Well, I wasn't saying it was useless, I just said it was a poor default > that can you can't override in the library. To each their own, though, > this was just a wishlist item for me. I personally view an empty string, > as a stringification of a NULL more likely than an verbatum empty field, > simply because you can always not-know something, but only in select > cases can you know something to be empty.

And I didn't say it was unacceptable :) http://www.xs4all.nl/~hmbrand/Text-CSV_XS-0.66_01.tgz (that file will not stay there indefinitely) echo '"foo","","bar",' | perl -Iblib/lib -Iblib/arch -MDP -MText::CSV_XS -we'my$csv=Text::CSV_XS->new({binary=>1,empty_is_undef=>1});DDumper$csv->getline(*STDIN)' $VAR1 = [ 'foo', undef, 'bar', undef ]; Show quoted text

> Examples would include a practical application of a person's name. >

> > while (my $row = getline ($fh)) { > > my @row = map { $_ eq "" ? undef : $_ } @$row;

> > This works so long as you only use functionality that retrieves the > array-row and not the hashref-row.

$_ eq "" && ($_ = undef) for values %$hashref; -- H.Merijn Brand http://tux.nl Perl Monger http://amsterdam.pm.org/ using & porting perl 5.6.2, 5.8.x, 5.10.x, 5.11.x on HP-UX 10.20, 11.00, 11.11, 11.23, and 11.31, OpenSuSE 10.3, 11.0, and 11.1, AIX 5.2 and 5.3. http://mirrors.develooper.com/hpux/ http://www.test-smoke.org/ http://qa.perl.org http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/

Fri Aug 07 16:41:33 2009 HMBRAND [...] cpan.org - Fixed in 0.66 added

Fri Aug 07 16:41:34 2009 HMBRAND [...] cpan.org - Status changed from 'open' to 'resolved'