CSV revisited

[Dave Cole]

>>>>> "Raymond" == Raymond Hettinger <othello at javanet.com> writes:

Raymond> Documentation of key design decisions.  For instance, is the
Raymond> library limited to reading various CSV formats or is
Raymond> write-back in the same style to be supported.  Can the first
Raymond> record, contain optional field names?  Will incomplete
Raymond> records raise an exception?  - Pointers to draft
Raymond> implementations so people can experiment with it.

Raymond> A PEP is an ideal place to collect and document this
Raymond> information.  Also, an addition to the standard library is
Raymond> likely to be considered more than a 'minor feature request'.
Raymond> Another advantage is that it will also help focus the
Raymond> discussion (be prepared, life in the focus is sometimes a
Raymond> little hot).

Raymond> If you want a co-author, I'm game.

I am the author of the fast CSV module at:

        http://www.object-craft.com.au/projects/csv/

One of the problems with CSV is that everyone has their own ideas
about what should be handled and how it should be handled.  If there
was some sort of effort to document the correct behaviour of a CSV
parser then I would be extremely happy to make mine conform to that
document.

If the end result was that Python ended up with a native CSV parser
then the process would have been worth the effort.

- Dave

-- 
http://www.object-craft.com.au