CSVformat

CSVFormat is a class in the Apache Commons CSV library that defines how CSV data is structured for parsing and printing. It encapsulates the syntactic rules of a CSV file, including the delimiter used to separate fields, the character used to quote fields, and the line terminator.

The class provides a fluent API to customize behavior. Users can adjust parameters such as the delimiter, quote character, record separator, escape character, header handling, and how null values are represented. The library ships with predefined formats to match common conventions, including a standard RFC 4180 format and an Excel-compatible format, along with options to control handling of comments, whitespace, and missing columns.

Usage typically involves pairing a CSVFormat with a CSVParser to read data from a Reader, or with a CSVPrinter to write data to a Writer. When headers are supplied, records can be accessed by name, and printers can emit a header line if desired. The format supports streaming, enabling efficient processing of large files without loading all data into memory.

Relation and context: CSVFormat is part of Apache Commons CSV, a Java library designed to simplify CSV parsing and generation. It is widely used in data processing, integration, and ETL tasks due to its robust handling of edge cases such as embedded quotes, newlines within fields, and varying header configurations.

See also: RFC 4180; CSV (comma-separated values); Apache Commons CSV.