Dotdelimited

Dotdelimited refers to data in which individual fields or elements are separated by a period (.) character. The term is descriptive rather than a formal standard, and it is applied in contexts where a dot is chosen as a delimiter for flat text records or for expressing hierarchical keys in a compact string. Dotdelimited data can appear in configuration strings, log records, or simple export formats, and it is sometimes contrasted with comma- or tab-delimited formats.

Examples include flat records such as field1.field2.field3, or hierarchical identifiers used in software configuration, for example network.router.name or database.table.column. It is also encountered in dotted decimal notations, where a numeric value is split into parts by dots, as in IP addresses like 192.168.0.1, though that usage is more precisely called dotted decimal notation rather than dotdelimited data.

Parsing such data requires careful handling of the delimiter. A straightforward split on '.' works when field values cannot contain dots; when dots may appear in fields, escaping, quotes, or an alternative delimiter are used. Some implementations support limiting the number of splits or using regular expressions to preserve trailing fragments. For hierarchical keys, dot-delimited strings allow quick lookup and path traversal by treating the string as a sequence of segments.

Limitations include ambiguity if the delimiter occurs in data, inconsistent practice across systems, and potential confusion with other dot-related notations. When adopting dotdelimited formats, it is common to define escaping rules, field counts, and the treatment of empty fields to ensure interoperability.