TABdelimited

TABdelimited data, commonly referred to as tab-delimited or tab-separated values (TSV), is a plain-text format used to store simple tabular data. In this convention, fields within a record are separated by a tab character, and each line represents a separate record. Files using this format typically carry the extensions .tsv or, less commonly, .tab.

In a tab-delimited file, each line corresponds to a record and fields are ordered from left to right. A header line may be included to label the columns. The tab character serves as the delimiter between fields. How embedded tabs are handled varies by implementation: some formats allow quoting of fields or escaping of tabs, while others prohibit tabs within data and rely on external escaping or alternative representations.

Advantages of tab-delimited data include simplicity, human readability, and broad tool support. It is easy to parse in streaming or programmatic contexts and integrates well with many programming languages. TSV files are commonly used for exporting data from databases and for importing data into spreadsheets or other applications, with .tsv as the standard extension.

Limitations include a lack of a single universal standard for quoting and escaping, which can lead to compatibility issues between tools. They are less suitable for fields containing binary data or multi-line content unless proper escaping or text qualifiers are used. For data with complex needs or where a universal standard is required, formats such as CSV or other structured representations may be preferable.