TabSeparated

Tab-separated values (TSV) is a simple plain-text format for representing tabular data. In TSV, each line corresponds to a record and fields within a record are separated by a tab character. The first line may contain column headers. The tab character used as the delimiter typically has ASCII code 9, and files are commonly encoded as UTF-8.

Compared with comma-separated values (CSV), TSV uses a tab as the separator, which can reduce conflicts with data that contains commas. However, there is no universally enforced standard for escaping embedded tabs or newlines, so many implementations differ: some allow quoting, others do not, and some require escaping or encoding of tabs within fields.

In practice, TSV is widely supported by spreadsheet applications, database tools, and scripting languages. It is convenient for quick data interchange because the format is human-readable and easy to parse with simple software. For programming, many languages include libraries or options to read and write TSV by setting the delimiter to a tab; for example, Python's csv module can use delimiter='\t' or the excel-tab dialect.

Common use cases include exporting table data from databases, sharing datasets between teams, and performing lightweight data exchange in pipelines that favor unambiguous, tab-delimited text.

Limitations include the lack of a formal escaping standard, potential issues with embedded tabs, and difficulties storing complex or nested data. TSV remains popular for simple, flat tabular data and interoperable with many tools.

Example:

Name<TAB>Age<TAB>City

Alice<TAB>30<TAB>London

Bob<TAB>25<TAB>Paris