From: the.beez.speaks@gmail.com   
      
   On 21-11-2025 02:59, dxf wrote:   
   > On 21/11/2025 1:20 am, Hans Bezemer wrote:   
   >> On 20-11-2025 12:18, minforth wrote:   
   >>> Am 20.11.2025 um 11:48 schrieb albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl:   
   >>>>    
   >>>>> TSV avoids most issues because tabs rarely appear naturally in data   
   fields.   
   >>>> Shit, it is based on tabs? That damns it in my view. Wish I knew that   
   >>>> earlier. And you commented that newlines are present in CSV fields?   
   >>>>   
   >>>>    
   >>>>> Overall, TSV offers a simpler, safer, and more reliable alternative to   
   CSV.   
   >>>> Agree to disagree. Newlines are invisible, but at least you know they are   
   >>>> there. tabs are the silent killers.   
   >>>   
   >>> FWIW Excel can export tables directly in TSV format. This can sometimes   
   >>> be very useful, especially when you get number series with commas as   
   >>> decimal points.   
   >>   
   >> You're completely right. IIRC, they call it "*.txt" files. Libreoffice only   
   offers what are technically "CSV with tabs".   
   >   
   > PlanMaker (SoftMaker Office) offers a 'txt' format in which field and text   
   > separators default to tab and none respectively.  Whether it precisely   
   > duplicates Excel's 'txt', I don't know.   
      
   Most text exports actually save a CSV variant - unless there are no   
   quotes - or embedded carriage returns, line feeds or tabs in any of the   
   fields, effectively resulting in a IANA TSV. BTW, aforementioned   
   characters plus backslashes need to be escaped for LOC TSV compliance.   
      
   I think most spreadsheets effectively save a CSV variant - although   
   PlanMaker seems to get pretty close.   
      
   LOC writes about the issue of CSV variants:   
      
   "Several relatively common variations from the strict form specified by   
   RFC 4180 are found and may be supported by software tools such as those   
   listed below as Useful References:   
      
   1. In locales where the comma character is used in place of a decimal   
   point in numbers, the separator between fields/columns is often a semicolon.   
   2. The line break character may be CR or LF, not necessarily CRLF.   
   3. Some Unix-based applications may use a different escape mechanism for   
   indicating that one of the separator characters occurs within a text   
   value. The individual character is preceded by a backslash character   
   rather than enclosing the entire string in double quotes.   
   4. Single quotes may be treated as equivalent to double-quotes for   
   escaping (also known as "text-qualification")."   
      
   In short, in spite of RFC 4180 there is still a wide variety of CSV   
   variants, which may overlap with either IANA or LOC TSVs.   
      
   And yeah, I'm guilty as well - technically writing a variant rather than   
   a full RFC 4180 compliant format ;-)   
      
   Now I think of, I may make that configurable.   
      
   Hans Bezemer   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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