Comma-separated values (CSV)
The use of commas to separate fields. The end of each row is indicated with a newline character. Often given the file extension ".csv". In some cases, semicolons are used at the end of a row as opposed to a newline character. It is common to place data that includes commas in double quotes and to use an escape sequence when data includes a double quote.
Tab-separated values (TSV)
The use of tab characters to separate fields and newline to indicate a new row. Common in regions where commas are used as decimals in numbers making commas an extremely bad choice as a delimiter. Tab characters are rarely used in data.
Other
Commas are common in data and tabs characters look much like spaces creating a sense of ambiguity for human editing. As such, it is common to use any character that isn't common in data to delimit files. For example, the pipe character "|" is a common choice to delimit fields.
| Overview: Delimited Text File | ||
Type | ||
Definition | Representing a table structure in a file using characters to delimit fields and rows. | |
Also Known As | Delimited data | |
Related Concepts | ||
