csvrecord - read in comma-separated values (csv) records with typed structs / schemas

• home :: github.com/csvreader/csvrecord
• bugs :: github.com/csvreader/csvrecord/issues
• gem :: rubygems.org/gems/csvrecord
• rdoc :: rubydoc.info/gems/csvrecord
• forum :: wwwmake

Usage

beer.csv:

Brewery,City,Name,Abv
Andechser Klosterbrauerei,Andechs,Doppelbock Dunkel,7%
Augustiner Bräu München,München,Edelstoff,5.6%
Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan,Freising,Hefe Weissbier,5.4%
Brauerei Spezial,Bamberg,Rauchbier Märzen,5.1%
Hacker-Pschorr Bräu,München,Münchner Dunkel,5.0%
Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München,München,Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier,6.3%

Step 1: Define a (typed) struct for the comma-separated values (csv) records. Example:

require 'csvrecord'

Beer = CsvRecord.define do
  field :brewery        ## note: default type is :string
  field :city
  field :name
  field :abv, Float     ## allows type specified as class (or use :float)
end

or in "classic" style:

class Beer < CsvRecord::Base
  field :brewery
  field :city
  field :name
  field :abv, Float
end

Step 2: Read in the comma-separated values (csv) datafile. Example:

beers = Beer.read( 'beer.csv' ).to_a

puts "#{beers.size} beers:"
pp beers

pretty prints (pp):

6 beers:
[#<Beer:0x302c760 @values=
   ["Andechser Klosterbrauerei", "Andechs", "Doppelbock Dunkel", 7.0]>,
 #<Beer:0x3026fe8 @values=
   ["Augustiner Br\u00E4u M\u00FCnchen", "M\u00FCnchen", "Edelstoff", 5.6]>,
 #<Beer:0x30257a0 @values=
   ["Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan", "Freising", "Hefe Weissbier", 5.4]>,
 ...
]

Or loop over the records. Example:

Beer.read( 'beer.csv' ).each do |rec|
  puts "#{rec.name} (#{rec.abv}%) by #{rec.brewery}, #{rec.city}"
end

# -or-

Beer.foreach( 'beer.csv' ) do |rec|
  puts "#{rec.name} (#{rec.abv}%) by #{rec.brewery}, #{rec.city}"
end

printing:

Doppelbock Dunkel (7.0%) by Andechser Klosterbrauerei, Andechs
Edelstoff (5.6%) by Augustiner Bräu München, München
Hefe Weissbier (5.4%) by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Freising
Rauchbier Märzen (5.1%) by Brauerei Spezial, Bamberg
Münchner Dunkel (5.0%) by Hacker-Pschorr Bräu, München
Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier (6.3%) by Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München, München

Or create new records from scratch. Example:

beer = Beer.new( 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei',
                 'Andechs',
                 'Doppelbock Dunkel',
                 '7%' )

# -or-

values = ['Andechser Klosterbrauerei', 'Andechs', 'Doppelbock Dunkel', '7%']
beer = Beer.new( values )

# -or-

beer = Beer.new( brewery: 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei',
                 city:    'Andechs',
                 name:    'Doppelbock Dunkel',
                 abv:     '7%' )

# -or-

hash = { brewery: 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei',
         city:    'Andechs',
         name:    'Doppelbock Dunkel',
         abv:     '7%' }
beer = Beer.new( hash )


# -or-

beer = Beer.new
beer.update( brewery: 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei',
             city:    'Andechs',
             name:    'Doppelbock Dunkel' )
beer.update( abv: 7.0 )

# -or-

beer = Beer.new
beer.parse( ['Andechser Klosterbrauerei', 'Andechs', 'Doppelbock Dunkel', '7%'] )

# -or-

beer = Beer.new
beer.parse( 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei,Andechs,Doppelbock Dunkel,7%' )

# -or-

beer = Beer.new
beer.brewery = 'Andechser Klosterbrauerei'
beer.name    = 'Doppelbock Dunkel'
beer.abv     = 7.0

And so on. That's it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Answers

Q: What about ActiveRecord models? Why not inherit from ActiveRecord::Base so you get the SQL relational database magic / machinery for "free"?

Good point. CsvRecord and ActiveRecord are different. ActiveRecord has its own database schema / attributes. Using CsvPack - the tabular data package you can, however, for your convenience auto-generate ActiveRecord model classes and ActiveRecord schema migrations (that is, tables and indices, etc.) from the tabular datapackage schema (in the JSON Schema format). That was kind of the start of the exercise :-), that is, the genesis for building CsvRecord in the first place.

To sum up - use CsvRecord for comma-separated values (csv) data imports or data "wrangling" and use ActiveRecord for SQL queries / analysis and more. In the good old unix tradition - the work together but have its own (limited / focused) purpose.

Alternatives

See the Libraries & Tools section in the Awesome CSV page.

License

The csvrecord scripts are dedicated to the public domain. Use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever.

Questions? Comments?

Send them along to the wwwmake forum. Thanks!