A plain text file that contains a list of data is called Comma Separated Values(CSV). They are mostly used when data has to be exchanged in between applications, for example, databases and contact managers often support CSV files.
Sometimes these files might be called Comma Delimited files or Character Separated Values. The comma characters are mostly used to separate data, but there are occasions when other characters, like semicolons, are also used. You could just export all the data to a CSV file from an application and then import it on another application.
The Structure of a CSV File
The structure of a CSV is quite simple as a list of data separated by commas. For instance, if you have some of your contacts in a contact manager, and then you export them as a CSV file, you will get a file containing text like this:
Name, Email, Phone Number, Address
Richard Smith, richard@example.com,123-456-7890,123 Fake Street
Henry Jones, henry@example.com,098-765-4321,321 Fake Avenue
Yes, a CSV can be a little more complicated than that and might contain thousands of lines, long strings of text or more entries on each line. This is the basic format.
The simplicity of a CSV is a feature. The CSV files are designed such that the export and import into other programs could be done easily. You can then use a text editor like Notepad or a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel to view the text, as the resulting data is human-readable.
Viewing The File On A Text Editor
You could view the contents of a CSV file in Notepad, by right-clicking it in Windows Explorer or File Explorer and then clicking on the “Edit” command.
If it is really huge, the Notepad might have some trouble opening the CSV file. If this happens, you can just change the plain text file editor and use a more capable one like Notepad++. While you are on Notepad++ you can view the CSV file by right-clicking it and selecting the “Edit With Notepad++” command.
The list of data in the CSV file will be shown in plaintext. For instance, You will see the information about each contact, with the details, if the CSV file was exported from a contacts program.
You can disable the “Word Wrap” feature on Notepad for better readability, but then you might have to scroll horizontally for reading the full lines.
Opening the file on a Spreadsheet
CSV files can also be opened in Spreadsheet programs, and thus made easier to read. For instance, You can just double click a.csv file and open it in Excel by default, if you have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer. If it opens on some other app, you can just right-click the CSV file and select Open With and then choose Excel.
You could even upload the file on Google Sheets if you do not have Excel. The spreadsheet programs present all the items of a CSV as if they were already in the spreadsheet format.
Importing the file into an Application
To view and work with the CSV file is all that you have to do, but there are various CSV files that are supposed to be imported into other programs. Your contacts could be exported from Google contacts, so could be a large amount of data from a database program. The CSV could be exported from MySQL on the command line and then the CSV files could be imported into applications that support that type of data.
You will then have to select an appropriate CSV format for the target application, depending upon the application from where you are exporting the data. For instance, You can export contacts on Google contacts in either Outlook CSV or Google CSV formats. In both instances, you will get a CSV file that contains the data, but it will be organized a little differently.
You can look for the “Import” or “Import CSV” option in an appropriate application, which will then let you select the CSV file that is to be uploaded.
Mostly, you don’t even have to bother with the CSV files, but if you have to get information out of one application and into another that is when you need them.
