Editing Comma-separated values (section)

=== RFC <nowiki/>4180 and MIME standards === <!-- given markup prevents magic linking -->
The 2005 technical standard RFC 4180 formalizes the CSV file format and defines the [[MIME type]] "text/csv" for the handling of text-based fields. However, the interpretation of the text of each field is still application-specific. Files that follow the RFC 4180 standard can simplify CSV exchange and should be widely portable. Among its requirements:
* MS-DOS-style lines that end with (CR/LF) characters (optional for the last line).
* An optional header record (there is no sure way to detect whether it is present, so care is required when importing).
* Each record ''should'' contain the same number of comma-separated fields.
* Any field ''may'' be quoted (with double quotes).
* Fields containing a line-break, double-quote or commas ''should'' be quoted. (If they are not, the file will likely be impossible to process correctly.)
* ''If'' double-quotes are used to enclose fields, then a double-quote in a field ''must'' be represented by two double-quote characters.

The format can be processed by most programs that claim to read CSV files. The exceptions are ''(a)'' programs may not support line-breaks within quoted fields, ''(b)'' programs may confuse the optional header with data or interpret the first data line as an optional header, and ''(c)'' double-quotes in a field may not be parsed correctly automatically.