Process Structured CSV files (structured_csv)

The structured_csv_to_yaml script converts a “Structured CSV” file into a YAML file.

When you have data of a yet-undefined data structure, it is useful to manage them inside a CSV file which can be viewed and edited by a CSV editor, such as Excel.

This is extremely useful in developing a normalized structure for such data, as you can ensure that the existing data can be normalized according to a defined structure.

Ultimately, the data is to be meant to exported to a YAML file.

This script supports UTF-8 CSV files.

Add this line to your application’s Gemfile:

and then run:

Or install it without a Gemfile:

Where,

input-file.csv

is the input CSV file, the output will be named as input-file.yaml.

A Structured CSV file has these properties:

Two structured sections. A section is defined by the first column on an otherwise empty row that is either the first row or a row preceded by an empty row. Two section types are allowed: METADATA and DATA.

The METADATA section has values organized like key-value pairs:

• Column 1 is the name of key

• Column 2 is the value

The key can be a normal string or namespaced:

• foobar, this maps to the YAML key foobar:

• foo.bar.boo, this maps to the YAML structure:
  

  foo:
    bar:
      boo:

A typical YAML output is like:

A sample METADATA section looks like this table:

And generates this YAML:

The DATA section has values organized in a table form. The first row is the header row. The first column is assumed to be the key.

A sample DATA section looks like this table:

By default, this table generates this YAML format:

In cases where there is no DATA key, you have to specify the type=array to generate an array:

You are also allowed to specify the data types of columns. The types of string, boolean and integer are supported.

The samples/ folder contains a number of complex examples.