On 22/09/2021 17.37, Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
On Wed, 22 Sep 2021 09:52:59 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael.stem...@gmail.com> declaimed the following:
On 21/09/2021 19.30, Eli the Bearded wrote:
In comp.lang.python, Michael F. Stemper <michael.stem...@gmail.com> wrote:
How does CSV handle hierarchical data? For instance, I have
Can CSV files model this sort of situation?
<SNIP>
Yes, CSV files can model that. But it would not be my first choice of
data format. (Neither would JSON.) I'd probably use XML.
Okay. 'Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no
and yes.' (I'm not actually surprised to find differences of opinion.)
You'd have to include a "level" (and/or data type if multiple objects
can be at the same level) field (as the first field) in CSV which
identifies how to parse the rest of the CSV data (well, technically, the
CSV module has "parsed" it -- in terms of splitting at commas, handling
quoted strings (which may contain commas which are not split points, etc.).
1-generator, name
2-fuel, name, UOM, heat-content, price
2-curve, name
3-point, X, Y
3-point, X, Y
...
2-curve, name
3-point, X, Y
3-point, X, Y
This reminds me of how my (former) employer imported data models into
our systems from the 1970s until the mid-2000s. We had 80-column records
(called "card images"), that would have looked like:
FUEL0 LIGNITE TON 13.610 043.581
UNIT1 COAL CREK1
UNIT2 ...
The specific columns for the start and end of each field on each record
were defined in a thousand-plus page document. (We modeled all of a
power system, not just economic data about generators.)
However, this doesn't seem like it would fit too well with the csv
module, since it requires a lot more logic on the part of the consuming
program.
Interesting flashback, though.
--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 24:17
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