@fast-csv/format

fast-csv package to create CSVs.

Installation

npm i -S @fast-csv/format

Usage

To use fast-csv in javascript you can require the module

const csv = require('@fast-csv/format');

To import with typescript

import * as format csv '@fast-csv/format';

• Options
• Valid Rows Types
• Formatting Methods
  • format
  • write
  • writeToStream
  • writeToBuffer
  • writeToString
  • writeToPath
• Examples
  • JavaScript Examples
  • TypeScript Examples

Options

• delimiter: {string} = ',': Specify an alternate field delimiter such as ; or \t.
  • NOTE When specifying an alternate delimiter you may only pass in a single character delimiter
• rowDelimiter: {string} = '\n': Specify an alternate row delimiter (i.e \r\n)
• quote: {string|boolean} = '"':
  • If provided as a string it will be used to quote fields that contain a delimiter.
    • "first,name",last name
  • If quote is set to true the default quote will be used.
    • NOTE This is the same as not providing the option
  • If quote false then quoting will be disabled
    • CAUTION If your field could contain a delimiter then you may end up with extra columns
• escape: {string} = '"': The character to use when escaping a value that is quoted and contains a quote character that is not the end of the field.
  • i.e: First,"Name"' => '"First,""Name"""
• includeEndRowDelimiter: {boolean} = false: Set to true to include a row delimiter at the end of the csv.
• writeBOM: {boolean} = false: Set to true if you want the first character written to the stream to be a utf-8 BOM character.
• headers: {null|boolean|string[]} = null:
  • If true then the headers will be auto detected from the first row.
    • If the row is a one-dimensional array then headers is a no-op
    • If the row is an object then the keys will be used.
    • If the row is an array of two element arrays ([ ['header', 'column'], ['header2', 'column2'] ]) then the first element in each array will be used.
  • If there is not a headers row and you want to provide one then set to a string[]
    • NOTE If the row is an object the headers must match fields in the object, otherwise you will end up with empty fields
    • NOTE If there are more headers than columns then additional empty columns will be added
• alwaysWriteHeaders: {boolean} = false: Set to true if you always want headers written, even if no rows are written.
  • NOTE This will throw an error if headers are not specified as an array.
• quoteColumns: {boolean|boolean[]|{[string]: boolean} = false
  • If true then columns and headers will be quoted (unless quoteHeaders is specified).
  • If it is an object then each key that has a true value will be quoted ((unless quoteHeaders is specified)
  • If it is an array then each item in the array that is true will have the column at the corresponding index quoted (unless quoteHeaders is specified)
  • NOTE if quoteHeaders is not specified this option will apply to both columns and headers.
• quoteHeaders: {boolean|boolean[]|{[string]: boolean} = quoteColumns
  • Defaults to the quoteColumns option.
  • If true then all headers will be quoted.
  • If it is an object then each key that has a true value will be quoted (see example below)
  • If it is an array then each item in the array that is true will have the header at the corresponding index quoted (see example below)
• transform: {(row) => Row | (row, cb) => void} = null: A function that accepts a row and returns a transformed one to be written, or your function can accept an optional callback to do async transformations.

Valid Row Types

When creating a CSV fast-csv supports a few row formats.

{[string]: any}

You can pass in object to any formatter function if your CSV requires headers the keys of the first object will be used as the header names.

{
  a: "a1",
  b: "b1",
  c: "c1",
}

//Generated CSV
//a,b,c
//a1,b1,c1

string[]

You can also pass in your rows as arrays. If your CSV requires headers the first row passed in will be the headers used.

[
    ["a", "b", "c"],
    ["a1", "b1", "c1"]
]
//Generated CSV
//a,b,c
//a1,b1,c1

[string, any][]

This is the least commonly used format but can be useful if you have requirements to generate a CSV with headers with the same column name (Crazy we know but we have seen it).

[
    [
        ["a", "a1"],
        ["a", "a2"],
        ["b", "b1"],
        ["b", "b2"],
        ["c", "c1"],
        ["c", "c2"]
    ]
]

//Generated CSV
//a,a,b,b,c,c
//a1,a2,b1,b2,c1,c2

Formatting Methods

csv.format(options): CsvFormatterStream

This is the main entry point for formatting CSVs. It is used by all other helper methods.

const stream = csv.format();
stream.pipe(process.stdout);

stream.write([ 'a', 'b' ]);
stream.write([ 'a1', 'b1' ]);
stream.write([ 'a2', 'b2' ]);
stream.end();

Expected output

a,b
a1,b1
a2,b2

write(rows[, options]): CsvFormatterStream

Create a formatter, writes the rows and returns the CsvFormatterStream.

const rows = [
    [ 'a', 'b' ],
    [ 'a1', 'b1' ],
    [ 'a2', 'b2' ],
];
csv.write(rows).pipe(process.stdout);

Expected output

a,b
a1,b1
a2,b2

writeToStream(stream, rows[, options])

Write an array of values to a WritableStream, and returns the original stream

const rows = [
    [ 'a', 'b' ],
    [ 'a1', 'b1' ],
    [ 'a2', 'b2' ],
];
csv.writeToStream(process.stdout, rows);

Expected output

a,b
a1,b1
a2,b2

writeToPath(path, rows[, options])

Write an array of values to the specified path

const rows = [
    [ 'a', 'b' ],
    [ 'a1', 'b1' ],
    [ 'a2', 'b2' ],
];
csv.writeToPath(path.resolve(__dirname, 'tmp.csv'), rows)
    .on('error', err => console.error(err))
    .on('finish', () => console.log('Done writing.'));

Expected file content

a,b
a1,b1
a2,b2

writeToString(arr[, options]): Promise<string>

Formats the rows and returns a Promise that will resolve with the CSV content as a string.

const rows = [
    [ 'a', 'b' ],
    [ 'a1', 'b1' ],
    [ 'a2', 'b2' ],
];
csv.writeToString(rows).then(data => console.log(data));

writeToBuffer(arr[, options]): Promise<Buffer>

Formats the rows and returns a Promise that will resolve with the CSV content as a Buffer.

const rows = [
    [ 'a', 'b' ],
    [ 'a1', 'b1' ],
    [ 'a2', 'b2' ],
];
csv.writeToBuffer(rows).then(data => console.log(data.toString()));