Ruby Read CSV and pick out variables

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Best way to read CSV in Ruby. FasterCSV?

Is it possible to have Ruby read through a CSV file, line by line and use the contents of the line to set as different variables?

e.g. one line is Matt,Masters,18-04-1993 and I want to split the line and use:

Matt = firstname
Masters = surname
18-04-1993 = dob

so far I have:

require 'uri/http'
require 'csv'

File.open("filename.csv").readlines.each do |line|

d = line.split(",")

puts d

end

Why are you requiring `'uri/http'` and not using the CSV module after requiring it? — the Tin Man, Oct 01 '12 at 14:31

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 01 '12 at 12:49

10

You should be able to do it

File.open("filename.csv").readlines.each do |line|
  CSV.parse do |line|
    firstname, surname, dob = line
    #you can access the above 3 variables now
  end
end

Now will be able to use firstname, surname and dob in the block.

answered Oct 01 '12 at 12:49

HungryCoder

7,506
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Thanks for the quick response and the help! :) – Matt Masters Oct 01 '12 at 13:25
This is the correct answer. Rely on CSV to split the line. – the Tin Man Oct 01 '12 at 14:34

Aaron J · Answer 2 · 2012-10-01T14:00:30.727

1

Maybe you're looking for something like this...

File.open("filename.csv").read.split("\n").each do |line|
  first_name, last_name, age = line.split(",")
  # do something
end

edited Oct 01 '12 at 14:00

answered Oct 01 '12 at 12:47

Aaron J

51
7

Brilliant! worked first time thanks so much!!!! – Matt Masters Oct 01 '12 at 13:25
Correct, no splat needed here. – Aaron J Oct 01 '12 at 13:59
4

This will fail badly when splitting a CSV record containing embedded commas inside strings. The CSV file format is much more complicated than it appears so use the CSV module to handle parsing it. – the Tin Man Oct 01 '12 at 14:34

Ruby Read CSV and pick out variables

2 Answers2