Re: [Docutils-users] OT: DSV vs CSV

[Alan G I. <ai...@am...>]

On 10/17/2011 6:22 PM, Paul Tremblay wrote:
> I am still correct in my
> definition of CSV, as it is understood by OpenOffice, python, and MS.


Not really.
Export a file as CSV from say Excel.
You don't get a request for a delimiter specification.
You get a comma (unless you mucked with the regional settings).

I do not deny that some people use the term CSV to mean DSV,
as you do, but the more careful they become (e.g., if they propose
a standard), the less likely that becomes.

The real background point is that it is desirable for CSV
to mean CSV, and not DSV, because it removes an important ambiguity
(for both parsing and writing).

Alan