CSV::Writer... Using tabs instead of commas (or creating exc

Ruby
1

I want to create an excel file from data I get from my DB but since
some of my fields contain commas in them I was hoping I can use
CSV::Writer but instead of having the default of commas seperate data
I could use tabs? Any have any suggestions on what the sexiest way to
do this is?

–
John K.
[email protected]

http://www.kopanas.com

http://www.soen.info

2

On Jan 29, 11:22 am, “John K.” [email protected] wrote:

http://www.kopanas.comhttp://www.cusec.nethttp://www.soen.info
A quick look at the CSV docs indicates its easy to specify the
character to use as a field separator
(http://www.ruby-doc.org/stdlib/libdoc/csv/rdoc/classes/CSV/
Writer.html) Hint: look for ‘fs’

If you want to avoid the intermediate CSV files you could use OLE to
drive Excel, or Spreadsheet
(http://rubyspreadsheet.sourceforge.net/) to create the file (even if
Excel is not installed).

Cheers
Chris

3

On 1/29/07, ChrisH [email protected] wrote:

On Jan 29, 11:22 am, “John K.” [email protected] wrote:

I want to create an excel file from data I get from my DB but since
some of my fields contain commas in them I was hoping I can use
CSV::Writer but instead of having the default of commas seperate data
I could use tabs? Any have any suggestions on what the sexiest way to
do this is?

it is okay to have commas in CSV fields.

require ‘rubygems’
=> true
require ‘fastercsv’
=> true
%w[ foo,bar baz ].to_csv
=> “"foo,bar",baz\n”

CSV in the stdlib should handle this correctly as well.

So that having been said, possibly the sexiest way to do SQL to CSV is
via Ruport. :slight_smile: