Datafile::Array - README

Datafile::Array is a lightweight pure-Perl module for handling tabular/delimited data files.

It provides:

• Reading and writing delimited data files (CSV, TSV, custom delimiters)
• Optional CSV quoting with multi-line support
• Header line handling
• H/R prefix mode for data files
• UTF-8 encoding
• Consistent return values and error handling
• Verbose messaging support
• Safe atomic writes (temp file + rename)

Installation

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

Modules

Datafile::Array

Handles reading and writing delimited data files with optional CSV quoting, headers, and prefix lines.

SYNOPSIS

use Datafile::Array qw(readarray writearray parse_csv_line);

my @records;
my @fields;

my ($count, $msgs) = readarray('data.txt', \@records, \@fields, {
    delimiter    => ';',
    csvquotes    => 1,        # full CSV support with multi-line
    has_headers  => 1,
    prefix       => 1,        # H/R prefix mode
    trim_values  => 1,
    verbose      => 1,
});

writearray('data.txt', \@records, \@fields, {
    header  => 1,
    prefix  => 1,
    backup  => 1,
    comment => 'Exported on ' . scalar localtime,
});

# Standalone CSV parsing
my @parts = parse_csv_line('a,"b,c","d""e"', ',');

FUNCTIONS

• readarray($file, $data_ref, $fields_ref, %opts)
  Returns ($record_count, \@messages)

• writearray($file, $data_ref, $fields_ref, %opts)
  Returns ($record_count, \@messages)

• parse_csv_line($line, [$delimiter = ','])
  Lightweight standalone CSV line parser.
  Handles quoted fields, escaped quotes (""), fields containing delimiter/newlines.
  Lenient on unclosed quotes. Returns array of fields.

KEY OPTIONS

• delimiter => ';' (default)
• csvquotes => 0 | 1 (enable full CSV parsing)
• has_headers => 1 (expect header line(s))
• prefix => 0 | 1 (H/R line prefix mode)
• key_fields => 1 (composite keys for hash mode)
• trim_values => 1
• comment_char => '#'
• skip_empty => 1
• search => undef (filter lines)
• verbose => 0
• header => 0 | 1 (writearray: write header)
• backup => 0 | 1 (writearray: keep .bak)
• prot => 0660 (writearray: file permissions)
• comment => undef (writearray: top comments)

Common Features

The module:

• Uses UTF-8 encoding
• Skips comment lines (default #)
• Supports search filtering
• Returns verbose messages when requested
• Performs safe atomic writes
• Gracefully handles I/O errors (return errors instead of die)

License

This module is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See the official Perl licensing terms: https://dev.perl.org/licenses/