Read a Tab Separated Values File

Updated: Oct 29, 2023

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This example shows how to read TSV (Tab-Separated Values) files, allowing you to extract data from such files with ease. It can be used for a range of applications, including log analysis, data conversion, and data import tasks.

 

Input TSV File

Account	LastName	FirstName	Balance	CreditLimit	AccountCreated	Rating
101	Reeves	Keanu	9315.45	10000.00	1/17/1998	A
312	Butler	Gerard	90.00	1000.00	8/6/2003	B
868	Hewitt	Jennifer Love	0	17000.00	5/25/1985	B
761	Pinkett-Smith	Jada	49654.87	100000.00	12/5/2006	A
317	Murray	Bill	789.65	5000.00	2/5/2007	C
101	Reeves	Keanu	9315.45	10000.00	1998-1-17	A
312	Butler	Gerard	90.00	1000.00	2003-8-6	B
101	Hewitt	Jennifer Love	0	17000.00	1985-5-25	B
312	Pinkett-Smith	Jada	49654.87	100000.00	2006-12-5	A
317	Murray	Bill	789.65	5000.00	2007-2-5	C
317	Murray	Bill	1	5000.00	2007-2-5	A

 

 

Java Code Listing

package com.northconcepts.datapipeline.examples.cookbook;

import com.northconcepts.datapipeline.core.DataReader;
import com.northconcepts.datapipeline.core.StreamWriter;
import com.northconcepts.datapipeline.csv.CSVReader;
import com.northconcepts.datapipeline.job.Job;

import java.io.File;

public class ReadATsvFile {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DataReader reader = new CSVReader(new File("example/data/input/input-file.tsv"))
                .setFieldSeparator("\t")
                .setFieldNamesInFirstRow(true);

        Job.run(reader, new StreamWriter(System.out));
    }
}

 

Code Walkthrough

1. CSVReader is created corresponding to the input file input-file.tsv.
2. In tab-separated values (TSV) files, \t (tab) is used as a field separator between values. So this is declared using .setFieldSeparator("\t") method.
3. The setFieldNamesInFirstRow(true) method is invoked to specify that the names specified in the first row should be used as field names.
4. Job.run() is used to transfer the data from reader to StreamWriter(System.out). See how to compile and run data pipeline jobs.

 

Console Output

-----------------------------------------------
0 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[101]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Reeves]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Keanu]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[9315.45]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[10000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[1/17/1998]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[A]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
1 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[312]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Butler]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Gerard]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[90.00]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[1000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[8/6/2003]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[B]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
2 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[868]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Hewitt]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Jennifer Love]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[0]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[17000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[5/25/1985]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[B]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
3 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[761]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Pinkett-Smith]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Jada]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[49654.87]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[100000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[12/5/2006]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[A]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
4 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[317]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Murray]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Bill]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[789.65]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[5000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[2/5/2007]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[C]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
5 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[101]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Reeves]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Keanu]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[9315.45]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[10000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[1998-1-17]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[A]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
6 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[312]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Butler]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Gerard]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[90.00]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[1000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[2003-8-6]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[B]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
7 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[101]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Hewitt]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Jennifer Love]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[0]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[17000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[1985-5-25]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[B]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
8 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[312]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Pinkett-Smith]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Jada]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[49654.87]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[100000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[2006-12-5]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[A]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
9 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[317]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Murray]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Bill]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[789.65]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[5000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[2007-2-5]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[C]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
10 - Record {
    0:[Account]:STRING=[317]:String
    1:[LastName]:STRING=[Murray]:String
    2:[FirstName]:STRING=[Bill]:String
    3:[Balance]:STRING=[1]:String
    4:[CreditLimit]:STRING=[5000.00]:String
    5:[AccountCreated]:STRING=[2007-2-5]:String
    6:[Rating]:STRING=[A]:String
}

-----------------------------------------------
11 records