data file - which delimited to use? Comma(,) or PIPE(|)

[jim_chan]

Hi guys,

Client is planning to extract and convert data file to me. It is going to be a flat file(.csv). However, client chose to use delimiter comma(,).

Some suggested to use delimiter pipe(|) .

Now I do not know which is best to use for QlikView. Anyone out there able to provide me a suggestion?

What  should i look at to determine which delimiter to use for a flat file?

Rgds,

Jim

[trdandamudi]

Usually pipe (|) is a better choice. Because if you have text fields, there is a possibility that the users enters " ?" or "," as part of the field value. So my suggestion is pipe (|). Hope this helps...

[jim_chan]

thank you Thiru.

Your contribution did help. I will wait for others to comment as well.

Rgds,

Jim

[jonathandienst]

There is really very little difference. An embedded comma is more likely than an embedded pipe character, so you are less likely to need to quote the strings in the file withe the latter, and that will make the file slightly smaller, but that's about the only difference. Commas, on the other hand, do allow you to open the file directly in Excel without having to go through the steps required for a pipe delimited file, and can easily be exported from Excel.

[jim_chan]

Jonathan,

Thanks for you info as well.