NAME
    Parse::CSV - Highly flexible CSV parser for large files

SYNOPSIS
      # Simple headerless comma-seperated column parser
      my $simple = Parse::CSV->new(
          file => 'file.csv',
      );
      
  while ( my $array_ref = $simple->fetch ) {
         # Do something...
      }

    ... or a more complex example...

      # Parse a colon-seperated variables file  from a handle as a hash
      # based on headers from the first line.
      # Then filter, so we emit objects rather than the plain hash.
      my $objects = Parse::CSV->new(
          handle => $io_handle,
          sep_char   => ';',
          names      => 1,
          filter     => sub { My::Object->new( $_ ) },
      );
      
  while ( my $object = $objects->fetch ) {
          $object->do_something;
      }

DESCRIPTION
    Surely the CPAN doesn't need yet another CSV parsing module.

    Text::CSV_XS is the standard parser for CSV files. It is fast as hell,
    but unfortunately it can be a bit verbose to use.

    A number of other modules have attempted to put usability wrappers
    around this venerable module, but they have all focused on parsing the
    entire file into memory at once.

    This method is fine unless your CSV files start to get large. Once that
    happens, the only existing option is to fall back on the relatively slow
    and heavyweight XML::SAXDriver::CSV module.

    Parse::CSV fills this functionality gap. It provides a flexible and
    light-weight streaming parser for large, extremely large, or arbitrarily
    large CSV files.

  Main Features
    Stream-Based Parser - All parsing a line at a time.

    Array Mode - Parsing can be done in simple array mode, returning a
    reference to an array if the columns are not named.

    Hash Mode - Parsing can be done in hash mode, putting the data into a
    hash and return a reference to it.

    Filter Capability - All items returned can be passed through a custom
    filter. This filter can either modify the data on the fly, or drop
    records you don't need.

  Writing Filters
    A Parse::CSV filter is a subroutine reference that is passed the raw
    record as $_, and should "return" the alternative or modified record to
    return to the user.

    The null filter (does not modify or drop any records) looks like the
    following.

      sub { $_ };

    A filter which reversed the order of the columns (assuming they are
    passed as an array) might look like the following.

      sub { return [ reverse @$_ ] };

    To drop the record, you should return "undef" from the filter. The
    parser will then keep pulling and parsing new records until one passes
    the filter.

      # Only keep records where foo is true
      sub { $_->{foo} ? $_ : undef }

    To signal an error, throw an exception

      sub {
          $_->{foo} =~ /bar/ or die "Assumption failed";
          return $_;
      }

METHODS
  new
    The "new" constructor creates and initialise a new CSV parser.

    It takes a number of params.

    To specify the CSV data source, you should provide either the "file"
    param, which should be the name of the file to read, or the "handle"
    param, which should be a file handle to read instead.

    The actual parsing is done using Text::CSV_XS. Any of its
    constructor/parsing params can also be provided to this "new" method,
    and they will be passed on.

    Alternatively, they can be passed as a single "HASH" reference as the
    "csv_attr" param. For example:

      $parser = Parse::CSV->new(
          file     => 'file.csv',
          csv_attr => {
              sep_char   => ';',
              quote_char => "'",
          },
      );

    An optional "names" param can be provided, which should be an array
    reference containing the names of the columns in the CSV file.

      $parser = Parse::CSV->new(
          file  => 'file.csv',
          names => [ 'col1', 'col2', 'col3' ],
      );

    If the "names" param is provided, the parser will map the columns to a
    hash where the keys are the field names provided, and the values are the
    values found in the CSV file.

    If the "names" param is not provided, the parser will return simple
    array references of the columns.

    If the "names" param is true and not a reference, the names will be
    automatically determined by reading the first line of the CSV file and
    using those values as the field names.

    The optional "filter" param will be used to filter the records if
    provided. It should be a "CODE" reference or any otherwise callable
    scalar, and each value parsed (either array reference or hash reference)
    will be passed to the filter to be changed or converted into an object,
    or whatever you wish.

    Returns a new Parse::CSV object, or throws an exception (dies) on error.

  fetch
    Once a Parse::CSV object has been created, the "fetch" method is used to
    parse and return the next value from the CSV file.

    Returns an "ARRAY", "HASH" or the output of the filter, based on the
    configuration of the object, or "undef" in a variety of situations.

    Returning "undef" means either some part of the parsing and filtering
    process has resulted in an error, or that the end of file has been
    reached.

    On receiving "undef", you should the "errstr" method. If it is a null
    string you have reached the end of file. Otherwise the error message
    will be returned. Thus, the basic usage of Parse::CSV will look like the
    following.

      my $parser = Parse::CSV->new(
          file => 'file.csv',
          );
      while ( my $value = $parser->fetch ) {
          # Do something...
      }
      if ( $parser->errstr ) {
          # Handle errors...
      }

  row
    The "row" method returns the current row of the CSV file.

    This is a one-based count, so when you first create the parser, the
    value of "row" will be zero (unless you are using "names" on automatic
    in which case it will be 1).

  combine
      $status = $csv->combine(@columns);

    The "combine" method is provided as a convenience, and is passed through
    to the underlying Text::CSV_XS object.

  string
      $line = $csv->string;

    The "string" method is provided as a convenience, and is passed through
    to the underlying Text::CSV_XS object.

  print
      $status = $csv->print($io, $columns);

    The "print" method is provided as a convenience, and is passed through
    to the underlying Text::CSV_XS object.

  fields
      @fields = $csv->fields;

    The "fields" method is provided as a convenience, and is passed through
    to the underlying Text::CSV_XS object. It shows the actual row as an
    array.

  names
      # Get the current column names in use
      my @names = $csv->names;
      
  # Change the column names on the fly mid stream
      $csv->names( 'fn1', 'fn2' );

    The "names" method gets or sets the column name mapping for the parser.

  errstr
    On error, the "errstr" method returns the error that occured.

    If the last action was NOT an error, returns the null string ''.

SUPPORT
    Bugs should always be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Parse-CSV>

    For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
    author.

AUTHORS
    Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

CONTRIBUTORS
    Uwe Sarnowski <uwes@cpan.org>

SEE ALSO
    Text::CSV_XS, <http://ali.as/>

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright 2006 - 2012 Adam Kennedy.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
    with this module.