How to have not get the double quotes doubled with Open CSV?

Question

I write a CSV file with Open CSV (in version 2.3).

In my CSV file I want to write the following line : I choose a "hero" for this adventure

But I don't find the correct configuration and finally my line is printed, in my CSV file, like that : I choose a ""hero"" for this adventure

So my code is :

CSVWriter writer = null;
writer  = new CSVWriter(outputStreamWriter,';',CSVWriter.NO_QUOTE_CHARACTER);

String[] lines = new String[4] ;

lines[0] = "Where is Brian" ;
lines[1] = "42" ;
lines[2] = "I choose a "hero" for this adventure" ;
lines[3] = "May the fourth be with you" ;

for (String line : lines ) {
    writer.writeNext(line );        
}

writer.close();

How can I write correctly my line ?

Maybe I must use the CSVParser class ?

I did suggest the same thing what Jordi & Marcin are saying. putting a " \ " before open " in your sentence would tell JVM that it should not be taken as end of string. Hope you understood. — Saurabh Jhunjhunwala, Apr 28 '15 at 13:34
I try both solutions but it didn't work. I recreate a String with a StringBuffer but at the end I have the double quotes which are doubled. — Fred37b, Apr 28 '15 at 13:43
[take a look here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10451842/how-to-escape-comma-and-double-quote-at-same-time-for-csv-file) — Jordi Castilla, Apr 28 '15 at 13:54

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 28 '15 at 13:28

4

Escape the quotes

lines[2] = "I choose a \"hero\" for this adventure";

Or Use single quotes:

lines[2] = 'I choose a "hero" for this adventure';

Or

lines[2] = "I choose a 'hero' for this adventure";

answered Apr 28 '15 at 13:28

Jordi Castilla

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It doesn't work at all, I try the 3 solutions. Maybe there is a problem with the CSVWriter configuration – Fred37b Apr 28 '15 at 15:43
did you take a look in the link I commented? http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10451842/how-to-escape-comma-and-double-quote-at-same-time-for-csv-file maybe can help – Jordi Castilla Apr 28 '15 at 16:17
Yes I visited your link but it can't help me. I got a List of String, I search if it contains " and try to replace it by \" but it doesn't work. I also build a string with a StringBuilder (with .append("\"") ). The line writer.writeNext(line ); double the quotes. – Fred37b Apr 29 '15 at 07:13

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 28 '15 at 13:28

1

As documentation says: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/data/characters.html

just use:

lines[2] = "I choose a \"hero\" for this adventure" ;

answered Apr 28 '15 at 13:28

Marcin Erbel

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score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 29 '15 at 13:13

I find a solution to my problem, it's not the best because it's not generic, but it's work in my case. I have to call the following function :

public void replaceDoubledQuotesInFile(File file) throws IOException {

    File tempFile = new File("temp.csv");
    FileWriter fw = new FileWriter(tempFile);

    Reader fr = new FileReader(file);
    BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(fr);

    while(br.ready()) {

        String readenLine = br.readLine();

        if(readenLine.contains("\"\"")){

            String str1 = readenLine.replaceAll("\"\"", "!");
            String str2 = str1.replaceAll("!", "\"");

            fw.write(str2 + "\n");
            }
        else{
            fw.write(readenLine + "\n");}
    }

    fw.close();
    br.close();
    fr.close();

    file.delete();
    tempFile.renameTo(file);
}

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 04 '15 at 05:23

You do have to escape the input but if you do not want the output escaped you can create the writer with the CSVWriter.NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTER. Here is a sample JUnit that shows what I am talking about.

@Test
public void embeddedQuoteInString() {
  String[] line = {"Foo", "I choose a \\\"hero\\\" for this adventure"};
  StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
  CSVWriter csvw = new CSVWriter(sw, CSVWriter.DEFAULT_SEPARATOR, CSVWriter.DEFAULT_QUOTE_CHARACTER, CSVWriter.NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTER);
  csvw.writeNext(line);
  assertEquals("\"Foo\",\"I choose a \\\"hero\\\" for this adventure\"\n", sw.toString());
}

How to have not get the double quotes doubled with Open CSV?

4 Answers4