Delimiter

Delimiters are used for a wide range of purposes. The following examples demonstrate a small fraction of their applicability.

Delimiters are used for a wide range of purposes. The following examples demonstrate a small fraction of their applicability.

===CSV===

===Tabular data===

[[table (database)|Tabular]] data, organized as rows and columns, is often delimited. A field delimiter separates the columns of a row into fields and a record delimiter separates rows into records.<ref name="FldDelm">{{cite book | last = de Moor | first = Georges J. | title = Progress in Standardization in Health Care Informatics | publisher =IOS Press | year = 1993 | isbn =90-5199-114-2}} p. 141</ref> The commonly used [[comma-separated values]] (CSV) format uses a comma to delimit [[Field (computer science)|fields]], and an [[newline]] [[control character]] to delimit [[Row (database)|records]]. The following CSV data represents three records each with four fields. The first line is [[metadata]] that names the fields.

A commonly used delimiter is the [[comma]], which acts as a ''field delimiter'' in a sequence of [[comma-separated values]] (CSV).

===Field and record delimiters===

Field delimiters separate data fields. Record delimiters separate groups of fields.<ref name="FldDelm">{{cite book | last = de Moor | first = Georges J. | title = Progress in Standardization in Health Care Informatics | publisher =IOS Press | year = 1993 | isbn =90-5199-114-2}} p. 141</ref> For example, the [[Comma-separated values|CSV format]] uses a comma as the delimiter between [[Field (computer science)|fields]], and an [[end-of-line]] indicator as the delimiter between [[Row (database)|records]]:

<pre>

<pre>

fname,lname,age,salary

fname,lname,age,salary

tony,raphael,35,$28700

tony,raphael,35,$28700

</pre>

</pre>

This specifies a simple [[flat-file database]] [[Table (information)|table]] using the CSV file format.

CSV data is an example of [[flat-file database]].

===Bracket delimiters===

===Bracket delimiters===