UTF-8 CSV

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10 March 2010

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UTF-8 CSV

Using UTF-8 or UTF-16 Unicode characters in a csv file can be a hassle when using Excel to manage these files in spreadsheets. When using a default language in ASCII format, there are not many problems with this, as long as the regional settings of your pc are set to that language. But in case you have to handle multiple languages, it could become a little exhausting, switching the default language of your pc before doing your spreadsheet job. A popular osCommerce contribution used for mass categories / products import and export, like Easy Populate, relies heavily on csv files. This article will assist you maintaining unicode characters in a csv formatted file.

Using the UTF-8 or UTF-16 Unicode characters will prevent you for having to make these switches. Adding byte-order mark (BOM) to the top of your csv file will even output your characters in a correct way when importing the file into your Excel spreadsheet. However, problems will occurs when you want to export the file again to csv with Excel. The Unicode characters will get lost and the characters will look gibberish. Without some custom coded VBA script there is no way to export to a csv file through Exel with keeping the Unicode characters in tact, they will turn into plain old ASCII characters again.

On my quest for a proper solution, I dug into the Excel forums, traversed the Microsoft knowledge base, but no solutions there. Then I tried other (free) spreadsheet programs like KSpread, Gnumeric and even Google docs, but unfortunately, none of those gave me a satisfying solution. I saved my last hope, the OpenOffice Calc to my last possibility, it is a pretty huge download (+140MB), but I must say it was worth it.

OpenOffice Calc looks alike Excel in the way it functions and with the possibilities it offers, but also has an excellent support for Unicode characters. On top of that, it also for free!