# CSV File

## Local CSV FIle Overview

The CSV File connector will load a CSV file into a local [SQLite](https://docs.chartsql.com/chartsql-studio/datasources/sqlite) database that can be visualized. 

{% hint style="info" %}
See the [sqlite](https://docs.chartsql.com/chartsql-studio/datasources/sqlite "mention")connector for details about querying SQLite for visualizations.
{% endhint %}

## Column Headers

The first row of the CSV is considered as headers for the columns. Ensure that your CSV has column headers.

## Column Data Types

The CSV data will be automatically inspected and the appropriate data type selected. All of the data in a column must resolve to the same type, or it will be considered a string.

The data types are checked in order of the following. If a Datetime, Date or Numeric is not found, the type will be string

1. Datetime
2. Date
3. Numeric
   1. Will also check for 'numberish' values (see [#numberish-values](#numberish-values "mention") below)
4. String
   1. If maximum length < 255, then data type will be VARCHAR with the length being the maximum length found

## Numberish Values

Many common real world number notations will be converted to numbers during import.&#x20;

* Negative parenthesis like (150) will be converted to -150
* Scientific notation like 10^2 will be converted to 100
* Thousands notation like 7.5k will be converted to 7500

{% hint style="info" %}
All number conversions are based on US/English comma/decimal standard. For example, international 1.200,5 will get converted to 1.2005 instead of 1200.5. As such, do not currently detect commas as decimal separators.
{% endhint %}

A full example list of conversions is described below:

<table><thead><tr><th width="271">RawInput</th><th width="227">ExpectedOutput</th><th width="287">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>100</td><td>100</td><td>Plain number</td></tr><tr><td>1,000</td><td>1000</td><td>Comma as thousand separator</td></tr><tr><td>$100</td><td>100</td><td>Dollar sign</td></tr><tr><td>€200</td><td>200</td><td>Euro sign</td></tr><tr><td>£300</td><td>300</td><td>Pound sign</td></tr><tr><td>50%</td><td>0.5</td><td>Percentage</td></tr><tr><td>(400)</td><td>-400</td><td>Parentheses for negatives</td></tr><tr><td>5k</td><td>5000</td><td>Text for thousands</td></tr><tr><td>7.5M</td><td>7500000</td><td>Text for millions</td></tr><tr><td>1,234.56</td><td>1234.56</td><td>Period as decimal separator</td></tr><tr><td>-100</td><td>-100</td><td>Negative sign</td></tr><tr><td>₹500</td><td>500</td><td>Indian Rupee sign</td></tr><tr><td>¥600</td><td>600</td><td>Yen sign</td></tr><tr><td>500₩</td><td>500</td><td>Won sign</td></tr><tr><td>200m</td><td>200000000</td><td>Text for hundreds of millions</td></tr><tr><td>1B</td><td>1000000000</td><td>Text for billions</td></tr><tr><td>2.5%</td><td>0.025</td><td>Decimal percentage</td></tr><tr><td>3,456.789</td><td>3456.789</td><td>Number with comma and period</td></tr><tr><td>(1,234.56)</td><td>-1234.56</td><td>Negative with comma and period</td></tr><tr><td>10^2</td><td>100</td><td>Scientific notation</td></tr><tr><td>2e3</td><td>2000</td><td>Exponential notation</td></tr><tr><td>-.5</td><td>-0.5</td><td>Leading decimal negative</td></tr><tr><td>.75</td><td>0.75</td><td>Leading decimal</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Externally Connecting to the SQLite Database

You may wish to connect to the imported CSV with another database browser like DBeaver. You can find the sqlite file in:&#x20;

./{{home}}/ChartSQL/{{installPath}}/db/csvfile/{{datasourceName}}/data.sqlite

Where as:&#x20;

* {{home}} is your system user data directory
* {{installPath}} is the location of your ChartSQL Studio Installation
* {{datasourceName}} is the name of your configured CSV Datasource


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