How Can I Parse a CSV File with Multi-Line Values

To,Subject,Body,Status
Rhys,Hello,"Hey,
How the heck do I ""parse"" this file?
-Me",Sent
Rhys,Dunno,I dunno man....,Sent

fileselectfile, csvfile
fileread,csv,%csvfile%
loop,parse,csv,`r,`n
	Loop,Parse,A_LoopField,CSV
		MsgBox % A_LoopField

; Proof of Concept to extract DSV (Delimiter Seperator Values)
;      - adapted for AHK by derRaphael / 21st July 2008 -
;                           [email protected]
; Following rules apply:
;   You have to set a delimiter char and an encapsulation char.
;   1) If you're using the delimeter char within your value, the value has 
;      to be surrounded by your encapsulation char. One at beginning and one
;      at its end. 
;   2) If you're using your encapsulation char within your value you have to 
;      double it each time it occurs and surround your value as in rule 1.
; Remarks:
;   The whole concept will break, when using same EOL (End Of Line) as LineBreaks 
;   in a value as in the entire file. Either you will have to escape these chars
;   somehow or use a single linefeed (`n) in values and carriage return linefeed 
;   (`r`n) as EOL in your DSV file.
;   Encapsulation and delimiter chars have to be single Chars. Strings containing
;   more than one char are not supported by concept.

CurrentDSVLine=a,b,c,"d,e","f"","",g",,i

Loop, % ReturnDSVArray(CurrentDSVLine)
   MsgBox % A_Index ": " DSVfield%A_Index%

ReturnDSVArray(CurrentDSVLine, ReturnArray="DSVfield", Delimiter=",", Encapsulator="""")
{
	global
	if ((StrLen(Delimiter)!=1)||(StrLen(Encapsulator)!=1)) {
		return -1                            ; return -1 indicating an error ... 
	}
	SetFormat,integer,H                      ; needed for escaping the RegExNeedle properly
	local d := SubStr(ASC(delimiter)+0,2)    ; used as hex notation in the RegExNeedle
	local e := SubStr(ASC(encapsulator)+0,2) ; used as hex notation in the RegExNeedle
	SetFormat,integer,D                      ; no need for Hex values anymore

	local p0 := 1                            ; Start of search at char p0 in DSV Line
	local fieldCount := 0                    ; start off with empty fields.
	CurrentDSVLine .= delimiter              ; Add delimiter, otherwise last field 
	;                                          won't get recognized
	Loop
	{
		Local RegExNeedle := "\" d "(?=(?:[^\" e "]*\" e "[^\" e "]*\" e ")*(?![^\" e "]*\" e "))"
		Local p1 := RegExMatch(CurrentDSVLine,RegExNeedle,tmp,p0)
		; p1 contains now the position of our current delimitor in a 1-based index 
		fieldCount++                         ; add count
		local field := SubStr(CurrentDSVLine,p0,p1-p0)
		; This is the Line you'll have to change if you want different treatment
		; otherwise your resulting fields from the DSV data Line will be stored in AHK array
		if (SubStr(field,1,1)=encapsulator) {
			; This is the exception handling for removing any doubled encapsulators and 
			; leading/trailing encapsulator chars
			field := RegExReplace(field,"^\" e "|\" e "$")
			StringReplace,field,field,% encapsulator encapsulator,%encapsulator%, All
		}
		Local _field := ReturnArray A_Index  ; construct a reference for our ReturnArray name
		%_field% := field                    ; dereference _field and assign our value to it
		if (p1=0) {                          ; p1 is 0 when no more delimitor chars have been found
			fieldCount--                     ; so correct fieldCount due to last appended delimitor
			Break                            ; and exit loop
		} Else
			p0 := p1 + 1                     ; set the start of our RegEx Search to last result 
	}                                        ; added by one
	return fieldCount
}

local d := SubStr(ASC(delimiter)+0,2)    ; used as hex notation in the RegExNeedle
local e := SubStr(ASC(encapsulator)+0,2)

This is my content having "," inside

"This is my content having "","" inside"

Parsing non comma seperated and quotationmarks encapsulated Delimiter Seperated Values
 

Thank you for this function. Nice RexEx work. However, I'm confused with the array returned by this function. Usually, I can retrieve data from AHK arrays this way:

obj := Array("one","two","three")
MsgBox, % obj[2]

But the array DSVfield does not behave the same way:

str := "one,two,three"
Loop, % ReturnDSVArray(str)
  MsgBox % A_Index ": " DSVfield%A_Index% ; this works
MsgBox, % DSVfield[2] ; should return "two" but does NOT

Could you help me understand why DSVfield[2] returns a blank?

Thanks.

this was done with AHK's old not actual arrays

you willneed to use the first method

DSVfield2 for instance (no brackets)

Thank you for reply, Tank. Unfortunately, things are going a little weird here...

file=
(
one,two,three
1,2,3
)
FileDelete, test.csv
FileAppend, %file%, test.csv
MyFunction("test.csv")
return

MyFunction(strFilePath)
{
	FileRead, strData, %strFilePath%
	Loop, Parse, strData, `n
	{
		MsgBox, % A_Loopfield
		loop % ReturnDSVArray(A_LoopField)
		{
			MsgBox, % A_Index ": " DSVfield%A_Index%
		}
		MsgBox, % "?: " DSVfield2
	}
}

ReturnDSVArray(CurrentDSVLine, ReturnArray="DSVfield", Delimiter=",", Encapsulator="""")
; Delimiter Seperated Values by DerRaphael
; http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/post-203280.html#203280
;
; Proof of Concept to extract DSV (Delimiter Seperator Values)
;      - adapted for AHK by derRaphael / 21st July 2008 -
;                           [email protected]
; Following rules apply:
;   You have to set a delimiter char and an encapsulation char.
;   1) If you're using the delimeter char within your value, the value has
;      to be surrounded by your encapsulation char. One at beginning and one
;      at its end.
;   2) If you're using your encapsulation char within your value you have to
;      double it each time it occurs and surround your value as in rule 1.
; Remarks:
;   The whole concept will break, when using same EOL (End Of Line) as LineBreaks
;   in a value as in the entire file. Either you will have to escape these chars
;   somehow or use a single linefeed (`n) in values and carriage return linefeed
;   (`r`n) as EOL in your DSV file.
;   Encapsulation and delimiter chars have to be single Chars. Strings containing
;   more than one char are not supported by concept.
;CurrentDSVLine=a,b,c,"d,e","f"","",g",,i
;
;Loop, % ReturnDSVArray(CurrentDSVLine)
;   MsgBox % A_Index ": " DSVfield%A_Index%
{
	global
	if ((StrLen(Delimiter)!=1)||(StrLen(Encapsulator)!=1)) {
		return -1                            ; return -1 indicating an error ... 
	}
	SetFormat,integer,H                      ; needed for escaping the RegExNeedle properly
	local d := SubStr(ASC(delimiter)+0,2)    ; used as hex notation in the RegExNeedle
	local e := SubStr(ASC(encapsulator)+0,2) ; used as hex notation in the RegExNeedle
	SetFormat,integer,D                      ; no need for Hex values anymore

	local p0 := 1                            ; Start of search at char p0 in DSV Line
	local fieldCount := 0                    ; start off with empty fields.
	CurrentDSVLine .= delimiter              ; Add delimiter, otherwise last field 
	;                                          won't get recognized
	Loop
	{
		Local RegExNeedle := "\" d "(?=(?:[^\" e "]*\" e "[^\" e "]*\" e ")*(?![^\" e "]*\" e "))"
		Local p1 := RegExMatch(CurrentDSVLine,RegExNeedle,tmp,p0)
		; p1 contains now the position of our current delimitor in a 1-based index 
		fieldCount++                         ; add count
		local field := SubStr(CurrentDSVLine,p0,p1-p0)
		; This is the Line you'll have to change if you want different treatment
		; otherwise your resulting fields from the DSV data Line will be stored in AHK array
		if (SubStr(field,1,1)=encapsulator) {
			; This is the exception handling for removing any doubled encapsulators and 
			; leading/trailing encapsulator chars
			field := RegExReplace(field,"^\" e "|\" e "$")
			StringReplace,field,field,% encapsulator encapsulator,%encapsulator%, All
		}
		Local _field := ReturnArray A_Index  ; construct a reference for our ReturnArray name
		%_field% := field                    ; dereference _field and assign our value to it
		if (p1=0) {                          ; p1 is 0 when no more delimitor chars have been found
			fieldCount--                     ; so correct fieldCount due to last appended delimitor
			Break                            ; and exit loop
		} Else
			p0 := p1 + 1                     ; set the start of our RegEx Search to last result 
	}                                        ; added by one
	return fieldCount
}