---
language: en
layout: page
title: "Reading data from a source"
date: 2013-07-30T09:03:48.121Z
comments: false
sharing: false
footer: false
navigation: csv
github: https://github.com/wdavidw/node-csv
source: ./src/from.coffee
---


The `csv().from` property provides functions to read from an external 
source and write to a CSV instance. The source may be a string, a file, 
a buffer or a readable stream.   

You may call the `from` function or one of its sub function. For example, 
here are two identical ways to read from a file:

```javascript

csv().from('/tmp/data.csv').on('data', console.log);
csv().from.path('/tmp/data.csv').on('data', console.log);
```


<a name="from"></a>
`from(mixed)`
-------------

Read from any sort of source. It should be considered as a convenient function which 
will discover the nature of the data source to parse.   

If the parameter is a string, check if a file of that path exists. If so, read the file contents,
otherwise, treat the string as CSV data. If the parameter is an instance of `stream`, consider the
object to be an input stream. If it is an array, then treat each line as a record.   

Here are some examples on how to use this function:

```javascript

csv()
.from('"1","2","3","4"\n"a","b","c","d"')
.on('end', function(){ console.log('done') })

csv()
.from('./path/to/file.csv')
.on('end', function(){ console.log('done') })

csv()
.from(fs.createReadStream('./path/to/file.csv'))
.on('end', function(){ console.log('done') })

csv()
.from(['"1","2","3","4","5"',['1','2','3','4','5']])
.on('end', function(){ console.log('done') })
```



<a name="from.options"></a>
`from.options([options])`
-------------------------

Update and retrieve options relative to the input source. Return 
the options as an object if no argument is provided.

*   `delimiter`     Set the field delimiter. One character only, defaults to comma.
*   `rowDelimiter`  String used to delimit record rows or a special value; special values are 'auto', 'unix', 'mac', 'windows', 'unicode'; defaults to 'auto' (discovered in source or 'unix' if no source is specified).
*   `quote`         Optionnal character surrounding a field, one character only, defaults to double quotes.
*   `escape`        Set the escape character, one character only, defaults to double quotes.
*   `columns`       List of fields or true if autodiscovered in the first CSV line, default to null. Impact the `transform` argument and the `data` event by providing an object instead of an array, order matters, see the transform and the columns sections for more details.
*   `comment`       Treat all the characteres after this one as a comment, default to '#'
*   `flags`         Used to read a file stream, default to the r charactere.
*   `encoding`      Encoding of the read stream, defaults to 'utf8', applied when a readable stream is created.
*   `trim`          If true, ignore whitespace immediately around the delimiter, defaults to false.
*   `ltrim`         If true, ignore whitespace immediately following the delimiter (i.e. left-trim all fields), defaults to false.
*   `rtrim`         If true, ignore whitespace immediately preceding the delimiter (i.e. right-trim all fields), defaults to false.

Additionnally, in case you are working with stream, you can pass all 
the options accepted by the `stream.pipe` function.


<a name="from.array"></a>
`from.array(data, [options])`
------------------------------

Read from an array. Take an array as first argument and optionally 
an object of options as a second argument. Each element of the array 
represents a CSV record. Those elements may be a string, a buffer, an
array or an object.


<a name="from.string"></a>
`from.string(data, [options])`
-------------------------------

Read from a string or a buffer. Take a string as first argument and 
optionally an object of options as a second argument. The string 
must be the complete csv data, look at the streaming alternative if your 
CSV is large.

```javascript

csv()
.from( '"1","2","3","4"\n"a","b","c","d"' )
.to( function(data){} )
```



<a name="from.stream"></a>
`from.stream(stream, [options])`
--------------------------------

Read from a stream. Take a readable stream as first argument and optionally 
an object of options as a second argument.

Additionnal options may be defined. See the [`readable.pipe` 
documentation][srpdo] for additionnal information.

[srpdo]: http://www.nodejs.org/api/stream.html#stream_readable_pipe_destination_options


<a name="from.path"></a>
`from.path(path, [options])`
----------------------------

Read from a file path. Take a file path as first argument and optionally an object 
of options as a second argument.

Additionnal options may be defined with the following default:

```javascript

{ flags: 'r',
  encoding: null,
  fd: null,
  mode: 0666,
  bufferSize: 64 * 1024,
  autoClose: true }

```

See the [`fs.createReadStream` documentation][fscpo] for additionnal information.

[fscpo]: http://www.nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_createreadstream_path_options