[Python-Dev] These csv test cases seem incorrect to me... (original) (raw)

M.-A. Lemburg mal at egenix.com
Wed Mar 14 12:11:50 CET 2007

Hi Skip,

On 2007-03-12 03:01, skip at pobox.com wrote:

I decided it would be worthwhile to have a csv module written in Python (no C underpinnings) for a number of reasons:

* It will probably be easier to add Unicode support to a Python version * More people will be able to read/grok/modify/fix bugs in a Python implementation than in the current mixed Python/C implementation. * With alternative implementations of Python available (PyPy, IronPython, Jython) it makes sense to have a Python version they can use.

Lots of good reasons :-)

I've written a Python-only Unicode aware CSV module for a client (mostly because CSV data tends to be quirky and I needed a quick way of dealing with corner cases). Perhaps I can get them to donate it to the PSF...

I'm far from having anything which will pass the current test suite, but in diagnosing some of my current failures I noticed a couple test cases which seem wrong. In the TestDialectExcel class I see these two questionable tests:

def testquotesandmore(self): self.readerAssertEqual('"a"b', [['ab']]) def testquoteandquote(self): self.readerAssertEqual('"a" "b"', [['a "b"']]) It seems to me that if a field starts with a quote it has to be a quoted field. Any quotes appearing within a quoted field have to be escaped and the field has to end with a quote. Both of these test cases fail on or the other assumption. If they are indeed both correct and I'm just looking at things crosseyed I think they at least deserve comments explaining why they are correct. Both test cases date from the first checkin. I performed the checkin because of the group developing the module I believe I was the only one with checkin privileges at the time, not because I wrote the test cases. Any ideas about why these test cases are in there? I can't imagine Excel generating either one.

My recommendation: Let the module do whatever Excel does with such data.

-- Marc-Andre Lemburg eGenix.com

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