CSV specification

[Anonymous]

Hello, 

I am having problems linking a CSV file to the construction simulation timeliner. I am exporting it from MSProject (or from Excel) but it never works... Are there exact specifications what is the format of the CSV file or with what options the export from MSProject should be done, so that it could be linked to the timeliner. 

I am attaching the Excel file which I am trying to convert into CSV, so that users who do not have MSProject installed could link it.

Thank you in advance, 

Ivanka

[john.lipp]

Hi ivanka.iordanova,

Would you be able to send the CSV file that you are exporting or saving to from Excel or Project as well?

Seeing that the file is in French, I tested by setting the regional language format on my machine to French (France) and saved to a CSV file from Excel.  The resulting file had semi-colons ( ; ) rather than commas( , ) as separators.  Checking the additional settings for the French (France) language format, list separators are specified as semi-colons.  When attempting to link the file in Navisworks, there is an error message that the file is invalid or corrupted.

Are you receiving the message that the file is corrupt when trying to link?  If so, open Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region > Region and Language. In the Region and Language window, click Additional Settings and ensure that your List Separator symbol is a comma.

If I save to a CSV file from excel with the list separator set to comma, I am able to link the file in TimeLiner; however, there is a warning that the dates are not valid.  

Are these the errors that you are receiving?

Checking the XLS and CSV file, the dates are formatted as “Mer 11-05-11,” which Navisworks doesn’t appear to be able to convert.  When you add a CSV link, in the Field Selector window, you have the option to use specific date/time format.  Information on this can be found in the Help > Help Topics [F1] in Navisworks under contents > Simulate Construction Scheduling > Overview of TimeLiner Tool > TimeLiner Window > Field Selector Dialog Box.

I’ve tried specifying “ddd yy-MM-dd” in the box.  As the abbreviated days of the week are in French, the dates aren’t converting.  Try changing the date format in Excel or Project to just be yy-MM-dd so the values appear as 11-05-11.  You can then specify yy-MM-dd as the specific date/time format.

Please let me know if this works for you.

Best regards,

John Lipp
Product Support Specialist
Autodesk Product Support

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your detailed explanations!

Yes, the message is for a corrupted file. So, as you suppose, the problem should be in the different language and separator settings. I started changing some of them, but finally I think that I will try to install an English version of MSProject.

Sometimes it is such a pain to work on a language different from English... 

Thank you again!

Ivanka

[JeffH_ADSK]

Hi Ivanka,

Just to cover the more technical aspect of your query, we based our CSV import & export off the specification at Wikipedia, as there is no more 'standard' RFC or other type of formal standard for CSV beyond the fairly limited RFC4180. It also had the advantage that anyone else implementing CSV is likely to also at least recognise that common format.

Interestingly enough, that page covers Excel specifically, stating:

• Microsoft Excel will open .csv files, but depending on the system's regional settings, it may expect a semicolon as a separator instead of a comma, since in some languages the comma is used as the decimal separator.
• When pasting text data into Excel, the tab character is used as a separator: If you copy "hello<tab>goodbye" into the clipboard and paste it into Excel, it goes into two cells. "hello,goodbye" pasted into Excel goes into one cell, including the comma.

It could be argued that, in truth, the failing is in the original design of CSV, using a separator that has overloaded meanings in particular regions.

Regional support for CSV & dates in other languages is challenging to implement such that it works reliably, but I've logged an enhancement for us to look at this and see what can be improved.

Could I confirm what regional settings you had on the machine trying the import into Navisworks? Was it set to French to match the CSV data? Was Navisworks using French?

Thanks,

Jeff