CSV, ignoring empty fields

[weep]

Greetings!

 

I have a CSV file that looks something like this:

 

,,,,,,,,sdfsdf sdfsdf,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,sdfsdfsdf:,,,,,,,,2011-04-27,,,,,,

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

,,,,,,,,dfgdfg,,fgh,,,,,gfh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,fghfgh,,,,,fghf,,

fghfh,,

fgh,,,,,,fhfgh,,,,

 

<?php

$handle = fopen("csv.csv", "r");

while (($data = fgetcsv($handle, 5000, ",")) !== FALSE) {
echo "<pre>";
print_r($data);
echo "<pre>";
}
?>

 

Now this prints everything, could someone please provide me with an example of how I can ignore the "empty fields"?

 

Thanks in advance!

[PFMaBiSmAd]

Define: ignore the "empty fields"?

 

What do you want to do when there is an empty field?

 

What end result are you trying to achieve (because I doubt using print_r() on your data is the final result.)

[weep]

Sorry for not being clear, sometimes I forget that people cant read minds

 

I don't intend to use the given code (at least not the way it is now), it was just out of the blue. What I am looking for is a way to assign available values to an array and ignore the "empty fields". Something like:

 

$data[0] =>  "sdfsdf sdfsdf"

$data[1] => "sdfsdfsdf:"

$data[2] => "2011-04-27"

 

and so on...

 

ps.

Come to think of one more issue I most certainly will need help with, so I may as well ask now:

 

What do I do if there is a comma inside a sentence that I want to assign to a variable? I.e; ",,,,Hello, my name is blah,,,," would give me:

$data[0] =>  "Hello"

$data[1] => "my name is blah"

 

Though I would like:

$data[0] =>  "Hello, my name is blah"

 

Cheers

 

[PFMaBiSmAd]

The fields making up a CSV generally have significance. If you just get the non-empty values, without regard to the position they came from in the CSV, you loose the meaning of that data.

 

A string would be enclosed in quotes if it contains a comma that is part of the data and not a data separator or all string data values could be enclosed in quotes.

[salathe]

You could use array_filter() to remove the empty values (precisely what you use will vary depending on what you want to filter in/out). 

 

$array = array('', 'cake', 'pie', '', '', '');
$filtered = array_filter($array, 'strlen');
// $filtered is now array('cake', 'pie')

(You might also like to use array_values() on the filtered array, to get back sequential 0-based keys.)

 

As for commas within strings, for obvious reasons, that is not allowed unless the field is wrapped in double-quotes.

 

cake,"apple, banana and pears"  <--- OK, 2 fields
cake,apple, banana and pears    <--- SAD FACE, 3 fields

[weep]

As long as I know which line they are on (I should be able to count them as I work my way though the file, right?) then I should be fine. The idea is to reconstruct an excel file, goin through csv.

 

Excel 1 -> CSV -> Excel 2

Excel 1 is a mess...

 

Should be enclosed in quotes you say, but they are not... Here is a sample how it really looks:

 

2011-03-12,,,,,John Doe,,,,,,,,,,Släpt ut dam ur hiss, stängt av hiss, felanmäld till XXXX. Jour.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,KÖ,,,1,50,,,1290,00 kr,,,,,,,,,
Totalt arbetstid,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,1,50,,,1290,00 kr,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Material,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Make my eyes bleed...

 

 

 

 

 

[Muddy_Funster]

You do know that you can probably do what you want from within excel it's self, with filtering, some basic formulas and copy/paste special.

[weep]

Muddy_Funster:

Yep, I do. But that's not what I am looking for. I have my reasons. 

 

salathe:

Thanks, I'l have a ganda at it tomorrow.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

If you save/export an Excel file as a .csv and you have fields that contain commas in the data, Excel will wrap that data inside of double-quotes. Have you actually tried what it is you are asking us about?