Should Quote in Write CSV Activity

[E.T.S]

I was wondering what the should quote feature in the write csv activity does? It’s the check box option in the properties panel of the write csv activity

[tazunnisa.badavide (Taj)]

Here’s how the “Quote” feature works:

Quote Enabled (Checked): If you enable the “Quote” feature by checking the checkbox in the “Write CSV” activity, the values in each cell of the CSV will be enclosed within double quotes. This is particularly useful when your data contains characters that might otherwise be misinterpreted as delimiters (like commas) or if you want to ensure that any special formatting is preserved.
Quote Disabled (Unchecked): If you disable the “Quote” feature by leaving the checkbox unchecked, values will not be enclosed within quotes. This might be suitable if you’re certain that your data doesn’t contain any characters that could cause issues with CSV parsing, or if you prefer a simpler CSV format.

In most cases, it’s a good practice to enable the “Quote” feature, especially if your data is diverse and might contain various special characters.

[postwick (Paul)]

A CSV can look like this:

Paul,Miami,Florida

How do you know if Miami and Florida are two separate columns or if it’s one column that should have “Miami,Florida” in it?

So quoting would look like this:

Paul,“Miami,Florida”

…assuming it’s just one column.

I always use quoting to make sure the CSV is correctly written.