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@ -7,113 +7,411 @@ NAME
CSV - how hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format CSV - how hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format
DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION
hledger can read CSV (comma-separated value) files as if they were hledger can read CSV (comma-separated value, or character-separated
journal files, automatically converting each CSV record into a transac- value) files as if they were journal files, automatically converting
tion. (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) each CSV record into a transaction. (To learn about writing CSV, see
CSV output.)
Converting CSV to transactions requires some special conversion rules. We describe each CSV file's format with a corresponding rules file. By
These do several things: default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added.
Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the
same directory. You can specify a different rules file with the
--rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger will create
a sample rules file, which you'll need to adjust.
o they describe the layout and format of the CSV data This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields
layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries
(transactions) from it. Often there will also be a list of conditional
rules for categorising transactions based on their descriptions.
Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully be-
low, after the examples:
o they can customize the generated journal entries (transactions) using skip skip one or more header
a simple templating language lines or matched CSV
records
fields name CSV fields, assign
them to hledger fields
field assignment assign a value to one
hledger field, with inter-
polation
if apply some rules to
matched CSV records
end skip the remaining CSV
records
date-format describe the format of CSV
dates
newest-first disambiguate record order
when there's only one date
include inline another CSV rules
file
o they can add refinements based on patterns in the CSV data, eg cate- There's also a Convert CSV files tutorial on hledger.org.
gorizing transactions with more detailed account names.
When reading a CSV file named FILE.csv, hledger looks for a conversion EXAMPLES
rules file named FILE.csv.rules in the same directory. You can over- Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col-
ride this with the --rules-file option. If the rules file does not ex- lection at:
ist, hledger will auto-create one with some example rules, which you'll https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv
need to adjust.
At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields. Basic
It's often necessary to specify the date format, and the number of At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields,
header lines to skip, also. Eg: and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines
there are. Here's a simple CSV file and a rules file for it:
fields date, _, _, amount Date, Description, Id, Amount
12/11/2019, Foo, 123, 10.23
# basic.csv.rules
skip 1
fields date, description, _, amount
date-format %d/%m/%Y date-format %d/%m/%Y
$ hledger print -f basic.csv
2019/11/12 Foo
expenses:unknown 10.23
income:unknown -10.23
Default account names are chosen, since we didn't set them.
Bank of Ireland
Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance
field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces-
sary but provides extra error checking:
Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance
07/12/2012,LODGMENT 529898,,10.0,131.21
07/12/2012,PAYMENT,5,,126
# bankofireland-checking.csv.rules
# skip the header line
skip
# name the csv fields, and assign some of them as journal entry fields
fields date, description, amount-out, amount-in, balance
# We generate balance assertions by assigning to "balance"
# above, but you may sometimes need to remove these because:
#
# - the CSV balance differs from the true balance,
# by up to 0.0000000000005 in my experience
#
# - it is sometimes calculated based on non-chronological ordering,
# eg when multiple transactions clear on the same day
# date is in UK/Ireland format
date-format %d/%m/%Y
# set the currency
currency EUR
# set the base account for all txns
account1 assets:bank:boi:checking
$ hledger -f bankofireland-checking.csv print
2012/12/07 LODGMENT 529898
assets:bank:boi:checking EUR10.0 = EUR131.2
income:unknown EUR-10.0
2012/12/07 PAYMENT
assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0
expenses:unknown EUR5.0
The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read-
ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are
imported into a journal file.
Amazon
Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to gener-
ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get
this data from your bank instead, but it's an example.)
"Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID"
"Jul 29, 2012","Payment","To","Foo.","Completed","$20.00","$0.00","16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL"
"Jul 30, 2012","Payment","To","Adapteva, Inc.","Completed","$25.00","$1.00","17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL"
# amazon-orders.csv.rules
# skip one header line
skip 1 skip 1
More examples in the EXAMPLES section below. # name the csv fields, and assign the transaction's date, amount and code.
# Avoided the "status" and "amount" hledger field names to prevent confusion.
fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amzamount, fees, code
# how to parse the date
date-format %b %-d, %Y
# combine two fields to make the description
description %toorfrom %name
# save the status as a tag
comment status:%amzstatus
# set the base account for all transactions
account1 assets:amazon
# leave amount1 blank so it can balance the other(s).
# I'm assuming amzamount excludes the fees, don't remember
# set a generic account2
account2 expenses:misc
amount2 %amzamount
# and maybe refine it further:
#include categorisation.rules
# add a third posting for fees, but only if they are non-zero.
# Commas in the data makes counting fields hard, so count from the right instead.
# (Regex translation: "a field containing a non-zero dollar amount,
# immediately before the 1 right-most fields")
if ,\$[1-9][.0-9]+(,[^,]*){1}$
account3 expenses:fees
amount3 %fees
$ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print
2012/07/29 (16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Foo. ; status:Completed
assets:amazon
expenses:misc $20.00
2012/07/30 (17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Adapteva, Inc. ; status:Completed
assets:amazon
expenses:misc $25.00
expenses:fees $1.00
Paypal
Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some
Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included:
"Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note"
"10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","Calm Radio","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-6.99","0.00","-6.99","simon@joyful.com","memberships@calmradio.com","60P57143A8206782E","MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month","","I-R8YLY094FJYR","","-6.99",""
"10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","6.99","0.00","6.99","","simon@joyful.com","0TU1544T080463733","","","60P57143A8206782E","","0.00",""
"10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","Patreon","PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment","Completed","USD","-7.00","0.00","-7.00","simon@joyful.com","support@patreon.com","2722394R5F586712G","Patreon* Membership","","B-0PG93074E7M86381M","","-7.00",""
"10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","7.00","0.00","7.00","","simon@joyful.com","71854087RG994194F","Patreon* Membership","","2722394R5F586712G","","0.00",""
"10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-2.00","0.00","-2.00","simon@joyful.com","tle@wikimedia.org","K9U43044RY432050M","Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation","","I-R5C3YUS3285L","","-2.00",""
"10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","2.00","0.00","2.00","","simon@joyful.com","3XJ107139A851061F","","","K9U43044RY432050M","","0.00",""
"10/22/2019","05:07:06","PDT","Noble Benefactor","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","10.00","-0.59","9.41","noble@bene.fac.tor","simon@joyful.com","6L8L1662YP1334033","Joyful Systems","","I-KC9VBGY2GWDB","","9.41",""
# paypal-custom.csv.rules
# Tips:
# Export from Activity -> Statements -> Custom -> Activity download
# Suggested transaction type: "Balance affecting"
# Paypal's default fields in 2018 were:
# "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Shipping Address","Address Status","Item Title","Item ID","Shipping and Handling Amount","Insurance Amount","Sales Tax","Option 1 Name","Option 1 Value","Option 2 Name","Option 2 Value","Reference Txn ID","Invoice Number","Custom Number","Quantity","Receipt ID","Balance","Address Line 1","Address Line 2/District/Neighborhood","Town/City","State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic","Zip/Postal Code","Country","Contact Phone Number","Subject","Note","Country Code","Balance Impact"
# This rules file assumes the following more detailed fields, configured in "Customize report fields":
# "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note"
fields date, time, timezone, description_, type, status_, currency, grossamount, feeamount, netamount, fromemail, toemail, code, itemtitle, itemid, referencetxnid, receiptid, balance, note
skip 1
date-format %-m/%-d/%Y
# ignore some paypal events
if
In Progress
Temporary Hold
Update to
skip
# add more fields to the description
description %description_ %itemtitle
# save some other fields as tags
comment itemid:%itemid, fromemail:%fromemail, toemail:%toemail, time:%time, type:%type, status:%status_
# convert to short currency symbols
# Note: in conditional block regexps, the line of csv being matched is
# a synthetic one: the unquoted field values, with commas between them.
if ,USD,
currency $
if ,EUR,
currency E
if ,GBP,
currency P
# generate postings
# the first posting will be the money leaving/entering my paypal account
# (negative means leaving my account, in all amount fields)
account1 assets:online:paypal
amount1 %netamount
# the second posting will be money sent to/received from other party
# (account2 is set below)
amount2 -%grossamount
# if there's a fee (9th field), add a third posting for the money taken by paypal.
# TODO: This regexp fails when fields contain a comma (generates a third posting with zero amount)
if ^([^,]+,){8}[^0]
account3 expenses:banking:paypal
amount3 -%feeamount
comment3 business:
# choose an account for the second posting
# override the default account names:
# if amount (8th field) is positive, it's income (a debit)
if ^([^,]+,){7}[0-9]
account2 income:unknown
# if negative, it's an expense (a credit)
if ^([^,]+,){7}-
account2 expenses:unknown
# apply common rules for setting account2 & other tweaks
include common.rules
# apply some overrides specific to this csv
# Transfers from/to bank. These are usually marked Pending,
# which can be disregarded in this case.
if
Bank Account
Bank Deposit to PP Account
description %type for %referencetxnid %itemtitle
account2 assets:bank:wf:pchecking
account1 assets:online:paypal
# Currency conversions
if Currency Conversion
account2 equity:currency conversion
# common.rules
if
darcs
noble benefactor
account2 revenues:foss donations:darcshub
comment2 business:
if
Calm Radio
account2 expenses:online:apps
if
electronic frontier foundation
Patreon
wikimedia
Advent of Code
account2 expenses:dues
if Google
account2 expenses:online:apps
description google | music
$ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print
2019/10/01 (60P57143A8206782E) Calm Radio MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:memberships@calmradio.com, time:03:46:20, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed
assets:online:paypal $-6.99 = $-6.99
expenses:online:apps $6.99
2019/10/01 (0TU1544T080463733) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 60P57143A8206782E ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:46:20, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending
assets:online:paypal $6.99 = $0.00
assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-6.99
2019/10/01 (2722394R5F586712G) Patreon Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:support@patreon.com, time:08:57:01, type:PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment, status:Completed
assets:online:paypal $-7.00 = $-7.00
expenses:dues $7.00
2019/10/01 (71854087RG994194F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 2722394R5F586712G Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:08:57:01, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending
assets:online:paypal $7.00 = $0.00
assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-7.00
2019/10/19 (K9U43044RY432050M) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:tle@wikimedia.org, time:03:02:12, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed
assets:online:paypal $-2.00 = $-2.00
expenses:dues $2.00
expenses:banking:paypal ; business:
2019/10/19 (3XJ107139A851061F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for K9U43044RY432050M ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:02:12, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending
assets:online:paypal $2.00 = $0.00
assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-2.00
2019/10/22 (6L8L1662YP1334033) Noble Benefactor Joyful Systems ; itemid:, fromemail:noble@bene.fac.tor, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:05:07:06, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed
assets:online:paypal $9.41 = $9.41
revenues:foss donations:darcshub $-10.00 ; business:
expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business:
CSV RULES CSV RULES
The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order.
(except for end which can appear only inside a conditional block).
Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; are ignored. Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; are ignored.
skip skip
skip N skip N
The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells
hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data.
(Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when-
ever your CSV data contains header lines. ever your CSV data contains header lines.
It also has a second purpose: it can be used to ignore certain CSV It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to ignore
records, see conditional blocks below. certain CSV records (described below).
fields fields
fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ...
A fields list ("fields" followed by one or more comma-separated field A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field
names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields.
It (a) names the CSV fields, in order (names may not contain white- It does two things:
space; fields you don't care about can be left unnamed), and (b) as-
signs them to hledger fields if you use standard hledger field names.
Here's an example:
# use the 1st, 2nd and 4th CSV fields as the transaction's date, description and amount, 1. it names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient
# ignore the 3rd, 5th and 6th fields, later for interpolating them.
# and name the 7th and 8th fields for later reference:
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
fields date, description, , amount1, , , somefield, anotherfield 2. when you use a standard hledger field name, it assigns the CSV value
to that part of the hledger transaction.
Here are the standard hledger field names: Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the
transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields
for later reference; and ignore the others":
Transaction fields fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield
Field names may not contain whitespace. Fields you don't care about
can be left unnamed. Currently there must be least two items (there
must be at least one comma).
Here are the standard hledger field/pseudo-field names. For more about
the transaction parts they refer to, see the manual for hledger's jour-
nal format.
Transaction field names
date, date2, status, code, description, comment can be used to form the date, date2, status, code, description, comment can be used to form the
transaction's first line. Only date is required. (See also date-for- transaction's first line.
mat below.)
Posting fields Posting field names
accountN, where N is 1 to 9, sets the Nth posting's account name. Most accountN, where N is 1 to 9, generates a posting, with that account
often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and ac- name. Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set ac-
count2. count1 and account2. If a posting's account name is left unset but its
amount is set, a default account name will be chosen (like expenses:un-
known or income:unknown).
A number of field/pseudo-field names are available for setting posting amountN sets posting N's amount. Or, amount with no N sets posting
amounts: 1's. If the CSV has debits and credits in separate fields, use
amountN-in and amountN-out instead. Or amount-in and amount-out with
no N for posting 1.
o amountN sets posting N's amount For convenience and backwards compatibility, if you set the amount of
posting 1 only, a second posting with the negative amount will be gen-
erated automatically. (This also means you can't generate a transac-
tion with just one posting.)
o amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV has sepa- If the CSV has the currency symbol in a separate field, you can use
rate fields for debits and credits currencyN to prepend it to posting N's amount. currency with no N af-
fects ALL postings.
o currencyN sets a currency symbol to be left-prefixed to the amount, balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is
useful if the CSV provides that as a separate field left empty, a balance assignment).
o balanceN sets a (separate) balance assertion amount (or when no post- Finally, commentN sets a comment on the Nth posting. Comments can also
ing amount is set, a balance assignment) contain tags, as usual.
If you write these with no number (amount, amount-in, amount-out, cur- See TIPS below for more about setting amounts and currency.
rency, balance), it means posting 1. Also, if you set an amount for
posting 1 only, a second posting that balances the transaction will be
generated automatically. This helps support CSV rules created before
hledger 1.16.
Finally, commentN sets a comment on the Nth posting. Comments can of field assignment
course contain tags.
(field assignment)
HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE
Instead of or in addition to a fields list, you can assign a value to a Instead of or in addition to a fields list, you can use a "field as-
hledger field by writing its name (any of the standard names above) signment" rule to set the value of a single hledger field, by writing
followed by a text value. The value may contain interpolated CSV its name (any of the standard hledger field names above) followed by a
fields, referenced by their 1-based position in the CSV record (%N), or text value. The value may contain interpolated CSV fields, referenced
by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSVFIELDNAME). Eg: by their 1-based position in the CSV record (%N), or by the name they
were given in the fields list (%CSVFIELDNAME). Some examples:
# set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with " USD" appended # set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with " USD" appended
amount %4 USD amount %4 USD
@ -121,31 +419,9 @@ CSV RULES
# combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags # combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags
comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1
Interpolation strips any outer whitespace, so a CSV value like " 1 " Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " be-
becomes 1 when interpolated (#1051). Note you can only interpolate CSV comes 1 when interpolated) (#1051). See TIPS below for more about ref-
fields, not the hledger fields being assigned to; for more on this, see erencing other fields.
TIPS.
date-format
date-format DATEFMT
This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates
are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll
need to specify the format by writing "date-format" followed by a strp-
time-like date parsing pattern, which must parse the date field values
completely. Examples:
# for dates like "11/06/2013":
date-format %m/%d/%Y
# for dates like "6/11/2013". The - allows leading zeros to be optional.
date-format %-d/%-m/%Y
# for dates like "2013-Nov-06":
date-format %Y-%h-%d
# for dates like "11/6/2013 11:32 PM":
date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p
if if
if PATTERN if PATTERN
@ -158,24 +434,31 @@ CSV RULES
RULE RULE
RULE RULE
Conditional blocks apply one or more rules to CSV records which are Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied
matched by any of the PATTERNs. This allows transactions to be cus- only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used
tomised or categorised based on patterns in the data. for customising account names based on transaction descriptions.
A single pattern can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi- A single pattern can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi-
ple patterns can be written on the following lines, non-indented. ple patterns can be written on the following lines, non-indented. Mul-
tiple patterns are OR'd (any one of them can match). Patterns are
case-insensitive regular expressions which try to match anywhere within
the whole CSV record (POSIX extended regular expressions with some ad-
ditions, see https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions).
Note the CSV record they see is close to, but not identical to, the one
in the CSV file; enclosing double quotes will be removed, and the sepa-
rator character is always comma.
Patterns are case-insensitive regular expressions which try to match It's not yet easy to match within a specific field. If the data does
any part of the whole CSV record. It's not yet possible to match not contain commas, you can hack it with a regular expression like:
within a specific field. Note the CSV record they see is close but not
identical to the one in the CSV file; eg double quotes are removed, and
the separator character becomes comma.
After the patterns, there should be one or more rules to apply, all in- # match "foo" in the fourth field
if ^([^,]*,){3}foo
After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all in-
dented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in con- dented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in con-
ditional blocks: ditional blocks:
o field assignments (to set a field's value) o field assignments (to set a hledger field)
o skip (to skip the matched CSV record) o skip (to skip the matched CSV record)
@ -196,106 +479,134 @@ CSV RULES
comment XXX deductible ? check it comment XXX deductible ? check it
end end
As mentioned above, this rule can be used inside conditional blocks This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop
(only) to cause hledger to stop reading CSV records and proceed with reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command
command execution. Eg: execution. Eg:
# ignore everything following the first empty record # ignore everything following the first empty record
if ,,,, if ,,,,
end end
date-format
date-format DATEFMT
This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates
are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll
need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime date
parsing pattern, which must parse the CSV date value completely. Some
examples:
# MM/DD/YY
date-format %m/%d/%y
# D/M/YYYY
# The - makes leading zeros optional.
date-format %-d/%-m/%Y
# YYYY-Mmm-DD
date-format %Y-%h-%d
# M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk
# Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used.
date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk
For the supported strptime syntax, see:
https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-For-
mat.html#v:formatTime
newest-first
hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions
on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records,
as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is
oldest first or newest first. But if all of the following are true:
o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records
having the same date)
o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest
at the top)
o and you care about preserving the order of same-day transactions
then, you should add the newest-first rule as a hint. Eg:
# tell hledger explicitly that the CSV is normally newest first
newest-first
include include
include RULESFILE include RULESFILE
Include another CSV rules file at this point, as if it were written in- This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point.
line. RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current
current file's directory. file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between
several rules files, eg:
This can be useful eg for reusing common rules in several rules files:
# someaccount.csv.rules # someaccount.csv.rules
## someaccount-specific rules ## someaccount-specific rules
fields date,description,amount fields date,description,amount
account1 some:account account1 assets:someaccount
account2 some:misc account2 expenses:misc
## common rules ## common rules
include categorisation.rules include categorisation.rules
newest-first
hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions
on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records,
as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is
oldest first or newest first. But if all of the following are true:
o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records
having the same date)
o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest
first)
o and you care about preserving the order of same-day transactions
you should add the newest-first rule as a hint. Eg:
# tell hledger explicitly that the CSV is normally newest-first
newest-first
EXAMPLES
A more complete example, generating three-posting transactions:
# hledger CSV rules for amazon.com order history
# sample:
# "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID"
# "Jul 29, 2012","Payment","To","Adapteva, Inc.","Completed","$25.00","$0.00","17LA58JSK6PRD4HDGLNJQPI1PB9N8DKPVHL"
# skip one header line
skip 1
# name the csv fields (and assign the transaction's date, amount and code)
fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amount1, fees, code
# how to parse the date
date-format %b %-d, %Y
# combine two fields to make the description
description %toorfrom %name
# save these fields as tags
comment status:%amzstatus
# set the base account for all transactions
account1 assets:amazon
# flip the sign on the amount
amount -%amount
# Put fees in a separate posting
amount3 %fees
comment3 fees
For more examples, see Convert CSV files.
TIPS TIPS
Valid CSV
hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are en-
closed in quotes, note:
o they must be double quotes (not single quotes)
o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed
Other separator characters
With the --separator 'CHAR' option (experimental), hledger will expect
the separator to be CHAR instead of a comma. Ie it will read other
"Character Separated Values" formats, such as TSV (Tab Separated Val-
ues). Note: on the command line, use a real tab character in quotes,
not Eg:
$ hledger -f foo.tsv --separator ' ' print
Reading multiple CSV files Reading multiple CSV files
You can read multiple CSV files at once using multiple -f arguments on If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once,
the command line. hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV
file for each CSV file. If you use the --rules-file option, that rules file. But if you use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be
file will be used for all the CSV files. used for all the CSV files.
Valid transactions
After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the gen-
erated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing them,
applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any
errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the
problem entry.
There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them,
will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV
data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance as-
sertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger:
$ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print
Deduplicating, importing Deduplicating, importing
When you download a CSV file repeatedly, eg to get your latest bank When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank
transactions, the new file may contain some of the same records as the transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing
old one. The print --new command is one simple way to detect just the some of the same records.
new transactions. Or better still, the import command appends those
new transactions to your main journal. This is the easiest way to im-
port CSV data. Eg, after downloading your latest CSV files:
The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append
just those transactions to your main journal. It is idempotent, so you
don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version
of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This
is the easiest way to import CSV data. Eg:
# download the latest CSV files, then run this command.
# Note, no -f flags needed here.
$ hledger import *.csv [--dry] $ hledger import *.csv [--dry]
Other import methods This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable
chronological order, and new records appear only at the new end.)
A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise,
exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data.
See: See:
@ -304,24 +615,6 @@ TIPS
o https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion o https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion
Valid CSV
hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. Some things to note when
values are enclosed in quotes:
o you must use double quotes (not single quotes)
o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed
Other separator characters
With the --separator 'CHAR' option, hledger will expect the separator
to be CHAR instead of a comma. Ie it will read other "Character Sepa-
rated Values" formats, such as TSV (Tab Separated Values). Note: on
the command line, use a real tab character in quotes, not Eg:
$ hledger -f foo.tsv --separator ' ' print
(Experimental.)
Setting amounts Setting amounts
A posting amount can be set in one of these ways: A posting amount can be set in one of these ways:
@ -334,30 +627,44 @@ TIPS
value, this may not work. value, this may not work.
o by assigning to balanceN (or balance) instead of the above, setting o by assigning to balanceN (or balance) instead of the above, setting
the amount indirectly via a balance assignment. the amount indirectly via a balance assignment. If you do this the
default account name may be wrong, so you should set that explicitly.
There is some special handling for sign in amounts: There is some special handling for an amount's sign:
o If an amount value is parenthesised, it will be de-parenthesised and o If an amount value is parenthesised, it will be de-parenthesised and
sign-flipped. sign-flipped.
o If an amount value begins with a double minus sign, those cancel out o If an amount value begins with a double minus sign, those cancel out
and are removed. and are removed.
If the currency/commodity symbol is provided as a separate CSV field, o If an amount value begins with a plus sign, that will be removed
you can assign it to currency (affects all posting amounts) or curren-
cyN (affects just posting N's amount). The symbol will be prepended to
the amount. Or for more control, you can set both currency symbol and
amount with a field assignment, eg:
fields date,description,currency,amount Setting currency/commodity
# add currency symbol on the right: If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount
amount %amount %currency field(s), you don't have to do anything special.
If the currency is provided as a separate CSV field, you can either:
o assign that to currency, which adds it to all posting amounts. The
symbol will prepended to the amount quantity (on the left side). If
you write a trailing space after the symbol, there will be a space
between symbol and amount (an exception to the usual whitespace
stripping).
o or assign it to currencyN which adds it to posting N's amount only.
o or for more control, construct the amount from symbol and quantity
using field assignment, eg:
fields date,description,currency,quantity
# add currency symbol on the right:
amount %quantity %currency
Referencing other fields Referencing other fields
In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger
fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger
field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the
hledger field: hledger field:
# Name the third CSV field "amount1" # Name the third CSV field "amount1"
@ -369,7 +676,7 @@ TIPS
# Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) # Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above)
comment %amount1 comment %amount1
Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit-
eral "amount1": eral "amount1":
fields date,description,csvamount fields date,description,csvamount
@ -377,7 +684,7 @@ TIPS
# Can't interpolate amount1 here # Can't interpolate amount1 here
comment %amount1 comment %amount1
When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field,
only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or
C if "something" is matched, but never A: C if "something" is matched, but never A:
@ -387,14 +694,14 @@ TIPS
comment C comment C
How CSV rules are evaluated How CSV rules are evaluated
Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need
to). First, to). First,
o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first.
(At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further
includes, before proceeding.) includes, recursively, before proceeding.)
Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is re- Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is re-
peated, the last one wins: peated, the last one wins:
o skip (at top level) o skip (at top level)
@ -408,37 +715,25 @@ TIPS
Then for each CSV record in turn: Then for each CSV record in turn:
o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all re- o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all re-
maining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, maining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule,
skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip
rules, the first one wins. rules, the first one wins.
o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks.
When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last
one. one.
o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was as- o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was as-
signed to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a de- signed to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a de-
fault fault
o generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values, which be- o generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values.
comes part of the input to the hledger command that has been selected
Valid transactions This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can
hledger currently does not post-process and validate transactions gen- use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully,
erated from CSV as thoroughly as transactions read from a journal file. the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the
This means that if your rules are wrong, you can generate invalid user specified.
transactions. Or, amounts may not be displayed with a canonical dis-
play style.
So when setting up or adjusting CSV rules, you should check your re-
sults visually with the print command. You can pipe print's output
through hledger once more to validate and canonicalise fully. Eg:
$ hledger -f some.csv print | hledger -f- print -I
(The -I/--ignore-assertions flag disables balance assertion checks,
usually needed when re-parsing print output.)