260 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
260 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
% hledger_csv(5) hledger _version_
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% _author_
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% _monthyear_
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_web_({{
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_docversionlinks_({{csv}})
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_toc_
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}})
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_man_({{
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# NAME
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CSV - how hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format
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# DESCRIPTION
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}})
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hledger can read
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[CSV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values)
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(comma-separated value) files as if they were journal files,
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automatically converting each CSV record into a transaction. (To
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learn about *writing* CSV, see [CSV output](hledger.html#csv-output).)
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Converting CSV to transactions requires some special conversion rules.
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These do several things:
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- they describe the layout and format of the CSV data
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- they can customize the generated journal entries using a simple templating language
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- they can add refinements based on patterns in the CSV data, eg categorizing transactions with more detailed account names.
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When reading a CSV file named `FILE.csv`, hledger looks for a
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conversion rules file named `FILE.csv.rules` in the same directory.
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You can override this with the `--rules-file` option.
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If the rules file does not exist, hledger will auto-create one with
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some example rules, which you'll need to adjust.
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At minimum, the rules file must identify the `date` and `amount` fields.
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It may also be necessary to specify the date format, and the number of header lines to skip. Eg:
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```
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fields date, _, _, amount
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date-format %d/%m/%Y
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skip 1
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```
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A more complete example:
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```
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# hledger CSV rules for amazon.com order history
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# sample:
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# "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID"
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# "Jul 29, 2012","Payment","To","Adapteva, Inc.","Completed","$25.00","$0.00","17LA58JSK6PRD4HDGLNJQPI1PB9N8DKPVHL"
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# skip one header line
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skip 1
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# name the csv fields (and assign the transaction's date, amount and code)
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fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amount, fees, code
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# how to parse the date
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date-format %b %-d, %Y
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# combine two fields to make the description
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description %toorfrom %name
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# save these fields as tags
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comment status:%amzstatus, fees:%fees
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# set the base account for all transactions
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account1 assets:amazon
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# flip the sign on the amount
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amount -%amount
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```
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For more examples, see [Convert CSV files](csv-import.html).
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# CSV RULES
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The following seven kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order.
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Blank lines and lines beginning with `#` or `;` are ignored.
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## skip
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`skip `*`N`*
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Skip this number of CSV records at the beginning.
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You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. Eg:
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<!-- XXX -->
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<!-- hledger tries to skip initial CSV header lines automatically. -->
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<!-- If it guesses wrong, use this directive to skip exactly N lines. -->
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<!-- This can also be used in a conditional block to ignore certain CSV records. -->
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```rules
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# ignore the first CSV line
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skip 1
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```
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## date-format
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`date-format `*`DATEFMT`*
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When your CSV date fields are not formatted like `YYYY/MM/DD` (or `YYYY-MM-DD` or `YYYY.MM.DD`),
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you'll need to specify the format.
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DATEFMT is a [strptime-like date parsing pattern](http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/archive/time/latest/doc/html/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime),
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which must parse the date field values completely. Examples:
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``` {.rules .display-table}
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# for dates like "6/11/2013":
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date-format %-d/%-m/%Y
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```
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``` {.rules .display-table}
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# for dates like "11/06/2013":
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date-format %m/%d/%Y
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```
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``` {.rules .display-table}
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# for dates like "2013-Nov-06":
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date-format %Y-%h-%d
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```
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``` {.rules .display-table}
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# for dates like "11/6/2013 11:32 PM":
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date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p
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```
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## field list
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`fields `*`FIELDNAME1`*, *`FIELDNAME2`*...
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This (a) names the CSV fields, in order (names may not contain whitespace; uninteresting names may be left blank),
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and (b) assigns them to journal entry fields if you use any of these standard field names:
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`date`, `date2`, `status`, `code`, `description`, `comment`, `account1`, `account2`, `amount`, `amount-in`, `amount-out`, `currency`, `balance`.
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Eg:
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```rules
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# use the 1st, 2nd and 4th CSV fields as the entry's date, description and amount,
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# and give the 7th and 8th fields meaningful names for later reference:
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#
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# CSV field:
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# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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# entry field:
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fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield
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```
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## field assignment
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*`ENTRYFIELDNAME`* *`FIELDVALUE`*
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This sets a journal entry field (one of the standard names above) to the given text value,
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which can include CSV field values interpolated by name (`%CSVFIELDNAME`) or 1-based position (`%N`).
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<!-- Whitespace before or after the value is ignored. -->
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Eg:
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```{.rules .display-table}
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# set the amount to the 4th CSV field with "USD " prepended
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amount USD %4
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```
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```{.rules .display-table}
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# combine three fields to make a comment (containing two tags)
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comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1
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```
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Field assignments can be used instead of or in addition to a field list.
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## conditional block
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`if` *`PATTERN`*\
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*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS`*...
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`if`\
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*`PATTERN`*\
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*`PATTERN`*...\
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*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS`*...
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This applies one or more field assignments, only to those CSV records matched by one of the PATTERNs.
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The patterns are case-insensitive regular expressions which match anywhere
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within the whole CSV record (it's not yet possible to match within a
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specific field). When there are multiple patterns they can be written
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on separate lines, unindented.
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The field assignments are on separate lines indented by at least one space.
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Examples:
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```{.rules .display-table}
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# if the CSV record contains "groceries", set account2 to "expenses:groceries"
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if groceries
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account2 expenses:groceries
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```
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```{.rules .display-table}
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# if the CSV record contains any of these patterns, set account2 and comment as shown
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if
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monthly service fee
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atm transaction fee
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banking thru software
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account2 expenses:business:banking
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comment XXX deductible ? check it
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```
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## include
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`include `*`RULESFILE`*
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Include another rules file at this point. `RULESFILE` is either an absolute file path or
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a path relative to the current file's directory. Eg:
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```rules
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# rules reused with several CSV files
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include common.rules
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```
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## newest-first
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`newest-first`
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Consider adding this rule if all of the following are true:
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you might be processing just one day of data,
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your CSV records are in reverse chronological order (newest first),
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and you care about preserving the order of same-day transactions.
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It usually isn't needed, because hledger autodetects the CSV order,
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but when all CSV records have the same date it will assume they are oldest first.
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# CSV TIPS
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## CSV ordering
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The generated [journal entries](/journal.html#transactions) will be sorted by date.
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The order of same-day entries will be preserved
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(except in the special case where you might need [`newest-first`](#newest-first), see above).
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## CSV accounts
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Each journal entry will have two [postings](/journal.html#postings), to `account1` and `account2` respectively.
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It's not yet possible to generate entries with more than two postings.
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It's conventional and recommended to use `account1` for the account whose CSV we are reading.
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## CSV amounts
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The `amount` field sets the [amount](/journal.html#amounts) of the `account1` posting.
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If the CSV has debit/credit amounts in separate fields, assign to the `amount-in` and `amount-out` pseudo fields instead.
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(Whichever one has a value will be used, with appropriate sign. If both contain a value, it may not work so well.)
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If an amount value is parenthesised, it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped.
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If an amount value begins with a double minus sign, those will cancel out and be removed.
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If the CSV has the currency symbol in a separate field,
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assign that to the `currency` pseudo field to have it prepended to the amount.
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Or, you can use a [field assignment](#field-assignment) to `amount` that interpolates both CSV fields
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(giving more control, eg to put the currency symbol on the right).
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## CSV balance assertions
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If the CSV includes a running balance, you can assign that to the `balance` pseudo field;
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whenever the running balance value is non-empty,
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it will be [asserted](/journal.html#balance-assertions) as the balance after the `account1` posting.
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## Reading multiple CSV files
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You can read multiple CSV files at once using multiple `-f` arguments on the command line,
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and hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each.
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Note if you use the `--rules-file` option, this one rules file will be used for all the CSV files being read.
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