CSV file management using C++

CSV is a simple file format used to store tabular data such as a spreadsheet or a database. CSV stands for Comma Separated Values. The data fields in a CSV file are separated/delimited by a comma (‘, ‘) and the individual rows are separated by a newline (‘\n’). CSV File management in C++ is similar to text-type file management, except for a few modifications.

This article discusses about how to create, update and delete records in a CSV file:

Note: Here, a reportcard.csv file has been created to store the student’s roll number, name and marks in math, physics, chemistry and biology.

1. Create operation:

   The create operation is similar to creating a text file, i.e. input data from the user and write it to the csv file using the file pointer and appropriate delimiters(‘, ‘) between different columns and ‘\n’ after the end of each row.

   CREATE

   void create()
   {
       // file pointer
       fstream fout;
   
       // opens an existing csv file or creates a new file.
       fout.open("reportcard.csv", ios::out | ios::app);
   
       cout << "Enter the details of 5 students:"
            << " roll name maths phy chem bio";
       << endl;
   
       int i, roll, phy, chem, math, bio;
       string name;
   
       // Read the input
       for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
   
           cin >> roll
               >> name
               >> math
               >> phy
               >> chem
               >> bio;
   
           // Insert the data to file
           fout << roll << ", "
                << name << ", "
                << math << ", "
                << phy << ", "
                << chem << ", "
                << bio
                << "\n";
       }
   }

   Output:
   

2. Read a particular record:

   In reading a CSV file, the following approach is implemented:-

   1. Using getline(), file pointer and ‘\n’ as the delimiter, read an entire row and store it in a string variable.
   2. Using stringstream, separate the row into words.
   3. Now using getline(), the stringstream pointer and ‘, ‘ as the delimiter, read every word in the row, store it in a string variable and push that variable to a string vector.
   4. Retrieve a required column data through row[index]. Here, row[0] always stores the roll number of a student, so compare row[0] with the roll number input by the user, and if it matches, display the details of the student and break from the loop.

   Note: Here, since whatever data reading from the file, is stored in string format, so always convert string to the required datatype before comparing or calculating, etc.

   READ

   void read_record()
   {
   
       // File pointer
       fstream fin;
   
       // Open an existing file
       fin.open("reportcard.csv", ios::in);
   
       // Get the roll number
       // of which the data is required
       int rollnum, roll2, count = 0;
       cout << "Enter the roll number "
            << "of the student to display details: ";
       cin >> rollnum;
   
       // Read the Data from the file
       // as String Vector
       vector<string> row;
       string line, word, temp;
   
       while (fin >> temp) {
   
           row.clear();
   
           // read an entire row and
           // store it in a string variable 'line'
           getline(fin, line);
   
           // used for breaking words
           stringstream s(line);
   
           // read every column data of a row and
           // store it in a string variable, 'word'
           while (getline(s, word, ', ')) {
   
               // add all the column data
               // of a row to a vector
               row.push_back(word);
           }
   
           // convert string to integer for comparision
           roll2 = stoi(row[0]);
   
           // Compare the roll number
           if (roll2 == rollnum) {
   
               // Print the found data
               count = 1;
               cout << "Details of Roll " << row[0] << " : \n";
               cout << "Name: " << row[1] << "\n";
               cout << "Maths: " << row[2] << "\n";
               cout << "Physics: " << row[3] << "\n";
               cout << "Chemistry: " << row[4] << "\n";
               cout << "Biology: " << row[5] << "\n";
               break;
           }
       }
       if (count == 0)
           cout << "Record not found\n";
   }

   Output:
   

3. Update a record:

   The following approach is implemented while updating a record:-

   1. Read data from a file and compare it with the user input, as explained under read operation.
   2. Ask the user to enter new values for the record to be updated.
   3. update row[index] with the new data. Here, index refers to the required column field that is to be updated.
   4. Write the updated record and all other records into a new file(‘reportcardnew.csv’).
   5. At the end of operation, remove the old file and rename the new file, with the old file name, i.e. remove ‘reportcard.csv’ and rename ‘reportcardnew.csv’ with ‘reportcard.csv’
   UPDATE

   void update_recode()
   {
   
       // File pointer
       fstream fin, fout;
   
       // Open an existing record
       fin.open("reportcard.csv", ios::in);
   
       // Create a new file to store updated data
       fout.open("reportcardnew.csv", ios::out);
   
       int rollnum, roll1, marks, count = 0, i;
       char sub;
       int index, new_marks;
       string line, word;
       vector<string> row;
   
       // Get the roll number from the user
       cout << "Enter the roll number "
            << "of the record to be updated: ";
       cin >> rollnum;
   
       // Get the data to be updated
       cout << "Enter the subject "
            << "to be updated(M/P/C/B): ";
       cin >> sub;
   
       // Determine the index of the subject
       // where Maths has index 2,
       // Physics has index 3, and so on
       if (sub == 'm' || sub == 'M')
           index = 2;
       else if (sub == 'p' || sub == 'P')
           index = 3;
       else if (sub == 'c' || sub == 'C')
           index = 4;
       else if (sub == 'b' || sub == 'B')
           index = 5;
       else {
           cout << "Wrong choice.Enter again\n";
           update_record();
       }
   
       // Get the new marks
       cout << "Enter new marks: ";
       cin >> new_marks;
   
       // Traverse the file
       while (!fin.eof()) {
   
           row.clear();
   
           getline(fin, line);
           stringstream s(line);
   
           while (getline(s, word, ', ')) {
               row.push_back(word);
           }
   
           roll1 = stoi(row[0]);
           int row_size = row.size();
   
           if (roll1 == rollnum) {
               count = 1;
               stringstream convert;
   
               // sending a number as a stream into output string
               convert << new_marks;
   
               // the str() converts number into string
               row[index] = convert.str();
   
               if (!fin.eof()) {
                   for (i = 0; i < row_size - 1; i++) {
   
                       // write the updated data
                       // into a new file 'reportcardnew.csv'
                       // using fout
                       fout << row[i] << ", ";
                   }
   
                   fout << row[row_size - 1] << "\n";
               }
           }
           else {
               if (!fin.eof()) {
                   for (i = 0; i < row_size - 1; i++) {
   
                       // writing other existing records
                       // into the new file using fout.
                       fout << row[i] << ", ";
                   }
   
                   // the last column data ends with a '\n'
                   fout << row[row_size - 1] << "\n";
               }
           }
           if (fin.eof())
               break;
       }
       if (count == 0)
           cout << "Record not found\n";
   
       fin.close();
       fout.close();
   
       // removing the existing file
       remove("reportcard.csv");
   
       // renaming the updated file with the existing file name
       rename("reportcardnew.csv", "reportcard.csv");
   }

   Output:
   

4. Delete a record:

   The following approach is implemented while deleting a record

   1. Read data from a file and compare it with the user input, as explained under read and update operation.
   2. Write all the updated records, except the data to be deleted, onto a new file(reportcardnew.csv).
   3. Remove the old file, and rename the new file, with the old file’s name.
   DELETE

   void delete_record()
   {
   
       // Open FIle pointers
       fstream fin, fout;
   
       // Open the existing file
       fin.open("reportcard.csv", ios::in);
   
       // Create a new file to store the non-deleted data
       fout.open("reportcardnew.csv", ios::out);
   
       int rollnum, roll1, marks, count = 0, i;
       char sub;
       int index, new_marks;
       string line, word;
       vector<string> row;
   
       // Get the roll number
       // to decide the data to be deleted
       cout << "Enter the roll number "
            << "of the record to be deleted: ";
       cin >> rollnum;
   
       // Check if this record exists
       // If exists, leave it and
       // add all other data to the new file
       while (!fin.eof()) {
   
           row.clear();
           getline(fin, line);
           stringstream s(line);
   
           while (getline(s, word, ', ')) {
               row.push_back(word);
           }
   
           int row_size = row.size();
           roll1 = stoi(row[0]);
   
           // writing all records,
           // except the record to be deleted,
           // into the new file 'reportcardnew.csv'
           // using fout pointer
           if (roll1 != rollnum) {
               if (!fin.eof()) {
                   for (i = 0; i < row_size - 1; i++) {
                       fout << row[i] << ", ";
                   }
                   fout << row[row_size - 1] << "\n";
               }
           }
           else {
               count = 1;
           }
           if (fin.eof())
               break;
       }
       if (count == 1)
           cout << "Record deleted\n";
       else
           cout << "Record not found\n";
   
       // Close the pointers
       fin.close();
       fout.close();
   
       // removing the existing file
       remove("reportcard.csv");
   
       // renaming the new file with the existing file name
       rename("reportcardnew.csv", "reportcard.csv");
   }

   Output:
   

References: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/file-handling-c-classes/, https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/stringstream-c-applications/