javacsvapache-commons-csv

How can I skip the first line of a csv in Java?


I want to skip the first line and use the second as header.

I am using classes from apache commons csv to process a CSV file.

The header of the CSV file is in the second row, not the first (which contains coordinates).

My code looks like this:

static void processFile(final File file) {
    FileReader filereader = new FileReader(file);
    final CSVFormat format = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withDelimiter(';');
    CSVParser parser = new CSVParser(filereader, format);
    final List<CSVRecord> records = parser.getRecords();
    //stuff
}

I naively thought,

CSVFormat format = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withFirstRecordAsHeader().withDelimiter(;)

would solve the problem, as it's different from withFirstRowAsHeader and I thought it would detect that the first row doesn't contain any semicolons and is not a record. It doesn't. I tried to skip the first line (that CSVFormat seems to think is the header) with

CSVFormat format = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withSkipHeaderRecord().withFirstRecordAsHeader().withDelimiter(;);

but that also doesn't work. What can I do? What's the difference between withFirstRowAsHeader and withFirstRecordAsHeader?


Solution

  • You may want to read the first line, before passing the reader to the CSVParser :

    static void processFile(final File file) {
        FileReader filereader = new FileReader(file);
        BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(filereader);
        bufferedReader.readLine();// try-catch omitted
        final CSVFormat format = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withDelimiter(';');
        CSVParser parser = new CSVParser(bufferedReader, format);
        final List<CSVRecord> records = parser.getRecords();
        //stuff
    }