.TH "hledger_csv" "5" "October 2015" "" "hledger User Manuals"



.SH NAME
.PP
hledger_csv \- reading CSV files with hledger, and the CSV rules file
format
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IP \[bu] 2
toc
.PP
hledger can read CSV files, converting each CSV record into a journal
entry (transaction), if you provide some conversion hints in a "rules
file".
This file should be named like the CSV file with an additional
\f[C]\&.rules\f[] suffix (eg: \f[C]mybank.csv.rules\f[]); or, you can
specify the file with \f[C]\-\-rules\-file\ PATH\f[].
hledger will create it if necessary, with some default rules which
you\[aq]ll need to adjust.
At minimum, the rules file must specify the \f[C]date\f[] and
\f[C]amount\f[] fields.
For an example, see How to read CSV files.
.PP
(For CSV output, see CSV output.)
.SH CSV RULES
.PP
The following six kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any
order.
Blank lines and lines beginning with \f[C]#\f[] or \f[C];\f[] are
ignored.
.PP
\f[B]\f[C]skip\f[] \f[I]N\f[]\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
Skip this number of CSV records at the beginning.
You\[aq]ll need this when your CSV contains header lines.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ ignore\ the\ first\ CSV\ line
skip\ 1
\f[]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]\f[C]date\-format\f[] \f[I]DATEFMT\f[]\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
When your CSV date fields are not formatted like \f[C]YYYY/MM/DD\f[] (or
\f[C]YYYY\-MM\-DD\f[] or \f[C]YYYY.MM.DD\f[]), you\[aq]ll need to
specify the format.
DATEFMT is a strptime\-like date parsing pattern, which must parse the
date field values completely.
Examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ parses\ "6/11/2013":
date\-format\ %\-d/%\-m/%Y
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ parses\ "11/06/2013":
date\-format\ %m/%d/%Y
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ parses\ "2013\-Nov\-06":
date\-format\ %Y\-%h\-%d
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ parses\ "11/6/2013\ 11:32\ PM":
date\-format\ %\-m/%\-d/%Y\ %l:%M\ %p
\f[]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]\f[C]fields\f[] \f[I]CSVFIELDNAME1\f[],
\f[I]CSVFIELDNAME2\f[]...\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
(Field list)
.PD 0
.P
.PD
This (a) names the CSV fields (names may not contain whitespace), and
(b) assigns them to journal entry fields if you use any of these
standard field names: \f[C]date\f[], \f[C]date2\f[], \f[C]status\f[],
\f[C]code\f[], \f[C]description\f[], \f[C]comment\f[],
\f[C]account1\f[], \f[C]account2\f[], \f[C]amount\f[],
\f[C]amount\-in\f[], \f[C]amount\-out\f[], \f[C]currency\f[].
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ use\ the\ 1st,\ 2nd\ and\ 4th\ CSV\ fields\ as\ the\ entry\ date,\ description\ and\ amount
#\ give\ the\ 7th\ and\ 8th\ fields\ custom\ names\ for\ later\ reference
fields\ date,\ description,\ ,\ amount,\ ,\ ,\ somefield,\ anotherfield
\f[]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]\f[I]ENTRYFIELDNAME\f[] \f[I]FIELDVALUE\f[]\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
(Field assignment)
.PD 0
.P
.PD
This sets a journal entry field (one of the standard names above) to the
given text value, which can include CSV field values interpolated by
name (\f[C]%CSVFIELDNAME\f[]) or 1\-based position (\f[C]%N\f[]).
 Field assignments can be used instead of or in addition to a field
list.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ set\ the\ amount\ to\ the\ 4th\ CSV\ field\ with\ "USD\ "\ prepended
amount\ USD\ %4
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ combine\ three\ fields\ to\ make\ a\ comment\ (containing\ two\ tags)
comment\ note:\ %somefield\ \-\ %anotherfield,\ date:\ %1
\f[]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]\f[C]if\f[] \f[I]PATTERN\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\ \ \ \ \f[I]FIELDASSIGNMENTS\f[]...\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
or
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[B]\f[C]if\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[I]PATTERN\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[I]PATTERN\f[]...
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\ \ \ \ \f[I]FIELDASSIGNMENTS\f[]...\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
(Conditional block)
.PD 0
.P
.PD
This applies one or more field assignments, only to those CSV records
matched by one of the PATTERNs.
The patterns are case\-insensitive regular expressions which match
anywhere within the whole CSV record (it\[aq]s not yet possible to match
within a specific field).
When there are multiple patterns they should be written on separate
lines, unindented.
The field assignments are on separate lines indented by at least one
space.
Examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ if\ the\ CSV\ record\ contains\ "groceries",\ set\ account2\ to\ "expenses:groceries"
if\ groceries
\ account2\ expenses:groceries
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ if\ the\ CSV\ record\ contains\ any\ of\ these\ patterns,\ set\ account2\ and\ comment\ as\ shown
if
monthly\ service\ fee
atm\ transaction\ fee
banking\ thru\ software
\ account2\ expenses:business:banking
\ comment\ \ XXX\ deductible\ ?\ check
\f[]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]\f[C]include\f[] \f[I]RULESFILE\f[]\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
Include another rules file at this point.
\f[C]RULESFILE\f[] is either an absolute file path or a path relative to
the current file\[aq]s directory.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ rules\ reused\ with\ several\ CSV\ files
include\ common.rules
\f[]
.fi
.SS Other CSV tips
.PP
Each generated journal entry will have two postings, to
\f[C]account1\f[] and \f[C]account2\f[] respectively.
Currently it\[aq]s not possible to generate entries with more than two
postings.
.PP
If the CSV has debit/credit amounts in separate fields, assign to the
\f[C]amount\-in\f[] and \f[C]amount\-out\f[] pseudo fields instead of
\f[C]amount\f[].
.PP
If the CSV has the currency in a separate field, assign that to the
\f[C]currency\f[] pseudo field which will be automatically prepended to
the amount.
(Or you can do the same thing with a field assignment.)
.PP
If an amount value is parenthesised, it will be de\-parenthesised and
sign\-flipped automatically.
.PP
The generated journal entries will be sorted by date.
The original order of same\-day entries will be preserved, usually.


.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org.

.SH AUTHORS
Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com>

.SH COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2007-2015 Simon Michael.
.br
Released under GNU GPLv3+.

.SH SEE ALSO
hledger(1), hledger\-ui(1), hledger\-web(1), ledger(1)
.br
hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timelog(5)

For more information, see http://hledger.org.