Comma-separated values

Comma-separated values (CSV) is a plain textdataformat for storing tabular data where the fields (values) of a record are separated by a comma and each record is a line (i.e. newline separated). CSV is commonly-used in software that generally deals with tabular data such as a database or a spreadsheet. Benefits cited for using CSV include simplicity of use and human readability. CSV is a form of delimiter-separated values. A CSV file is a file that contains CSV-formatted data.

CSV is not limited to a particular character encoding but should be and is commonly used with UTF-8, particularly because it does not provide a way to indicate the character encoding.