How to Parse CSV File in JavaScript

1. Use the jquery-csv Plugin to Parse CSV in JavaScript
2. Use the Papa.parse Library to Parse CSV in JavaScript

A CSV is a file that contains multiple comma-separated values. It can be saved in a tabular format and is usually compatible with Excel. Hence, there is a need to parse CSV data in programming languages.

Since a CSV file is essentially a text file with comma-separated values, we can use the FileReader class to read CSV files as a string and format it accordingly.

In this tutorial, we learn how to parse CSV using JavaScript.

Use the jquery-csv Plugin to Parse CSV in JavaScript

To parse the CSV file directly, we can use the jquery-csv plugin.

This is a fully configurable, tested, and optimized CSV parser using the jQuery syntax. We can use the csv.toArrays() function to load data into an array.

See the code below.

array = $.csv.toArrays(csv, {
  delimiter: '\'',
  separator: ';',  // Sets a custom field separator character
});

The delimiter can be used to set a custom delimiter character value, and the separator can be used to set a custom field separator character. This shows that jquery-csv is completely customizable. Remember to import the plugin accordingly before using it.

Alternatively, we can also use the csv.toObjects() function provided by this plugin to parse CSV files into an object.

Use the Papa.parse Library to Parse CSV in JavaScript

The Papa.parse library has been gaining popularity in recent years to parse CSV data efficiently. It is quick and easy to use. We can use this with CSV strings or directly with CSV files.

For example,

Papa.parse(file, {
  complete: function(csvdata) {
    console.log(csvdata);
  }
});

This library is compatible with most of the browsers available.