ODBC tip: How to fix special characters in CSV files

#odbc #csv #zappysys

Introducion

Encoding problems with foreign characters are a frequent issue when working with CSV files. These problems can cause characters to display incorrectly, such as Ć” instead of á or ñ.

In this article, I demonstrate how to use the encoding and character set options in the ZappySys ODBC CSV driver to fix these issues, ensuring that special characters are read and imported correctly in your CSV files.

Problem

CSV files can use different encoding formats that define how characters are stored and interpreted. Common encodings include UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO-8859-1, and ISO-8859-13. When the encoding used in the CSV file does not match the encoding expected by the ODBC driver, foreign characters may appear garbled after import.

For instance, importing a CSV with accented characters might result in symbols like Ć” instead of the expected á. Here’s an example of a CSV file with encoding issues:

producto,descripcion,precio,ubicacion
Computadora,Computadora portĆ”til con pantalla de 15.6",1200.00,Madrid, EspaĆ±a
Smartphone,Smartphone con cĆ”mara de 12 MP y 6GB RAM,800.00,Buenos Aires, Argentina

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ODBC tip: How to fix special characters in CSV files