--------------------------------------- MIME type name: text MIME subtype name: tab-separated-values Required Parameters: Character Set, Encoding Type Optional Paramters: None Security Considerations: none Published Specification: Doesn't really need any, but here goes: Definition of tab-separated-values (tsv) ---------------------------------------- tsv is a popular method of data interchange among databases and spreadsheets and word processors with Mail-merge functions. It is the lowest common denominator in many cases between two different applications. A tsv file encodes a number of records that may contain multiple fields. Each record is represented as a single line. Each field value is represented as text. Fields in a record are separated from each other by a tab character. Note that fields that contain tabs are not allowable in this encoding. The first line of this encoding is special, it contains the name of each field, separated by tabs. Each record must have the same number of fields. Here is a quick BNF field ::= [character]+ # multiple characters name ::= [character]+ nameline ::= name [TAB name]+ EOL record ::= field [TAB field]+ EOL # at least one field, or more tsv ::= nameline record+ Given that the number of tabs per line must be constant. Example ======= NameAgeAddress Paul231115 W Franklin Bessy the Cow5Big Farm Way Zeke45W Main St Contact-Info: U of MN Internet Gopher Team