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Posted to commits@poi.apache.org by ms...@apache.org on 2010/04/15 17:18:03 UTC

svn commit: r934444 - /poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java

Author: msb
Date: Thu Apr 15 15:18:03 2010
New Revision: 934444

URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?rev=934444&view=rev
Log:
Converts Excel to CSV using usermodel.

Added:
    poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java

Added: poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java
URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java?rev=934444&view=auto
==============================================================================
--- poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java (added)
+++ poi/trunk/src/examples/src/org/apache/poi/ss/examples/ToCSV.java Thu Apr 15 15:18:03 2010
@@ -0,0 +1,713 @@
+/* ====================================================================
+   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+==================================================================== */
+
+package org.apache.poi.ss.examples;
+
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.WorkbookFactory;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Workbook;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Sheet;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Row;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.DataFormatter;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.FormulaEvaluator;
+import org.apache.poi.openxml4j.exceptions.InvalidFormatException;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.BufferedWriter;
+import java.io.FilenameFilter;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+
+/**
+ * Demonstrates one way to convert an Excel spreadsheet into a CSV
+ * file. This class makes the following assumptions;
+ *
+ * <list>
+ * <li>1. Where the Excel workbook contains more that one worksheet, then a single
+ *        CSV file will contain the data from all of the worksheets.</li>
+ * <li>2. The data matrix contained in the CSV file will be square. This means that
+ *     the number of fields in each record of the CSV file will match the number
+ *     of cells in the longest row found in the Excel workbook. Any short records
+ *     will be 'padded' with empty fields - an empty field is represented in the
+ *     the CSV file in this way - ,,.</li>
+ * <li>3. Empty fields will represent missing cells.</li>
+ * <li>4. A record consisting of empty fields will be used to represent an empty row
+ *     in the Excel workbook.</li>
+ * </list>
+ *
+ * Therefore, if the worksheet looked like this;
+ *
+ * <pre>
+ *  ___________________________________________
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *     |   A   |   B   |   C   |   D   |   E   |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *   1 |   1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *   2 |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *   3 |       |   A   |       |   B   |       |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *   4 |       |       |       |       |   Z   |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *     |       |       |       |       |       |
+ *   5 | 1,400 |       |  250  |       |       |
+ *  ___|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
+ *
+ * </pre>
+ *
+ * Then, the resulting CSV file will contain the following lines (records);
+ *
+ * <pre>
+ * 1,2,3,4,5
+ * ,,,,
+ * ,A,,B,
+ * ,,,,Z
+ * "1,400",,250,,
+ * </pre>
+ * <p>
+ * Typically, the comma is used to separate each of the fields that, together,
+ * constitute a single record or line within the CSV file. This is not however
+ * a hard and fast rule and so this class allows the user to determine which
+ * character is used as the field separator and assumes the comma if none other
+ * is specified.
+ * </p><p>
+ * If a field contains the separator then it will be escaped. If the file should
+ * obey Excel's CSV formatting rules, then the field will be surrounded with
+ * speech marks whilst if it should obey UNIX conventions, each occurrence of
+ * the separator will be preceded by the backslash character.
+ * </p><p>
+ * If a field contains an end of line (EOL) character then it too will be
+ * escaped. If the file should obey Excel's CSV formatting rules then the field
+ * will again be surrounded by speech marks. On the other hand, if the file
+ * should follow UNIX conventions then a single backslash will precede the
+ * EOL character. There is no single applicable standard for UNIX and some
+ * appications replace the CR with \r and the LF with \n but this class will
+ * not do so.
+ * </p><p>
+ * If the field contains double quotes then that character will be escaped. It
+ * seems as though UNIX does not define a standard for this whilst Excel does.
+ * Should the CSV file have to obey Excel's formmating rules then the speech
+ * mark character will be escaped with a second set of speech marks. Finally, an
+ * enclosing set of speah marks will also surround the entire field. Thus, if
+ * the following line of text appeared in a cell - "Hello" he said - it would
+ * look like this when converted into a field within a CSV file - """Hello"" he
+ * said".
+ * </p><p>
+ * Finally, it is worth noting that talk of CSV 'standards' is really slightly
+ * missleading as there is no such thing. It may well be that the code in this
+ * class has to be modified to produce files to suit a specific application
+ * or requirement.
+ * </p>
+ * @author Mark B [msb at apache.org]
+ * @version 1.00 9th April 2010
+ *          1.10 13th April 2010 - Added support for processing all Excel
+ *                                 workbooks in a folder along with the ability
+ *                                 to specify a field separator character.
+ *          2.00 14th April 2010 - Added support for embedded characters; the
+ *                                 field separator, EOL and double quotes or
+ *                                 speech marks. In addition, gave the client
+ *                                 the ability to select how these are handled,
+ *                                 either obeying Excel's or UNIX formatting
+ *                                 conventions.
+ */
+public class ToCSV {
+
+    private Workbook workbook = null;
+    private ArrayList<ArrayList> csvData = null;
+    private int maxRowWidth = 0;
+    private int formattingConvention = 0;
+    private DataFormatter formatter = null;
+    private FormulaEvaluator evaluator = null;
+    private String separator = null;
+
+    private static final String CSV_FILE_EXTENSION = ".csv";
+    private static final String DEFAULT_SEPARATOR = ",";
+
+    /**
+     * Identifies that the CSV file should obey Excel's formatting conventions
+     * with regard to escaping certain embedded characters - the field separator,
+     * speech mark and end of line (EOL) character
+     */
+    public static final int EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Identifies that the CSV file should obey UNIX formatting conventions
+     * with regard to escaping certain embedded characters - the field separator
+     * and end of line (EOL) character
+     */
+    public static final int UNIX_STYLE_ESCAPING = 1;
+
+    /**
+     * Process the contents of a folder, convert the contents of each Excel
+     * workbook into CSV format and save the resulting file to the specified
+     * folder using the same name as the original workbook with the .xls or
+     * .xlsx extension replaced by .csv. This method will ensure that the
+     * CSV file created contains the comma field separator and that embedded
+     * characters such as the field separator, the EOL and double quotes are
+     * escaped in accordance with Excel's convention.
+     *
+     * @param strSource An instance of the String class that encapsulates the
+     *        name of and path to either a folder containing those Excel
+     *        workbook(s) or the name of and path to an individual Excel workbook
+     *        that is/are to be converted.
+     * @param strDestination An instance of the String class encapsulating the
+     *        name of and path to a folder that will contain the resulting CSV
+     *        files.
+     * @throws java.io.FileNotFoundException Thrown if any file cannot be located
+     *         on the filesystem during processing.
+     * @throws java.io.IOException Thrown if the filesystem encounters any
+     *         problems during processing.
+     * @throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException Thrown if the values passed
+     *         to the strSource parameter refers to a file or folder that does not
+     *         exist or if the value passed to the strDestination paramater refers
+     *         to a folder that does not exist or simply does not refer to a
+     *         folder.
+     * @throws org.apache.poi.openxml4j.exceptions.InvalidFormatException Thrown
+     *         if the xml markup encountered whilst parsing a SpreadsheetML
+     *         file (.xlsx) is invalid.
+     */
+    public void convertExcelToCSV(String strSource, String strDestination)
+                       throws FileNotFoundException, IOException,
+                              IllegalArgumentException, InvalidFormatException {
+
+        // Simply chain the call to the overloaded convertExcelToCSV(String,
+        // String, String, int) method, pass the default separator and ensure
+        // that certain embedded characters are escaped in accordance with
+        // Excel's formatting conventions
+        this.convertExcelToCSV(strSource, strDestination,
+                ToCSV.DEFAULT_SEPARATOR, ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Process the contents of a folder, convert the contents of each Excel
+     * workbook into CSV format and save the resulting file to the specified
+     * folder using the same name as the original workbook with the .xls or
+     * .xlsx extension replaced by .csv. This method allows the client to
+     * define the field separator but will ensure that embedded characters such
+     * as the field separator, the EOL and double quotes are escaped in
+     * accordance with Excel's convention.
+     *
+     * @param strSource An instance of the String class that encapsulates the
+     *        name of and path to either a folder containing those Excel
+     *        workbook(s) or the name of and path to an individual Excel workbook
+     *        that is/are to be converted.
+     * @param strDestination An instance of the String class encapsulating the
+     *        name of and path to a folder that will contain the resulting CSV
+     *        files.
+     * @param separator An instance of the String class that encapsulates the
+     *        character or characters the client wishes to use as the field
+     *        separator.
+     * @throws java.io.FileNotFoundException Thrown if any file cannot be located
+     *         on the filesystem during processing.
+     * @throws java.io.IOException Thrown if the filesystem encounters any
+     *         problems during processing.
+     * @throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException Thrown if the values passed
+     *         to the strSource parameter refers to a file or folder that does not
+     *         exist or if the value passed to the strDestination paramater refers
+     *         to a folder that does not exist or simply does not refer to a
+     *         folder.
+     * @throws org.apache.poi.openxml4j.exceptions.InvalidFormatException Thrown
+     *         if the xml markup encounetered whilst parsing a SpreadsheetML
+     *         file (.xlsx) is invalid.
+     */
+    public void convertExcelToCSV(String strSource, String strDestination,
+                                  String separator)
+                       throws FileNotFoundException, IOException,
+                              IllegalArgumentException, InvalidFormatException {
+
+        // Simply chain the call to the overloaded convertExcelToCSV(String,
+        // String, String, int) method and ensure that certain embedded
+        // characters are escaped in accordance with Excel's formatting
+        // conventions
+        this.convertExcelToCSV(strSource, strDestination,
+                separator, ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Process the contents of a folder, convert the contents of each Excel
+     * workbook into CSV format and save the resulting file to the specified
+     * folder using the same name as the original workbook with the .xls or
+     * .xlsx extension replaced by .csv
+     *
+     * @param strSource An instance of the String class that encapsulates the
+     *        name of and path to either a folder containing those Excel
+     *        workbook(s) or the name of and path to an individual Excel workbook
+     *        that is/are to be converted.
+     * @param strDestination An instance of the String class encapsulating the name
+     *        of and path to a folder that will contain the resulting CSV files.
+     * @param formattingConvention A primitive int whose value will determine
+     *        whether certain embedded characters should be escaped in accordance
+     *        with Excel's or UNIX formatting conventions. Two constants are
+     *        defined to support this option; ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING and
+     *        ToCSV.UNIX_STYLE_ESCAPING
+     * @param separator An instance of the String class encapsulating the
+     *        characters or characters that should be used to separate items
+     *        on a line within the CSV file.
+     * @throws java.io.FileNotFoundException Thrown if any file cannot be located
+     *         on the filesystem during processing.
+     * @throws java.io.IOException Thrown if the filesystem encounters any
+     *         problems during processing.
+     * @throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException Thrown if the values passed
+     *         to the strSource parameter refers to a file or folder that does not
+     *         exist, if the value passed to the strDestination paramater refers
+     *         to a folder that does not exist,  if the value passed to the
+     *         strDestination parameter does not refer to a folder or if the
+     *         value passed to the formattingConvention parameter is other than
+     *         one of the values defined by the constants ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING
+     *         and ToCSV.UNIX_STYLE_ESCAPING.
+     * @throws org.apache.poi.openxml4j.exceptions.InvalidFormatException Thrown
+     *         if the xml markup encounetered whilst parsing a SpreadsheetML
+     *         file (.xlsx) is invalid.
+     */
+    public void convertExcelToCSV(String strSource, String strDestination,
+                                  String separator, int formattingConvention)
+                       throws FileNotFoundException, IOException,
+                              IllegalArgumentException, InvalidFormatException {
+        File source = new File(strSource);
+        File destination = new File(strDestination);
+        File[] filesList = null;
+        String destinationFilename = null;
+
+        // Check that the source file/folder exists.
+        if(!source.exists()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The source for the Excel " +
+                    "file(s) cannot be found.");
+        }
+
+        // Ensure thaat the folder the user has chosen to save the CSV files
+        // away into firstly exists and secondly is a folder rather than, for
+        // instance, a data file.
+        if(!destination.exists()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The folder/directory for the " +
+                    "converted CSV file(s) does not exist.");
+        }
+        if(!destination.isDirectory()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The destination for the CSV " +
+                    "file(s) is not a directory/folder.");
+        }
+
+        // Ensure the value passed to the formattingConvention parameter is
+        // within range.
+        if(formattingConvention != ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING &&
+           formattingConvention != ToCSV.UNIX_STYLE_ESCAPING) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The value passed to the " +
+                    "formattingConvention parameter is out of range.");
+        }
+
+        // Copy the spearator character and formatting convention into local
+        // variables for use in other methods.
+        this.separator = separator;
+        this.formattingConvention = formattingConvention;
+
+        // Check to see if the sourceFolder variable holds a reference to
+        // a file or a folder full of files.
+        if(source.isDirectory()) {
+            // Get a list of all of the Excel spreadsheet files (workbooks) in
+            // the source folder/directory
+            filesList = source.listFiles(new ExcelFilenameFilter());
+        }
+        else {
+            // Assume that it must be a file handle - although there are other
+            // options the code should perhaps check - and store the reference
+            // into the filesList variable.
+            filesList = new File[]{source};
+        }
+
+        // Step through each of the files in the source folder and for each
+        // open the workbook, convert it's contents to CSV format and then
+        // save the resulting file away into the folder specified by the
+        // contents of the destination variable. Note that the name of the
+        // csv file will be created by taking the name of the Excel file,
+        // removing the extension and replacing it with .csv. Note that there
+        // is one drawback with this approach; if the folder holding the files
+        // contains two workbooks whose names match but one is a binary file
+        // (.xls) and the other a SpreadsheetML file (.xlsx), then the names
+        // for both CSV files will be identical and one CSV file will,
+        // therefore, over-write the other.
+        for(File excelFile : filesList) {
+            // Open the workbook
+            this.openWorkbook(excelFile);
+
+            // Convert it's contents into a CSV file
+            this.convertToCSV();
+
+            // Build the name of the csv folder from that of the Excel workbook.
+            // Simply replace the .xls or .xlsx file extension with .csv
+            destinationFilename = excelFile.getName();
+            destinationFilename = destinationFilename.substring(
+                    0, destinationFilename.lastIndexOf(".")) +
+                    ToCSV.CSV_FILE_EXTENSION;
+
+            // Save the CSV file away using the newly constricted file name
+            // and to the specified directory.
+            this.saveCSVFile(new File(destination, destinationFilename));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Open an Excel workbook ready for conversion.
+     *
+     * @param file An instance of the File class that encapsulates a handle
+     *        to a valid Excel workbook. Note that the workbook can be in
+     *        either binary (.xls) or SpreadsheetML (.xlsx) format.
+     * @throws java.io.FileNotFoundException Thrown if the file cannot be located.
+     * @throws java.io.IOException Thrown if a problem occurs in the file system.
+     * @throws org.apache.poi.openxml4j.exceptions.InvalidFormatException Thrown
+     *         if invalid xml is found whilst parsing an input SpreadsheetML
+     *         file.
+     */
+    private void openWorkbook(File file) throws FileNotFoundException,
+                                           IOException, InvalidFormatException {
+        FileInputStream fis = null;
+        try {
+            System.out.println("Opening workbook [" + file.getName() + "]");
+
+            fis = new FileInputStream(file);
+
+            // Open the workbook and then create the FormulaEvaluator and
+            // DataFormatter instances that will be needed to, respectively,
+            // force evaluation of forumlae found in cells and create a
+            // formatted String encapsulating the cells contents.
+            this.workbook = WorkbookFactory.create(fis);
+            this.evaluator = this.workbook.getCreationHelper().createFormulaEvaluator();
+            this.formatter = new DataFormatter();
+        }
+        finally {
+            if(fis != null) {
+                fis.close();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Called to convert the contents of the currently opened workbook into
+     * a CSV file.
+     */
+    private void convertToCSV() {
+        Sheet sheet = null;
+        Row row = null;
+        int lastRowNum = 0;
+        this.csvData = new ArrayList<ArrayList>();
+
+        System.out.println("Converting files contents to CSV format.");
+
+        // Discover how many sheets there are in the workbook....
+        int numSheets = this.workbook.getNumberOfSheets();
+
+        // and then iterate through them.
+        for(int i = 0; i < numSheets; i++) {
+
+            // Get a reference to a sheet and check to see if it contains
+            // any rows.
+            sheet = this.workbook.getSheetAt(i);
+            if(sheet.getPhysicalNumberOfRows() > 0) {
+
+                // Note down the index number of the bottom-most row and
+                // then iterate through all of the rows on the sheet starting
+                // from the very first row - number 1 - even if it is missing.
+                // Recover a reference to the row and then call another method
+                // which will strip the data from the cells and build lines
+                // for inclusion in the resylting CSV file.
+                lastRowNum = sheet.getLastRowNum();
+                for(int j = 0; j <= lastRowNum; j++) {
+                    row = sheet.getRow(j);
+                    this.rowToCSV(row);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Called to actually save the data recovered from the Excel workbook
+     * as a CSV file.
+     *
+     * @param file An instance of the File class that encapsulates a handle
+     *             referring to the CSV file.
+     * @throws java.io.FileNotFoundException Thrown if the file cannot be found.
+     * @throws java.io.IOException Thrown to indicate and error occurred in the
+     *                             underylying file system.
+     */
+    private void saveCSVFile(File file)
+                                     throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
+        FileWriter fw = null;
+        BufferedWriter bw = null;
+        ArrayList<String> line = null;
+        StringBuffer buffer = null;
+        String csvLineElement = null;
+        try {
+
+            System.out.println("Saving the CSV file [" + file.getName() + "]");
+
+            // Open a writer onto the CSV file.
+            fw = new FileWriter(file);
+            bw = new BufferedWriter(fw);
+
+            // Step through the elements of the ArrayList that was used to hold
+            // all of the data recovered from the Excel workbooks' sheets, rows
+            // and cells.
+            for(int i = 0; i < this.csvData.size(); i++) {
+                buffer = new StringBuffer();
+
+                // Get an element from the ArrayList that contains the data for
+                // the workbook. This element will itself be an ArrayList
+                // containing Strings and each String will hold the data recovered
+                // from a single cell. The for() loop is used to recover elements
+                // from this 'row' ArrayList one at a time and to write the Strings
+                // away to a StringBuffer thus assembling a single line for inclusion
+                // in the CSV file. If a row was empty or if it was short, then
+                // the ArrayList that contains it's data will also be shorter than
+                // some of the others. Therefore, it is necessary to check within
+                // the for loop to ensure that the ArrayList contains data to be
+                // processed. If it does, then an element will be recovered and
+                // appended to the StringBuffer.
+                line = this.csvData.get(i);
+                for(int j = 0; j < this.maxRowWidth; j++) {
+                    if(line.size() > j) {
+                        csvLineElement = line.get(j);
+                        if(csvLineElement != null) {
+                            buffer.append(this.escapeEmbeddedCharacters(
+                                    csvLineElement));
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if(j < (this.maxRowWidth - 1)) {
+                        buffer.append(this.separator);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                // Once the line is built, write it away to the CSV file.
+                bw.write(buffer.toString().trim());
+
+                // Condition the inclusion of new line characters so as to
+                // avoid an additional, superfluous, new line at the end of
+                // the file.
+                if(i < (this.csvData.size() - 1)) {
+                    bw.newLine();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        finally {
+            if(bw != null) {
+                bw.flush();
+                bw.close();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Called to convert a row of cells into a line of data that can later be
+     * output to the CSV file.
+     *
+     * @param row An instance of either the HSSFRow or XSSFRow classes that
+     *            encapsulates information about a row of cells recovered from
+     *            an Excel workbook.
+     */
+    private void rowToCSV(Row row) {
+        Cell cell = null;
+        int lastCellNum = 0;
+        ArrayList<String> csvLine = new ArrayList<String>();
+
+        // Check to ensure that a row was recovered from the sheet as it is
+        // possible that one or more rows between other populated rows could be
+        // missing - blank. If the row does contain cells then...
+        if(row != null) {
+
+            // Get the index for the right most cell on the row and then
+            // step along the row from left to right recovering the contents
+            // of each cell, converting that into a formatted String and
+            // then storing the String into the csvLine ArrayList.
+            lastCellNum = row.getLastCellNum();
+            for(int i = 0; i <= lastCellNum; i++) {
+                cell = row.getCell(i);
+                if(cell == null) {
+                    csvLine.add("");
+                }
+                else {
+                    if(cell.getCellType() != Cell.CELL_TYPE_FORMULA) {
+                        csvLine.add(this.formatter.formatCellValue(cell));
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        csvLine.add(this.formatter.formatCellValue(cell, this.evaluator));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            // Make a note of the index number of the right most cell. This value
+            // will later be used to ensure that the matrix of data in the CSV file
+            // is square.
+            if(lastCellNum > this.maxRowWidth) {
+                this.maxRowWidth = lastCellNum;
+            }
+        }
+        this.csvData.add(csvLine);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Checks to see whether the field - which consists of the formatted
+     * contents of an Excel worksheet cell encapsulated within a String - contains
+     * any embedded characters that must be escaped. The method is able to
+     * comply with either Excel's or UNIX formatting conventions in the
+     * following manner;
+     *
+     * With regard to UNIX conventions, if the field contains any embedded
+     * field separator or EOL characters they will each be escaped by prefixing
+     * a leading backspace character. These are the only changes that have yet
+     * emerged following some research as being required.
+     *
+     * Excel has other embedded character escaping requirements, some that emerged
+     * from empirical testing, other through research. Firstly, with regards to
+     * any embedded speech marks ("), each occurrence should be escaped with
+     * another speech mark and the whole field then surrounded with speech marks.
+     * Thus if a field holds <em>"Hello" he said</em> then it should be modified
+     * to appear as <em>"""Hello"" he said"</em>. Furthermore, if the field
+     * contains either embedded separator or EOL characters, it should also
+     * be surrounded with speech marks. As a result <em>1,400</em> would become
+     * <em>"1,400"</em> assuming that the comma is the required field separator.
+     * This has one consequence in, if a field contains embedded speech marks
+     * and embedded separator characters, checks for both are not required as the
+     * additional set of speech marks that should be placed around ay field
+     * containing embedded speech marks will also account for the embedded
+     * separator.
+     *
+     * It is worth making one further note with regard to embedded EOL
+     * characters. If the data in a worksheet is exported as a CSV file using
+     * Excel itself, then the field will be surounded with speech marks. If the
+     * resulting CSV file is then re-imports into another worksheet, the EOL
+     * character will result in the original simgle field occupying more than
+     * one cell. This same 'feature' is replicated in this classes behaviour.
+     *
+     * @param field An instance of the String class encapsulating the formatted
+     *        contents of a cell on an Excel worksheet.
+     * @return A String that encapsulates the formatted contents of that
+     *         Excel worksheet cell but with any embedded separator, EOL or
+     *         speech mark characters correctly escaped.
+     */
+    private String escapeEmbeddedCharacters(String field) {
+        StringBuffer buffer = null;
+
+        // If the fields contents should be formatted to confrom with Excel's
+        // convention....
+        if(this.formattingConvention == ToCSV.EXCEL_STYLE_ESCAPING) {
+
+            // Firstly, check if there are any speech marks (") in the field. If
+            // so, each occurrence must be escaped with another set of speahmarks
+            // and then the entire field should be enclosed within another
+            // set of speechmarks.
+            if(field.contains("\"")) {
+                buffer = new StringBuffer(field.replaceAll("\"", "\\\"\\\""));
+                buffer.insert(0, "\"");
+                buffer.append("\"");
+            }
+            else {
+                // If the field contains either embedded separator or EOL
+                // characters, then escape the whole field by surrounding it
+                // with speech marks.
+                buffer = new StringBuffer(field);
+                if((buffer.indexOf(this.separator)) > -1 ||
+                         (buffer.indexOf("\n")) > -1) {
+                    buffer.insert(0, "\"");
+                    buffer.append("\"");
+                }
+            }
+            return(buffer.toString().trim());
+        }
+        // The only other formatting convention this class obeys is the UNIX one
+        // where any occurrence of the field separator or EOL character will
+        // be escaped by preceding it with a backslash.
+        else {
+            if(field.contains(this.separator)) {
+                field = field.replaceAll(this.separator, ("\\\\" + this.separator));
+            }
+            if(field.contains("\n")) {
+                field = field.replaceAll("\n", "\\\\\n");
+            }
+            return(field);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The main() method contains code that demonstrates how to use the class.
+     * @param args
+     */
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        // Check the number of arguments passed to the main method. There
+        // must be two or three, the name of and path to either the folder
+        // containing the Excel files or an individula Excel workbook that is/are
+        // to be converted, the name of and path to the folder to which the CSV
+        // files should be written and then finally, optionally, the separator
+        // that should be used to separate individual items on the lines in the
+        // CSV file. Note that the names of the CSV files will be derived from
+        // those of the Excel file(s). Put simply the .xls or .xlsx extension
+        // will be replaced with .csv.
+        ToCSV converter = null;
+        try {
+            converter = new ToCSV();
+            if(args.length == 2) {
+                converter.convertExcelToCSV(args[0], args[1]);
+            }
+            else if(args.length == 3){
+                converter.convertExcelToCSV(args[0], args[1], args[2]);
+            }
+            else if(args.length == 4) {
+                converter.convertExcelToCSV(args[0], args[1],
+                                            args[2], Integer.parseInt(args[3]));
+            }
+            else {
+                System.out.println("Usage: java ToCSV \"Source Folder\" " +
+                        "\"Destination Folder\" \"CSV Element Separator\"");
+            }
+        }
+        catch(Exception ex) {
+            System.out.println("Caught an: " + ex.getClass().getName());
+            System.out.println("Message: " + ex.getMessage());
+            System.out.println("Stacktrace follows:.....");
+            ex.printStackTrace(System.out);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * An instance of this class can be used to control the files returned
+     * be a call to the listFiles() method when made on an instance of the
+     * File class and that object refers to a folder/directory
+     */
+    class ExcelFilenameFilter implements FilenameFilter {
+
+        /**
+         * Determine those files that will be returned by a call to the
+         * listFiles() method. In this case, the name of the file must end with
+         * either of the following two extension; '.xls' or '.xlsx'
+         * @param file An instance of the File class that encapsulates a handle
+         *             referring to the folder/directory that contains the file.
+         * @param name An instance of the String class that encapsulates the
+         *             name of the file.
+         * @return A boolean value that indicates whether the file should be
+         *         included in the array retirned by the call to the listFiles()
+         *         method. In this case true will be returned if the name of the
+         *         file ends with either '.xls' or '.xlsx' and false will be
+         *         returned in all other instances.
+         */
+        public boolean accept(File file, String name) {
+            return(name.endsWith(".xls") || name.endsWith(".xlsx"));
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file



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