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CSV Dialect

The dialect is how Vaste splits a file into rows and columns: the delimiter between fields, the quote character around fields, and whether the first row holds the column names. Vaste detects it when it opens a CSV file. When the table looks wrong, for example all the values sit in one column, change the dialect.

Check the dialect

Section titled “Check the dialect”

The status bar shows the dialect for CSV and TSV files in every view, for example , · " · header for a comma-separated file with double quotes and a header row. A tab shows as ⇥. Hover over the item to see how confident the detection was.

When Vaste is not sure about the dialect, the item turns yellow, and a notification says Not sure about this file’s CSV dialect. Check the delimiter, quote and header row. Select Change dialect in the notification to open the dialog.

Change the dialect

Section titled “Change the dialect”

  1. Open the CSV dialect dialog in one of these ways:

    • Select the dialect item in the status bar.
    • In Table view, select Dialect in the toolbar.
    • Select More actions (…) → CSV dialect….
    • Run CSV dialect from the command palette.

  2. Choose the Delimiter: Comma ( , ), Semicolon ( ; ), Pipe ( | ), Tab, or Custom. For Custom, type one character in Custom delimiter (one character).

  3. Choose the Quote: Double quote ( “ ) or Single quote ( ’ ).

  4. Turn First row is a header on or off. The line under it says whether detection thinks the first row is a header.

  5. Check the Preview. It shows the first 10 rows as Vaste would split them, and the number of columns.

  6. Select Apply.

Vaste shows CSV dialect applied and reloads the table. The custom delimiter must be a printable character, and it must differ from the quote character. Otherwise the dialog shows Enter one printable character. or Delimiter and quote must differ.

A quote character inside a quoted field is written twice, as in "say ""hi""". The dialog has no option for other escape characters or for comment lines.

Turn the header row on or off

Section titled “Turn the header row on or off”

To change only the header row, select Header in the Table view toolbar, select More actions (…) → Header row, or run Toggle header row from the command palette.

Without a header row, the first row of the file becomes a data row, and the columns are named Column 1, Column 2, and so on.

What Vaste remembers

Section titled “What Vaste remembers”

Vaste remembers the dialect you apply, including a header row change, for that file and uses it every time you open the file. The status bar tooltip then says CSV dialect chosen for this file. Click to change, and Vaste stops warning about an uncertain detection.

To go back to the detected dialect, open the dialog and select Reset to detected. The button appears only when you have chosen a dialect for the file.

What changes when you apply a dialect

Section titled “What changes when you apply a dialect”

Applying a dialect clears the column filters, the sort, and the data quality results. If the number of columns changes, Vaste also drops the saved column layout: hidden, moved, and renamed columns.

A new delimiter or header setting applies at once. A new quote character makes Vaste read the whole file again, which can take a while on a large file. The dialog shows no progress while it works.

Read a text file as a table

Section titled “Read a text file as a table”

Vaste opens only .csv, .tsv, and .tab files as tables. To read another text file as a table, for example a .txt export with comma-separated values:

  1. Open the file. It opens in Text view.

  2. Select More actions (…) → CSV dialect…, or run CSV dialect from the command palette.

  3. Choose the delimiter, quote, and header row, and select Apply.

The file switches to Table view, and it opens as a table every time from then on. The dialog is not available for files that Vaste opens in NDJSON view or Hex view.

How Vaste detects the dialect

Section titled “How Vaste detects the dialect”

For a .csv file, Vaste reads the first lines and tries comma, tab, semicolon, and pipe as the delimiter. It picks the one that splits each line into the same number of fields most consistently. It then guesses the header row from the content, for example a row of names above rows of numbers. If no delimiter fits, the file opens as plain text.

A .tsv or .tab file is always read as tab-separated with double quotes. Only the header row is detected.

For the full detection rules, see Supported formats.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”