Regex for CSV Parsing — Handle Quoted Fields
Quick Answer: A regex for CSV fields with quoted values: (?:^|,)(?:"([^"]*(?:""[^"]*)*)"|([^,]*)). This handles quoted fields containing commas and escaped double quotes. For production CSV parsing, always use a dedicated library (PapaParse, csv-parser) instead of regex.
FAQ
Can regex reliably parse CSV files?
For simple CSVs without quoted fields, yes. For real-world CSVs with quoted fields, newlines within fields, and escaped quotes, use a library like PapaParse (JS) or Python csv module.
How are quotes escaped in CSV?
In RFC 4180 CSV, double quotes inside quoted fields are escaped by doubling them: "He said ""hello""" represents: He said "hello".