Editing data files

Format of the data files

The data files are in the CSV (Comma Separate Values) format. This is a well know file format for spreadsheets. All popular spreadsheet software should be able to work with these files. This file format is also much easier to understand than some obscure formats. It means you will always be able to use these data files in the future, even if the software that you currently use is not maintained in the long term.

Another advantage of using plain text files is that you can store these files in a revision control system such as git. These systems allow you to keep a record of all the changes you make in your files, and to easily revert to a previous version of a file in case something was deleted by accident or if some syntax errors appear. Obsivously, it is not recommended to store your data files in public git repositories, but there are ways to store your files in private repositories, or in self-hosted services so you have complete control.

Editing data files

The data files can be edited using either spreadsheet programs such as Excel, Libre-Office or Only-Office. The files can also be edited as plain text files using a text editor such as Notepad++. Using spreadsheet programs can be more convenient, but you need to make sure these program do not change the format of the data. For example this program expects all dates to be in the YYYY-MM-DD format, and it will not be able to run if the spreadsheet program changes the date format. The example data files provided on this website are formatted with additional spaces so all columns are nicely aligned. It allows the data files to be readable as plain text file so these can be modified from a text editor. By using a text editor you have more control on the changes you make in your files.