Visual RFC.
ALL RFCs / RFC 7111
Read the RFC ↗

RFC 7111 / START HERE

CSV fragments, before the details

CSV means comma-separated values; URI means Uniform Resource Identifier. A fragment is the part of a URI after #.

RFC 7111 defines links to rows, columns and cells inside a text/csv document. A supporting client retrieves the document and then interprets the selection.

Start the guide See the 6 chapters ↓

The idea in one picture

  1. CSV file

  2. Client selects

  3. Region in context

A simplified picture of the idea; the chapters explain the actual mechanisms.

Why it exists

A link can identify a precise region of a shared table instead of leaving a reader to count rows by hand. This Informational publication updates RFC 4180 and its media-type registration; it preserves CSV field quoting rules.

A familiar example

For example, data.csv#cell=4,1 points to the first field in the fourth row. A header, if present, counts as row 1. Unsupported clients may show the full resource, and the fragment does not prevent access to unselected data.

Helpful background

You can start here without reading another RFC. If these ideas are unfamiliar, these short introductions may help.

CSV recordsRFC 4180 · beginner overview ↗URI syntaxRFC 3986 · beginner overview ↗ABNF grammarRFC 5234 · beginner overview ↗

What you’ll learn next

Begin with chapter one, or choose a topic.

  1. Retrieve the table, then selectA URI fragment is the part after #. A supporting client interprets it after retrieving the CSV resource.
  2. Count rows and columns from oneRows are records and columns are fields. Positions start at one, and a present header still occupies row 1.
  3. Extend an inclusive rangeA hyphen joins the first and last selected positions. The asterisk means the actual last row or column.
  4. Draw a rectangle of cellsA cell coordinate is row,column. A range names the upper-left cell and the lower-right cell of a rectangle.
  5. Separate syntax from invalid regionsMalformed fragment syntax invalidates the whole fragment; a well-formed but nonexistent or inverse region is ignored individually.
  6. Keep context and protect the fileThe media-type registration adds fragments and charset guidance. A selected region does not make the rest of a CSV private or trustworthy.
Start with chapter one →

This introduction explains RFC 7111 (2014). Read the original RFC ↗