FasterCSV 1.0.0 Released
========================

Ara strikes again, adding his second awesome enhancement to  
FasterCSV.  Here's some example code showing off FasterCSV::Table:

#!/usr/local/bin/ruby -w

# csv_table.rb
#
#  Created by James Edward Gray II on 2006-11-04.
#  Copyright 2006 Gray Productions. All rights reserved.
#
# Feature implementation and example code by Ara.T.Howard.

require "faster_csv"

table = FCSV.parse(DATA, :headers => true, :header_converters  
=> :symbol)

# row access
table[0].class   # => FasterCSV::Row
table[0].fields  # => ["zaphod", "beeblebrox", "42"]

# column access
table[:first_name]  # => ["zaphod", "ara"]

# cell access
table[1][0]            # => "ara"
table[1][:first_name]  # => "ara"
table[:first_name][1]  # => "ara"

# manipulation
table << %w[james gray 30]
table[-1].fields  # => ["james", "gray", "30"]

table[:type] = "name"
table[:type]  # => ["name", "name", "name"]

table[:ssn] = %w[123-456-7890 098-765-4321]
table[:ssn]  # => ["123-456-7890", "098-765-4321", nil]

# iteration
table.each do |row|
   # ...
end

table.by_col!
table.each do |col_name, col_values|
   # ...
end

# output
puts table
# >> first_name,last_name,age,type,ssn
# >> zaphod,beeblebrox,42,name,123-456-7890
# >> ara,howard,34,name,098-765-4321
# >> james,gray,30,name,

__END__
first_name,last_name,age
zaphod,beeblebrox,42
ara,howard,34

Thank you Ara!

What is FasterCSV?
------------------

(from the README)

FasterCSV is intended as a replacement to Ruby's standard CSV library.
It was designed to address concerns users of that library had and it has
three primary goals:

1.  Be significantly faster than CSV while remaining a pure Ruby  
library.
2.  Use a smaller and easier to maintain code base.  (FasterCSV is  
larger now,
     but considerably richer in features.  The parsing core remains  
quite small.)
3.  Improve on the CSV interface.

What's New?
-----------

(highlights from the CHANGELOG)

* The slurping methods now return the new FasterCSV::Table objects.
* Fixed parser so multibyte :col_sep works now.
* Fixed FasterCSV.rewind() to reset the FasterCSV.lineno() counter.
* Fixed FasterCSV.rewind() to reset the header processing.
* Enhanced FasterCSV::Row.fields() to support Ranges, even for headers.
* Added a few examples for usage.

Migrating from CSV to FasterCSV?
--------------------------------

The README includes a section on the differences and you can read that
here:

http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/

You call also see general usage in the documentation of the interface,
right here:

http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/classes/FasterCSV.html

For quick and dirty switching, try:

   begin
     require "faster_csv"
     FasterCSV.build_csv_interface
   rescue LoadError
     require "csv"
   end
   # ... use CSV here ...

If FasterCSV isn't meeting your needs, I want to here about it:

james / grayproductions.net

Where can I learn more?
-----------------------

FasterCSV is hosted on RubyForge.

Project page:   http://rubyforge.org/projects/fastercsv/
Documentation:  http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/
Downloads:      http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=1102

How do I get FasterCSV?
-----------------------

FasterCSV is a gem, so as long as you have RubyGems installed it's as
simple as:

$ sudo gem install fastercsv

If you need to install RubyGems, you can download it from:

http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=126&release_id=5803

FasterCSV can also be installed manually.  Just download the latest
release and follow the instructions in INSTALL:

http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=1102&release_id=7740

James Edward Gray II